Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThis is my peace every weekend, I\u2019m here pretty much on Saturdays and Sundays just shooting around, getting some rays in. I love it,\u201d Haygood said.<\/p>\n
The iconic courts have stood along the beach for years, becoming a staple for the local basketball community. For those who grew up in the area, like Riley Kozak, the courts carry a deeper meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe culture, the vibe, everything, you know, it\u2019s secluded with the wall. People pull up, walk around and just enjoy the view. There\u2019s nothing really like it in South Florida,\u201d Kozak said.<\/p>\n
But that atmosphere has been disrupted after the recent Tortuga Music Festival left damage behind on the courts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the first time there\u2019s been an impact by Tortuga and some of the existing facilities we have on the beach,\u201d Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said.<\/p>\n
Chunks of the court are missing, leaving some players frustrated. City officials say the festival will cover the cost of repairs, and there are also longer-term plans in place.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey take full responsibility and they will restore it. Ultimately we are going to have the Bahia Mar folks completely rebuild the basketball courts,\u201d Trantalis said.<\/p>\n
Still, some players are questioning how soon those repairs will happen. The city responded to a viral Instagram video showing the damage, suggesting fixes may not be completed until this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone should use some of that Tortuga money, some of that concert money they got, all those tips, all those drinks sold. They should come back and repave the courts they messed up,\u201d Kozak said.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, players like Haygood and Kozak say they\u2019ll keep coming back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s peace. It\u2019s tranquil. This is my therapy,\u201d Haygood said.<\/p>\n
There has also been discussion about replacing the courts with pickleball facilities, but a group of local players voiced strong opposition. <\/p>\n
City officials have since backed off those plans, saying basketball on the beach is here to stay.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. \u2014 For basketball players like Anthony Haygood, there\u2019s nowhere else he\u2019d rather be on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-246637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}