Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Jamil David/Chron

There was a time when I played pick-up basketball multiple times a week. Whether lining the walls of a cramped 24-Hour Fitness court waiting to call next, or dealing with double rims, dusty courts and the Houston humidity at a (hopefully) pavilion-covered outdoor court, it was an important ritual for me and many others.

Like many things, when time passes and you get older, the things you used to do just stop being a priority. Personally, after years of consistent pick-up basketball adventures growing up and living in Houston, I just stopped. COVID-19 and a lack of access to a consistent place to play made stepping away from the game I enjoyed playing virtually all my life pretty seamless.

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Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Jamil David/ChronRec Leagues offer organized play that offer a much  differnt vibe than a casual pick up game. 

Rec Leagues offer organized play that offer a much  differnt vibe than a casual pick up game. 

Jamil David/ChronOutdoor basketball is still the most accessible pick-up game you can find in Houston. 

Outdoor basketball is still the most accessible pick-up game you can find in Houston. 

Pgiam/Getty Images/iStockphotoPickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Jamil David/ChronPickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Jamil David/Chron

Fast forward at least four years since the last time I touched a basketball: An invite from a friend to fill in for his rec league team came on short notice last October. After accepting without knowing there would be no subs, playing 40 minutes of regulated ball and almost having to call an ambulance after, I was suddenly back. This led to a group of friends organizing runs every week at a pay-to-play gymnasium and a continued rec league spot. Returning to playing regularly rekindled my once-beloved pastime, but also made me curious about how pick-up culture in Houston has changed, and how much has stayed the same. 

For anyone else dealing with their basketball mortality, or those looking to get into pick-up, things have changed. But much remains the same.

The primary place to hoop comfortably, in my experience, was always commercial gyms. 24-Hour Fitness and LA Fitness were spots where, if you had a membership, you would play primarily. Over the past couple of years, though, a wave of commercial gyms shuttered their courts for cryo-chamber and wellness shenanigans, sparking actual Change.org petitions from Houston-area patrons. 

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Unfortunately, the city’s most scenic commercial gym, the now-shuttered Midtown 24-Hour Fitness, had a great court that featured downtown visuals from its fourth-floor location. The location is now a Club Studio luxury gym, with no basketball court to be found. 

Luckily, there are other avenues for casual players wanting a little more structure. There are rec leagues that individuals or groups can sign up for with varying skill levels. The league I participate in is organized by the Houston Sports and Social Club and features two leagues: a social and an intermediate league. It’s more organized with referees who enforce the rules and keep score. Family and friends can even come and see you potentially pull a hamstring while going up for a layup. 

Rec Leagues offer organized play that offer a much  differnt vibe than a casual pick up game. 

Rec Leagues offer organized play that offer a much  differnt vibe than a casual pick up game. 

Jamil David/Chron

Some teams take it incredibly seriously, commissioning jerseys, while others are just out for competitive runs with friends. My team has been on the chiller side but is consistently second best to a team that adds a new semi-professional or former college athlete to its roster every season. 

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Though it may seem daunting, newcomers are always welcome. Part of the fun is getting a group of people together and seeing how it works out in an official game. The process of learning how you work as a team, and how you respond to adversity, is all a part of the fun of the competitive process. Like 23 year old Chritan Tobias, a first-time rec leaguer.

“I was inspired to kind of just get a team together. Found a few guys who wanted to play, and it’s been a pretty fun time ever since,” Tobias explained while we watched a rec league game. “I wanted to bring a group of guys together that didn’t have any chemistry and create a team to, you know, get back outside, get back active. It keeps us busy in our free time when we’re not working at our jobs.”

Results are secondary to the community and the fun of it all for Tobias and many players in the rec league. 

“But regardless of the scores, regardless of the wins and losses, the best part about it is you get to meet really cool groups of people,” Tobias said.

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For groups of friends, join a league or book time at venues such as The Zone—the trendy thing to do. Booking indoor courts allows groups to split the fee between groups of 10 (you need 10 people to run a 5-on-5 game full court). It’s a guaranteed way to have a set time to connect and play basketball with people you know. 

And even if it seems like pick-up basketball has become too predicated on organized play and reserving courts, outdoor basketball is still the most accessible pick-up runs you can find. There aren’t many places to just walk in and play indoors, and rec centers at various parks often have limited hours. Outdoor courts, however, all you need is a ball, sneakers, and most of all, people to play with. You see a group playing on a court? You walk over and inquire about whose got next, done deal.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Pickup basketball is still a third space, where groups of people can meet up outside of home work or school and congregate.

Jamil David/Chron

When trying to find a place to shoot and get some cardio in to keep from passing out during rec league games, I started heading down the street from my East End home to a pretty nice outdoor court (no double rims). I learned that multiple groups of teens and adults meet up on different days of the week to play after school and work. There was even an elderly man still hooping who pulled one of the smartest things I have ever seen at any pick-up run: He brought his own folding chair to chill in while waiting to play (the wait times can be very long). 

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“It’s always beautiful to see the community come together. So any time I get to do that and do something I love to do, I just feel really blessed,” Luis Yoyotte expressed in between games at an outdoor run. “It’s a great place to kind of just  lose time and kind of just forget about school or work, for sure.”

While the weather is relatively nice, outdoor hoops can be great, but come summertime, it becomes a hardcore activity that I can no longer partake in. 

There are the mythical early morning “old man runs” that take place at the crack of dawn at gyms like the YMCA downtown or some random church that has a gym. These runs are for the true old heads who, for one, have the willpower to wake up at 4 a.m. to hoop, and two, still love the game.

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People are still hooping, whether outdoors or in a recreational league. Those third spaces where you can find community through competition are still out there for everyone. It may take some anxiety-inducing social interaction and getting over the fact that you might not have it like you once did, but if you once loved playing, you might as well do it while you can.