0s Rap group KRS One said in their song Step Into A World, “You gots to go with a name you can quickly trust.”

Is E-Woods saying London Gamble is #1 in sleepy ol’ Ventura County? Nah, she’s way more.

Like KRS 1 says,

“I'm not sayin' I'm number one, uhh I'm sorry, I lied

I'm number one, two, three, four and five.”

That’s L-Gamble. She’s too humble to boast so I’ll do it for her! She’s this crazy dope twitch athlete. Famed AAU coach George Albanez was Sonny Vicarro’s right hand-man at LeBron’s ABCD camp. Albanez called London, “The Best twitch athlete in America.”

Snap, it’s like that E-Woods, could it be son? Yup.

Her ever incredible uncle, Gideon Gamble, has quite a background. He played for the famed Atlanta Celtics AAU team that featured Dwight Howard and Josh Smith that I personally saw play NBA’s Klay Thompson and Jrue Holiday. Gideon is a talented trainer and is such a moral and helpful person. I’ve seen it first hand.

But this is London’s feature so step into her world, she’s not 1/2 steppin’, not taking any L’s, too busy excelling for her Westlake High and West Coast Elite travel AAU team, which has her friend Mariah Elohim playing by her side.

London caught the love of the game at age 8 when she met her friend Mariah in 4th grade. I’ve seen them at practice with this other player that caught my eye, Mika Jarrett of Oxnard High who has talent too.

You the reader need to go see them all play this summer or you’ll be missing out, no doubt.

You see, what makes London such an inspirational person is that she doesn’t just have this ultra crafty game with an emerging jumper or that she always finishes at the bucket in traffic.

What makes her so nice nice with it? She makes her teammates better with some 1st rate leadership.

Hear from London herself what gets her going, “I want to constantly challenge myself and not fall to a lower level. I have always respected my uncle Gideon, he kick-started my career in hoops. He even played pro ball overseas after college and played for the Los Angeles Defenders in the G league.

“He’s always been that instrumental person that supported me. I appreciate my mother Colleen and father Mike, we are all a product of so many that help us in this journey. God guides us all in life, the journey.

“My goal is to be a lawyer, I’m putting in the time to achieve my 3.7 gpa. I’ll take basketball as far as I can. I respect a player like the Sun’s Chris Paul, he’s a dogg, that facilitator.

“That’s what I hope to be, a point guard, to give that leadership by example. Me, I’m 5-8, I just want to get my team going, just make the right decision each possession.”

Now do you see people? London is all that and more.

I go to watch these amazing invite only games run by my guy Josh Lozano. He does We Run, the most competitive girls game in America, slam dunk contests, JC players, NAIA, low majors, prep kids. Crazy mix of diversity.

Me, E-Woods? I’m going to give Josh a SLAM jersey, London too in a year. That’s the ULTIMATE compliment I can ever give a player. L-Gamble is a monster headed to D1 fosho.

London is a fiend to go up against in open court, a gazelle you just can’t run down, that twitch athlete for the ages no doubt.

Peep what L-Gamble has to say about these We Run games, “We Run is where us girls and women go to compete, we leave it all on the floor. You have PAC-12 commits, people at JC, people in high school trying to get their name out there.

“You play hard to improve, not fall down. I give it my all, it’s like when I played with Jayda Curry on our WCE AAU team a couple of years ago. Now she’s headed to Cal. We all have a destiny and this awesome run helps us get there.”

I asked the ever classy London, who happens to be a 16 year old junior, which was her favorite NBA player. She told me Kobe Bryant was. Me your humble writer was a rookie teacher in south central LA in 96’, the same year Kobe was a rookie player for the Lakers.

L-Gamble said about Kob, “I loved watching him play, he was that guy. He could shoot so well, his IQ made him a wiz. You could look up to him as a player, as he always carried his team.”

On a personal note I asked London why she loves the game. So she shared a little about herself as a person, “I’m a competitive person, I love to pass the ball, I love the fast movement of the game. This sport is one of the things I’m best at, I strive to be good at it and I want to kill the comp when I’m out there.”

She added other things she loves, “One of my hobbies is shopping at Nike, I like Jordan 13’s. Pac Sun is a fun place to go to. I enjoy going to eat sushi and I try to eat lots of carbs and pasta.”

There you have it people, an amazing person that has to be detailed and celebrated in this feature. She is going to go down a Ventura County legend. For me, I’ve seen it all in 50 years on terra firma.

Let’s leave you with a couple more KRS One lyrics. They had that famous NBA 2K commercial a few years ago and they could’ve put London in it. She so fly, effortless, a killa’s killa. Don’t just read the lyrics, feel em people:

“In rap tournaments, I reign permanent Don't you think by now the number one spot I'm not concerned with it The course of rap I'm turnin' it”

I love the whole freaking song and commercial, it flows like London’s game does.

So go peep her mad crazy game people. She’s on the rise, so driven, so sweet when you talk to her. She’s ready to transform the world. The hoop game, it spins on her finger like a blue marble and she is so cool easy in convo, so relaxed, confident.

I can’t find a better person to do a story on. Bet against her? Don’t do it. House rules. London got next. 100.