A group of men from the neighborhood gather at Lawrence Square Park for a game of pickup basketball. (April Buffington/NYT Institute)

Dirty money on the court, ranging from dollar bills to twenties. Basketball nets hanging halfway off the rim. Pigeons scavenging for food surround the yard and dead squirrels on the court’s sideline.

This is not your average professional basketball court or anything you’ve seen on television.

Then there are the players. A number of them are in basketball shorts and others wear jeans. There are baby faces and heads full of grey hair. Some of the hoopers play old style, others are flashier.

For some people, pickup basketball, a style of streetball that originated on the courts of New York City, is a way to drop a few pounds and for some it is a casual and enjoyable hobby. But for many, it’s a way of life. On courts throughout New Orleans, devoted players put their bodies on the line night after night, week after week and year after year. But it’s also a mental game.

“It’s so special to us,” said Jerrod Delmore, a 25-year-old ball player with tattoos covering his upper arms. “It shows we can get together as one. All the guys come out and ball together. Pickup is just special around here because it brings out the best in every single one of us.”

Opened in 1894, the court at Lawrence Square on Napoleon Avenue and Magazine Street in New Orleans has been where a spirited game can be seen every day. Over on LaSalle Street and Washington Avenue at Shakespeare Park the games are just as gritty.

“We all getting together to have a peaceful good old time and bonding with each other,” said another player, Dewan Williams, 43.“It looks like we are about to fight each other but we hugging after the game.”

A regular street ball player, Corey Williams, 34, said he has been playing pickup basketball since he was 7. Growing up in a single-parent home, Williams said he knew the consequences if he didn’t go down the right path, a trail that could have led to prison or death. So he went to basketball courts and was educated by the older and much wiser ball players who taught him how to become a leader. Pickup basketball became a brotherhood for him.

A group of men from the neighborhood met at Lawrence Square Park for a game of pickup basketball on May 23, 2010. (April Buffington/NYT Institute)

Since then Williams has tried to spend as much time as he can on the court, and now he leads by example as often as he can.

He said he gets an adrenaline rush there. During a recent game, Williams, who wore a white headband, was the most vocal on the court. “You’re not going to score!” he shouted.

“It’s my passion,” Williams said. “We came up under the older cats and now we all trying to follow everything they taught us. It’s our culture.”

A former high school basketball state champion in 1998, Richard Johnson, 31, has been on the street courts since playing organized basketball. But he no longer worries about accolades; instead, he cares about staying in shape. On the court, Johnson has the purest jump shot and can score with ease.

“It’s life and a luxury,” said Johnson, wearing red Jordan shorts. “One time you shine and the other time it keeps you out of trouble. Plus you have fun and stay exercised.”

Johnson loves the grittiness and toughness of pickup basketball. He believes if there is no blood then there is no foul.

“When you play with referees, there really isn’t no toughness,” Johnson said. “When you in the park, you got to have some heart.”

Pickup basketball has been able to keep people off the streets in New Orleans for decades because it offers them a positive environment to go to.

For 26-year-old Michael Major, the court is more of a second home. For the past two years, every Sunday he and a group of friends get together for street ball. Major, groomed with a thick beard and sporting sharp light blue and lime green Nike basketball shoes, also considers street basketball a brotherhood where the players can bond and relax with each other.

But it’s still competitive. The winners stay on the court and the losers have to wait to get picked up again.

“Nobody wants to lose,” Major said. “Nobody wants to sit on the sideline. If you lose you might have to go home for the day. You may not get another shot on the court.”
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Usually players start off with a game of 21 or hustle to get loose and wait for other players to arrive. True hoopers don’t rebound at full strength or run at full speed until the competition starts. Once the numbers of players increase, ballers are able to get a full game going. The intensity is high and no one is looking to head back to the sideline. Most of the players are actively using their voice. On the court people get use to the players saying phrases like, “Gimme that” or “Get that out of here.”

For many, their love for the game will never go away.

“This is the best kind of ball,” Christian Stevens, 28, said. “Everybody comes out and it doesn’t matter what neighborhood you’re from, you come out. That’s the beauty of New Orleans pickup basketball.”

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