Allentown Neighborhood Is Home For Championship Basketball And More In Pittsburgh

by Thomas Leturgey 

Pittsburgh’s most important ambassador to basketball spends many of his days at A Giving Heart Community Center, formerly the St. John Vianney Catholic Church gymnasium in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh. 

"Coach" Ace Pippens may be the Owner and CEO of Pittsburgh’s only current professional championship team—the Steel City Yellow Jackets—but he is not resting on his laurels. The American Basketball Association (ABA) team owner also helms the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) squad, the Steel City Queens. That club is in pre-season tryouts and the roster is being assembled.  

While that team only plays 8 games (compared to the Yellow Jackets’ 20-plus), the Queens have been inspired to advance to the next competitive step by their basketball brothers. 

During the summer, Yellow Jackets co-captains Gilmore Cummings and Tone Reddic are among the players who make up a ruckus D.R.E.A.M. summer league at A Giving Heart. Players talk smack on social media, but more importantly, partake in dozens of friendly and high-energy games at the gym, where months earlier the Yellow Jackets captured their Divisional Championship (before winning the National Championship in Baltimore in late April). 

In addition to the games, Pippens and his sister, A Giving Heart Founder, President and CEO Kristee Cammack operate the non-profit community, which includes providing meals and hosting recreational and after-school programs. In addition, they have partnered with Tickets For Kids Charities and sent groups to University of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Pirates, Penguins and Steelers games.  

When the Yellow Jackets play, the team has often provided half-time opportunities for local hip hop and rap artists, as well as youth dance programs. The entertainers have performed during the 12-minute intermission, and with the Yellow Jackets’ championship notoriety, that exposure can only be brighter in the months to come. 

Before the Yellow Jackets defeated Team Trouble to earn the National Championship, Pippens, 47, was among the 2021 Class of the Pittsburgh City League High School All-Varsity Hall of Fame inductees for his on-field exploits in baseball. 

All of these activities take place in the working-class neighborhood of Allentown, far away from the sparkling and local multi-million-dollar universities that put basketball on the sports pages in Pittsburgh. When Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey hosted the Yellow Jackets’ Championship Parade downtown earlier this year, he declared that the city could host an NBA team. Pippens as well as the Yellow Jackets’ other officials and authorities are simply hoping for better media attention, corporate sponsorships and fan support for the current champion ABA franchise. 

Players rest on the bench during the D.R.E.A.M. Pro Am. Photo courtesy of A Giving Heart.

Later this summer, Pippens, as well as ABA CEO Joseph Newman and brand new league President Greg Brown will hold the Owner’s Meetings. And as soon as the Steel City Queens wrap their still-to-start season, the Yellow Jackets will be looking forward to assembling a team to defend the team’s first National Championship. 

Pippens and his staff are prepared to represent basketball in Pittsburgh for many years to come.

[To Donate to A Giving Heart Community Center, email@agivingheart.org or write to 816 Climax Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15210.]