The growing popularity of streetball was manifest recently when more than 50 players showed up to play in the parking lot of the E Center on a weekday afternoon when the And1 Mixtape Tour rolled into town in June. Malcolm Russell showed up because it was a reminder of home. Jeff Gramse wouldn’t have missed it because he had always wanted to see what it was like to play somewhere besides an LDS wardhouse. Abouk Deng dropped by because it was one of the first things he learned about when he came to America. Randall Henderson ended up there when he found regular basketball too confining...

Despite their differences and diverse backgrounds, they all came together to show off moves with names like the Twisted Blister as hip-hop music blasted, spectators rewarded the players with “oooohs” and “ahhhs” and guys with nicknames like Half-Man, Half-Amazing checked out the competition.

“In streetball there aren’t as many rules,” explained Craig Hamer, a streetballer from Murray who has played at the collegiate level in traditional basketball. “You can showboat. You’re just out here having fun with your friends. You can go out on the edge a little bit and try moves you wouldn’t try in a regular game.”

Streetball is a mix of basketball and showmanship that loosens the rules of traditional hoops to allow for more creativity and takes the attitude that it’s better to try to pull off a jaw-dropping move and fail than succeed by playing it safe. The palming, double dribble and traveling rules are relaxed, so players can try things they wouldn’t otherwise think of. The score isn’t kept so much in terms of points as the screams of amazement drawn from the crowd.

“Streetball is more freelance (than regular basketball),” said Russell, who grew up playing streetball in New Jersey and now regularly plays at Sugar House and Liberty parks. “It gives you more of a chance to do your own thing.”

The roots of streetball can be traced back to Rucker Park in Harlem, but the game’s popularity has spread throughout the country in the past few years thanks to Mixtape DVDs marketed by the And1 athletic apparel company and an ESPN television show called the And1 Mixtape Tour, which features footage from games played by an And1-sponsored team that barnstorms the country playing the best local talent at each tour stop.

Gramse got his first look at an And1 Mixtape while playing high-school basketball in Richfield. “I loved everything about it,” he said. “I loved their moves. My friends and I wanted to go and try to do the moves too.”

And where have Utahns traditionally gone to play any type of basketball, street or otherwise? “We play streetball in the [LDS] wardhouse,” said Gramse. Another Utah hoops tradition, the suburban driveway, is also a popular streetball site. “Where else are you going to play in Utah?” Hamer joked.

Streetball was formed in urban, black communities and—just as with rap music, hip-hop clothing lines and the use of the word “homey”—anytime something works its way into the mainstream culture, there will be those who want to jump on the bandwagon. However, the suburban streetballers aren’t interested in striking a pose—just in having fun with their friends and trying out some moves of their own because of their love of the game.

Streetball’s appeal is so universal it can serve as an introduction to American culture. Such was the case when 17-year-old Deng immigrated to Salt Lake City from Somalia over six years ago. One of the first things he found he liked in his new home was streetball, which he regularly plays with other Somali immigrants on the playground at Riley Elementary School.

“When I got here, I watched it on TV for a while and played the video game,” Deng said. “I like it because you get to try different moves, try new things.”

That chance to try new and different moves is what draws many top streetballers. For example, Henderson proved himself to be one of the top local streetballers at the E Center gathering, earning an invitation to compete against the And1 squad. The North Carolina native who attended BYU and now lives in Salt Lake City blossomed in the free-form flow of streetball after struggling with the structure of traditional basketball.

Expressing what is probably a common sentiment among streetballers, Henderson said with a laugh, “I suck at regular team ball. I enjoy the freedom of streetball a lot more.”


Geoff Griffin
SLweekly.com

...thanks to Andy Mckinney for the find