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How has basketball impacted society


How Does Basketball Impact Society?

How does basketball impact society?

The sport has improved the overall behavior and performance of young adults, teaches them teamwork and persistence. Basketball also brings unity in communities and races alike, and has a constructive iNFLuence on the economy as a whole.

Considering this, why is basketball so important in society? Basketball teaches you about being a good team player and can be a great social sport. … Basketball puts a lot of stress on the body and injuries can happen, so warming up, stretching your muscles and joints, and cooling down is important.

Subsequently, how has basketball impacted your life? Playing basketball helps to improve motor coordination, flexibility, and endurance. It also encourages speed, agility, and strength. These skills are shown to have a positive effect on promoting a healthy body weight and encouraging more physical activity, which can enhance cardiorespiratory fitness and self-esteem.

You asked, why is the history of basketball is important? The game of basketball as it is known today was created by Dr. James Naismith in December 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, to condition young athletes during cold months. … Upon the request of his boss, Naismith was tasked to create an indoor sports game to help athletes keep in shape in cold weather.

As many you asked, is basketball an impact sport? High-impact sports put extra strain on your feet Contact sports like football, soccer, basketball, and hockey are all high-impact sports, but so are track and field, tennis, and long-distance running. Over time, your joints wear down, increasing your risk for injury.One of the most important life lessons kids can pick up from basketball is to value their body and take better care of their health. Otherwise, they won’t be able to play. The sport demands strong feet, knees, and hands. Basketball players need to take care of their eyes and ears to coordinate while gaming.

Contents

  • Why is basketball so important in America?
  • How does basketball make you a better person?
  • What are 3 things you learned about basketball?
  • How is basketball similar to life?
  • How do you explain basketball to a child?
  • What was basketball original name?
  • Why is basketball the best sport essay?
  • What are examples of high impact sports?
  • How has basketball changed since it was invented?
  • Why do you love to play basketball?

Why is basketball so important in America?

In the United States of America, this game of sport is widely viewed. More than about 200 nations compete against one another to win the championships and that is viewed by over 300 million people in the States. It is also considered to be one of the most viewed and greatest sports across the States.

How does basketball make you a better person?

Basketball can help you become a better person by keeping you healthy both mentally and physically, keeping you mentally agile, reducing your stress levels, and teaching you about communication, leadership, teamwork, and sportsmanship.

What are 3 things you learned about basketball?

  1. Learn and master the fundamentals of the game.
  2. Be prepared both mentally and physically.
  3. Be unselfish and a team player.
  4. Be alert and aware.
  5. If the plays aren’t working, re-adjust the game plan.
  6. Never give up on the play.

How is basketball similar to life?

In basketball, much like life, there are ups and downs, success and failure, endless challenges and obstacles. Through basketball and all other sports, you learn to tackle similar situations that you have to face in life.

How do you explain basketball to a child?

What was basketball original name?

In spite of student suggestions that he call the game “Naismith Ball,” the modest inventor gave the sport a two-word moniker—“basket ball.” In an article that ran in the January 15, 1892, edition of The Triangle, which was distributed to YMCAs around the country, Naismith detailed his 13 rules for a “new game of ball” …

Why is basketball the best sport essay?

The games fast paced and high scoring game makes a thrilling moment for the people that are playing and watching. … Basketball is the best sport because playing basketball has a lot of benefits for your health, it is a lot of fun to play as well as watch and it requires a lot of skill.

What are examples of high impact sports?

  1. Running.
  2. Rugby.
  3. Tennis.
  4. Skiing.
  5. Gymnastics.

How has basketball changed since it was invented?

Basketball has been modified over the years in many ways. Changes have been made to the ball, basket, and free-throw line. The basketball court has also changed greatly from the original peach baskets that marked the beginning of basketball to today’s sleek and modern-looking courts.

Why do you love to play basketball?

The sport of basketball is known as a fun past time for any person young or old. Basketball is a great way of exercise and a great way to have fun with friends and possibly make some new ones. … One reason I love basketball is because you need only yourself to play the game or, you can play with teammates.

Basketball has changed the world, and it can do even more — Andscape

Thirteen years ago in Davos, Switzerland, David Stern, the visionary NBA commissioner, participated in a panel discussion, “Can a Ball Change the World?” That’s asking too much of a ball. But a ball has certainly helped over the generations, and there is every reason to believe that in these times of global despair it can do even more.

For centuries, civilizations have held the ideals of politicians, economists, monarchs, nation-states and theologians as the epitome of nobility and importance. Yet, when differences arise, often propelled by strong personalities and financial unrest, anger, fear and wars erupt. Without another Tolstoy, or Gandhi, or Mandela, or Martin Luther King Jr., whose lives were shaped by the Sermon on the Mount, it is time to look elsewhere. Why not question the old pecking orders, in which expressions of art, beauty and sport are relegated to afterthoughts except as forms of release and entertainment? Why not look to the “ball” — the basketball — a global common denominator that has established itself as a culture of progressive ideas, leadership and diversity?

To excel, one must understand how to lead and practice those tenets: the nobility to compromise and listen, to work day and night to improve, to be aware of strengths and weaknesses, to be decisive and emphatic.

Basketball, a game invented by a Canadian teaching in America, was first embraced by turn-of-the-century immigrants who settled in Northeastern port cities, then adopted as part of the national experience: by Southern blacks migrating North, company towns, church leagues, YMCAs, settlement homes, barnstorming clubs of men and women. It was and remains revered for its simplicity, escape and balletic free-form nature, as well as by its lessons of teamwork, discipline and sacrifice. It brought pride to the struggling individual, the group seeking to assimilate — and the community.

Its nakedness, unhidden by helmets, face masks, shoulder pads or caps, made it easier to identify with. Over the years, those virtues and lessons have spread throughout Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. David Falk, the agent behind the Michael Jordan image, said, “There are more people playing basketball every day in China, 300 million, than reside in the United States.”

Of course, other “round” balls have made their mark in terms of realpolitik. President Richard Nixon’s pingpong diplomacy opened a new era of Chinese-American communication. Branch Rickey’s decision to embrace the black athlete Jackie Robinson broke through baseball’s wall of segregation. The strength of mind of tennis player Billie Jean King challenged a dehumanizing gender caste system. These moments have all served to go beyond mere symbolism.

Basketball, though, has always been at the forefront of change and action on a global scale. In the late 1950s, coach John McLendon started free clinics in Africa. In the ’60s, Red Auerbach did the same in Europe. U.S. college teams toured Soviet bloc countries in the ’70s. The integration of college teams began in the late 1930s. The establishment of a strong NBA players’ association was formulated 55 years ago. A push to enact the benefits of Title IX, an act of legislation that had nothing to do with women’s sports, took hold in the early ’70s. AIDS education in the early ’90s finally opened doors to gay players and executives. A grassroots AAU anti-gun violence campaign, which I helped to start three years ago, continues to gain traction, as youth teams across the country wear the orange patch in support.

Recently, Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, invited a team of former NBA stars to his nation’s capital. Iranians have played in the league, as have Serbs, Croats, Muslims and Israelis. Support for the game’s growth has been a focus of multinational corporations. There was even that time when the Grateful Dead paid for the uniforms of the 1992 Lithuanian men’s Olympic team, whose new government lacked the finances.

The game has always reflected the sacred teacher-student relationship, based upon dialogue, change and reason. In spite of its imperfections, it has been a proving ground for leadership. Take a look at the influence of Stern, Pat Riley, Mike Krzyzewski, Adam Silver, Michele Roberts and John Thompson. It is no accident that creative tech giants gravitated to the owners’ circle — Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen, Vivek Ranadivé — and esteemed women, whose careers were blocked and minimized, built winners in the face of huge pressure: Pat Summitt, Cathy Rush and C. Vivian Stringer. Most recently, former players have started schools around the world whose central goals have nothing to do with winning or losing games: Dikembe Mutombo, David Robinson, Wes Unseld, George Gervin, Kevin Durant and, now, LeBron James.

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To excel, one must understand how to lead and practice those tenets: the nobility to compromise and listen, to work day and night to improve, to be aware of strengths and weaknesses, to be decisive and emphatic. The ball insists you grow; if not, there is always a replacement. Success has been built through clarity and sacrifice from all team members. There is a certain ruthlessness required, which is why the ball takes unfavorable bounces. Belief in the art, the calm and beauty of the passion, is necessary. These men and women have been trained and exposed to principles higher than elected or appointed officials from the moment they joined their first team at 6, 7, 10 years old.

Ben Jobe, who coached at six historically black colleges in a distinguished career, who taught the game in West Africa, who sat in at the lunch counters of Nashville, Tennessee, and worked as a full-time scout for the New York Knicks until he died two years ago at 84, would say: “The game taught me it was OK to hug and hold other men — and tell them, white or black, ‘I love you.’ ”

Dan Klores is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker. His latest work, “Basketball: A Love Story,” is currently running on ESPN.

History of world basketball and history of basketball in Russia

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Basketball (English basket - basket, ball - ball) is one of the most popular team sports in the world. Basketball is played by two teams, each consisting of five players. The goal of each team is to throw the ball with their hands into the opponent's net ring (basket) and prevent the other team from taking possession of the ball and throwing it into their own basket. The basket is at a height of 3.05 meters (10 feet) from the floor. There are 5 people from each team on the court, in total there are 12 people in the team, substitutions are not limited. For a ball thrown from close and medium distances, 2 points are counted, (because of the three-point line) - 3 points. A free throw is worth one point. The standard size of a basketball court is 28 meters long and 15 meters wide. Basketball is one of the most popular sports in the world.

Basketball around the world

During the winter of 1891, students at the Youth Christian Association College in Springfield, Massachusetts, forced to perform endless gymnastic exercises, considered at that time almost the only means of introducing young people to sports, were very bored in physical education classes. It was necessary to put an end to the monotony of such activities, to introduce a fresh stream into them, which would be able to satisfy the competitive needs of strong and healthy young people.

College teacher James Naismith found a way out of a seemingly dead-end situation. On December 1, 1891, he tied two peach baskets to the railing of the balcony of the sports hall and, dividing eighteen students into two teams, offered them a game, the meaning of which was to throw more balls into the opponents' basket.

The idea of ​​this game originated in his school years, when children played the old game "duck-on-a-rock". The meaning of this game, popular at that time, was as follows: throwing a small stone, it was necessary to hit the top of another stone, larger in size, with it.

Quite pragmatically called "basketball" game only remotely resembled modern basketball. There was no dribbling, the players only threw it to each other, standing still, and then tried to throw it into the basket, and only with both hands from below or from the chest, and after a successful throw, one of the players climbed onto a ladder attached to the wall and removed the ball from the basket . From a modern point of view, the actions of the teams would seem to us sluggish and inhibited, but the goal of Dr. Naismith was to create a team game in which a large number of participants could be involved at the same time, and his invention fully met this task.

Very quickly, starting in 1895, basketball from the USA penetrated first to the East - to Japan, China, the Philippines, as well as to Europe and South America.

In 1904, at the Olympic Games in St. Louis (USA), the Americans organized an exhibition tournament between teams from several cities. Similar demonstration tournaments were held at the 1924 (Paris) and 1928 (Amsterdam) Olympics.

Basketball associations were created in a number of countries, but organizational disunity hindered international contacts and hindered the further development of basketball. June 18 1932 in Geneva, the first international conference of national basketball associations took place. The meeting decided to establish the International Federation of Basketball Associations (FIBA). The first international rules of the game were adopted in 1932 at the first FIBA ​​Congress, after which they were repeatedly adjusted and changed, the last significant changes were made in 1998 and 2004.

In 1935, the International Olympic Committee decided to recognize basketball as an Olympic sport.

Basketball made its Olympic debut at the XI Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936. Men's teams from 21 countries took part in the tournament. Competitions were held in open areas, all subsequent Olympic tournaments were held indoors. The USA team became the first Olympic champion.

The debut of women's basketball at the Olympic Games took place in 1976 in Montreal. Six teams participated in the tournament. The first Olympic champions were the basketball players of the USSR national team, who became champions twice more. The first European Championship among men was held at 1935 in Geneva. Latvian basketball players won. The first European Women's Championship was held in Rome in 1938, which was won by Italian basketball players.

The decision to hold the world championships among men was taken at the FIBA ​​congress during the 1948 Olympics. in London. The first World Basketball Championship took place in 1950. in Buenos Aires (Argentina). 10 teams took part in the championship. The first world champion was the team of Argentina, who defeated the 1948 Olympic champion team of the United States.

At the FIBA ​​congress in Helsinki, in 1952 (during the Olympic Games), it was decided to hold the Women's World Championships. The first championship was held in 1953 in Santiago (Chile), and the first champions were American basketball players.

Thus, the game, which was once invented just for the sake of diversifying the physical education lessons of students, has become one of the most popular and massive sports games in the world. With the development of the Game, its rules were changed and supplemented, as well as the equipment and layout of the site (for example, the introduction of a time limit (24 seconds) for an attack by the team of the opponent's basket, or the appearance of a line, for hitting due to which the team is awarded 3 points (1984)).

Basketball in Russia

Basketball in Russia was born in 1906. Place of birth - St. Petersburg, sports society "Mayak".

The gymnasts of this society created the first basketball teams, then the teams appeared in the "Bogatyr" society, and some others. But before the October Revolution of 1917. this game was cultivated practically only in the capital of Russia - Petersburg. The new life of basketball in Russia begins in the early twenties. As an independent subject, basketball is introduced first at the Main Military School of Physical Education of Workers, and a little later at the Moscow Institute of Physical Culture.

Graduates of these educational institutions became the first specialists in basketball in our country.

The basketball tournament held in 1923 is considered to be the first championship of the country. at the first All-Union Physical Culture Festival. In the same 1923 appeared in the USSR and the first official rules.

In 1947, the All-Union Basketball Section became a member of the International Basketball Federation. Soviet basketball players received the right to participate in all competitions organized by FIBA. In the same year, the USSR national men's team took part in the European Championship. Our basketball players defeated the teams of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Egypt, Poland and met in the final with the European champion - the team of Czechoslovakia. Having won with a score of 56:37, the USSR national team won the title of European champion.

The USSR men's team was one of the strongest teams in the world during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

In total, in the final stages of 39 tournaments (9 Olympiads, 9 World Championships and 21 Europeans) from 1947 to 1990, in which the USSR team took part, only at the very first World Cup in 1959, the Soviet team failed to get into the number winners, and even then only for political reasons, the team was deprived of gold, since despite the fact that the USSR team won all its matches, it refused to play with the Taiwanese team. Such a unique achievement has not been conquered by any other basketball team.

Here is a complete list of the historical achievements of the USSR men's team:

Olympic champion (2): 1972, 1988.

Olympic silver medalist (4): 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968

Olympic bronze medalist (3): 1968, 1976, 1980

World Champion (3): 1967, 1974, 1982

Vice World Champion (3): 1978, 1986, 1990

European Champion (14): 1947, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1979, 1981, 1985 (From 1957 to 1971, the USSR national team won 8 European Championships in a row).

The performance of the USSR women's team on the international arena looks no less impressive:

The USSR national team - 21 times became the champion of Europe (1950-1956, 1960-1991)

6 times the USSR national team held the title of World Champion (19649, , 1967, 1971, 1975 and 1983) and twice became the bronze medalist (1957 and 1986)

Three times the team became the Champion of the Olympic Games (1976, 1980, 1992 (under the flag of the united team)), in 1988 the USSR women's team became the bronze medalist of the Seoul Olympics.

The history of the Russian national teams, which are the official successors of the USSR national teams, dates back to 1992. The achievements of the Russian national teams are not as great as those of their predecessors, but these teams have something to be proud of!

So, the Russian men's team twice became the silver medalist of the World Championships (1994 and 1998), the Champion (2007), and also the silver medal (1993) and bronze (1997) winner of the European Championships.

The achievements of the Russian women's team are even more significant:

Bronze medalists of the Olympic Games (2): 2004, 2008

World Championship silver medalists (3): 1998, 2002, 2006

European Champions (2): 2003, 2007

European Championship silver medalists (3): 2001, 2005, 2009

Bronze medalists of the European Championships (2): 1995, 1999

Updated on 11.03.2014 21:32

LʼOne, Shved, Oskes and Matheransky discuss the basketball subculture in Russia and around the world

Basketball was the main sports spectacle of the 1990s, and it is quite possible that it will return on a wave of nostalgia. Afisha Daily discussed with Khimki player Alexei Shved, rapper LʼOne and subculture researcher Dmitry Oskes how basketball left the stadiums on the streets and returned back.

Matheran: Let's start by talking about how basketball came into our lives. The hardest thing will be for Shved, because he comes from a sports and coaching family. But in your case, did the game go beyond the professional context? Did the basket make you look cooler?

Swede: I always played streetball because there wasn't enough training in the gym. When I was ten or twelve years old, in a small town - Belgorod - without the Internet, set-top boxes, of course, we spent more time on the street. Then, at a sports school, as a rule, you play with peers, and in streetball you can meet guys five to ten years older. In the summer, when there was no school, I could play ten hours a day. We had a company, about fifteen or twenty people, and so we threw the ball on one site, we could then go to another ring.

LʼOne: I have the same story in Yakutsk, when the Internet is by modem or my father is waiting for a call and does not shine to go online, so you hang out all the time on the street. In general, I got into basketball because I was kicked out of music. In class, we were furious with classmates, parodying the music, and her patience snapped. And while we were sitting in the corridor, we met my future coach: he walked around the school - he recruited children for the team. As a result, she and I won the "Children of Asia" sports contest - a big important tournament. And all our free time we hung out on the street: the father of one of the guys put a ring in the yard - the yard was called Detroit - and we constantly hung out there.

Oskes: I'm probably the most unsportsmanlike person out there, but basketball has had an impact on my life as well. Firstly, in the third grade at school, I received an unsuccessful pass and broke my finger - that's my crooked one so far. Then, in 1996, I came to the USA for the first time and was blown away by how my peers live. It is clear that in Moscow in the second half of the 1990s sneakers already entered everyday life and influenced how teenagers expressed their coolness. But in America, I was struck by the scale of the presence of sports in the lives of children. In schools, basketball was the main sport, and after school everyone ran to play streetball on the playgrounds or in the backyards. Then this style of clothing - long T-shirts with numbers, shorts, high sneakers ...

Matheran: I can't call myself a basketball player, although people talk about me so often. I have like Dovlatov: "You are so tall - you should play basketball." - “And I also play ...” So, I understand well how badly I play, so I like that they take me for a basketball player. It was the same in childhood: I was seriously involved in other sports, and basketball was just a personal love. But he always dressed like a basketball player. In this regard, the question is: how did this external image develop for you - well, in addition to growth? What does it mean to you to look like a basketball player?

Swedish: In the 2000s, I focused on the details - headband, wristbands ... Allen Iverson Allen Iverson 2001 NBA Most Valuable Player. He played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, as well as the Turkish club Beşiktaş - I was his fan. Then, in addition to purely external fashion, it was important to show your “skills” in the game, to have some kind of chips: crossovers, stepbacks ... That is, the game turned out not to win, but to enjoy. The main thing is not to score in the ring, but to beat the defender, deceive, get around beautifully.

LʼOne: I made an image from pieces. In the late 1990s, in addition to the NBA, the AND1 Mixtape AND1 Mixtape Tour was wildly popular. Competitions toured across the States and a DVD series of the same name with their recording from 1998-2008. We downloaded these videos via a dial-up modem, thirty seconds long. They watched in fascination as the guys did crazy things somewhere in Brooklyn. We saw how Jason Williams gave an elbow pass at the All-Star Game - they tried to repeat it in training. These are the "skills"... In my case, basketball turned out to be a continuation of hip-hop. Through the same Iverson, who walked in chains, in a "durag" Headband made of synthetic material, wide trousers and played cool - I wanted to be like him.

And another friend of mine was broadcasting Chinese ESPN via satellite, and we gathered together at ten in the morning to watch the matches. I had to skip chemistry. Then a chemist gave me a trouban, referring to the fact that I certainly wasn’t going to become a chemist. Yakutsk is generally in the ass of the world: you could buy some branded sneakers from us, but Nike, so that “like Vince, Vince Carter, the NBA star of the early 2000s, played for the Toronto Raptors. Participated in the development and advertised the Nike Shox models”, had to be ordered in Moscow.

Matheran: You're lucky yet: you have no idea what it's like to play in Sprandi sneakers.

“Harlem's Rucker Park played the biggest role in making basketball a lifestyle. They played there since the 1950s, but by the early 1970s, a whole cult had grown up around the stadium in the park with their legends - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Julius "Dr. J" by Irving. For black children from a disadvantaged area, this site gave the opportunity to get into the spotlight; they boasted in front of each other and in front of the audience, trying to demonstrate a beautiful game. Well, he boasts of cool sneakers - it also came from there. Another important point, surprisingly, I would call the cover of the single "It Takes Two" by DJ Easy Rock and Rob Bays 1988, where Easy Rock wore custom Nike Air Force 1s on his feet. They were hunted, but these were not sold in stores. This cover became a milestone in the sense that basketball shoes moved even further away from sports and brands, taking on a life of their own on the street. And, of course, Jay Z's loyalty to the white Air Force must be mentioned."

LʼOne: My first basketball shoe was the Converse, with thick soles and a blunt cloth top. And then my mother bought some in the market, I don’t even remember the company.

Matheran: Now veterans like to talk about the Soviet deficit, about the terrible shoes they had to play in. And what happiness it was to get "experimental sneakers", how they polished them with toothpaste so that they were snow-white. But in the late 1990s, it was also not easy: for example, I only saw the original Jordan models in photographs.

Oskes: There was, in fact, access to such a product: the black market for sporting goods was well developed in the USSR from the beginning of 1960s. If you look at the records of games - some CSKA against Zalgiris - then already in the 1980s, all teams and the national team came out in the most relevant sneaker models. That is, they were either officially equipped with these Western brands, or the second way is to buy from speculators. Yes, they fartsevali themselves! This was also a way to earn money when you bring something for sale from a business trip abroad. In the early 1990s, it was basketball shoes that became an indicator of status among black marketeers and the first rappers: they started a mania for sports shoes that broke away from sports. K 19In 1996–1997, basketball, along with hip-hop, was at the height of fashion. Open the Ptyuch magazine of that time and you will immediately see how it influenced street style.

Matheran: At that time, the whole world was going crazy about basketball. Michael Jordan's golden years in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls won three championships in a row and were the most popular club in the world. By the way, Russia, due to the fact that we broadcast once a week, also turned out to be part of the hype. I caught a moment when there was quite a lot of basketball on TV, but there were no real Nike sneakers yet. In the clothing market, the most suitable options were painfully searched for: among the endless Nice and Abibas, which the Chinese did not consider it necessary to make larger than 44–45 sizes, there was something black made of artificial suede. After a couple of months, they had to be sewn up and glued on their own.

The Basketball Diaries: Four Hollywood Movies from the Golden Age of the NBA

Whites Can't Jump (1992)

Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson, two basketball swindlers, are hacking on the streets of Los Angeles.

"Over the Ring" (1994)

Cheeky bricks, graters and threes in mid-1990s Harlem. One of the roles is Tupac Shakur.

Space Jam (1996)

Michael Jordan is dating Bugs Bunny the rabbit. In space. The film is one of the decade's most memorable pop culture slams, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

His Game (1998)

Spike Lee drama with Denzel Washington and young Milla Jovovich about a father in prison and a rising basketball star named Jesus.

Oskes: But the most fashionable player of the era was, of course, Dennis Rodman - extravagant, with wild hair, tattoos, earrings; it was impressive. He was a tough player, and outwardly - an absolute punk.

Matheran: The strength of the NBA is that there are a lot of personalities, teams, life stories. This is an endless complex television series that the world has been watching with varying success for 20 years now. How do they succeed?

Swedish: And they monitor the quality there. In Europe, people go to basketball when strong opponents meet. And in the NBA, when you come to a match, you literally find yourself in a circus. Music plays during the game - it is forbidden in Europe - in one pause the girls dance, in the other - acrobats perform. Then this kiss cam - they showed you on the screen, you kissed. Then a throw from the center, a performance by a children's dance troupe, everyone around is eating, drinking ... People come not only to watch the match, but also relax and have fun. After the games, they disperse to bars to discuss. And for some reason, our sport is arranged in such a way that spectators go as if they were going to work: they looked, they went home.

Matheran: Does this show aspect bother you as an athlete? That in the stands in America, hamburgers are washed down with beer while you give your best.

Swedish: Not at all. Even in Philadelphia, when we started the season with 18 losses, the hall was packed at our matches. People were having fun. Of course, athletes must play to win, but it is also important to think about beauty and spectacle.

Soviet-Russian basketball is completely different. Do you know how we were taught in childhood? If you try to do something beautiful in training, you are upset: "Forget it like a worker-peasant." What you do on the street is no longer allowed in an official match.

LʼOne: I think that the problem of domestic basketball is that it lacks media coverage. We do not make stars from Lekha, from Vorontsevich (Andrey Vorontsevich - player of CSKA and the national team, multiple champion of Russia. - Note ed. ). Or is it some kind of conspiracy of sports managers along with the media? The NBA has long understood that fans go after characters. There are conditional LeBron and Kobe Bryant, but they are too far from us, and American matches can only be watched on tape. And you are close - you can be looked at, admired. In my opinion, media coverage - such that they would be called to "Evening Urgant", recognized on the streets - in general, is not enough for Russian athletes. Our people create stars for themselves - take the same phenomenon of Arshavin's popularity with this laughter. This is what people did. Any kid in Khimki should want to watch Lech Shved play. And how can he want to, if Lekha does not flash anywhere? Moreover, he is one of the most media personalities in domestic basketball.

Swede in the "Soviet" hoodie Vêtements

Oskes: I can comment from the position of a researcher of subcultures. Yes, there is a resurgence of global interest in basketball shoes in 2016. A lot of people walk in them, regardless of what they listen to - rock, rap or techno.

Matheran: Is he nostalgic or not?

Oskes: Can't say. The problem of entertainment and media, as Levan formulated it, also exists, but there is another thing. American basketball came to Russia at 19The 90s as a super-fashionable and ultra-modern phenomenon - along with the Internet, chewing gum and other foreign things with which the spirit of freedom is associated. Now this is no longer the case, time has passed, but the game in Russia has a history from the 90s, and based on it, something should happen in the future. Our task now is to work on it. For example, I want to show real street basketball on Faces & Laces, and my desire is supported by sneaker collectors. After all, basketball is the only sport that has so strongly influenced popular culture: music, street fashion and street art. And it so happened that in Russia now there is more of all this than sports itself.

Matheran: What do you want? Sports managers are conservative. And even I become a conservative when I am offered to organize a tournament at events a la F&L - "Just let it be on an oval-shaped court, because it's conceptual ...". Still, if we are talking about cool basketball, it should be about the ball and the ring.

Oskes: And it's important for us to be able to document the action nicely so that the game looks spectacular. For example, when I pass under the metro bridge on Vorobyovy Gory in the summer and see dudes playing basketball, it inspires me.

Matheran: This, by the way, was the strength of "Rizhka" - a street platform in the Festival Park. There were crowds of people! When I first came there ten years ago, I immediately fell under the young Khvost and Grom (Dmitry Khvostov, now a Lokomotiv-Kuban player, and Pavel Gromyko - Spartak-Primorye. - Note ed. ). Yes, and you could meet there.

Swede: Well, it was in my free time. NBA players can also be found in Rucker Park in Harlem during the summer. In general, it is directly written in the contracts with the players - 10 entries to various events that the team supports. Or go with fans to choose gifts. Or to the clinic to visit sick children.

LʼOne: In Moscow, it is currently not entirely clear where you can meet basketball players off the court. There used to be a club "Heat" on "Belorusskaya" and on Strastnoy. And now there are no rap clubs left - everyone is sitting in bars and "arms".

Matheran: Speaking of rap. I still come from the 1990s and at one of the matches I recorded a TV interview with Legalize. I ask why basketball is not a topic in Russian rap culture. He did not hear me at all - in response, he invited everyone to his concert in some kind of recreation center of railway workers. But the question remains. "Casta" has one song, you also only have ". .. I'm like Misha Gunter in Russian rap."

Possibly the most basketball moment in Russian hip-hop in the last ten years

LʼOne: Sorry, the point is not that I have to dedicate all the songs to my favorite sport. At the expense of the benefits of media resources, Instagram of the same, I try to spread my love. But Russian show business, in principle, is not about sports.

LʼOne: Fitness, crossfit?.. All these newfangled fads, they are to show that you are, they say, on the wave. In general, there is no link between sports and music. It's not cool for us to sit in the front row at the game, the stars are not interested in this. Here in America, when Rihanna or someone else sits on the court side, and they show on the screen how she straightens the strap there, then they make a coub out of it ... One star’s appearance on the game generates a wave of media viruses.

Matheran: Sorry, but I'm going to stupidly ask the same question. You don't write about basketball because it won't come in?

LʼOne: Look, I am also a fan of the Lokomotiv football club. And they tell me from everywhere: write down the Lokomotiv anthem. What? This is absurd! I can't release one song about football and two songs about basketball in one year! Everyone's brains are broken.

Swedish: In any case, the connection of hip-hop with basketball at the level of the same sneakers remains. It's just hard when one or two people in the industry do something, and the rest do not pick up.

Matheran: Does this connection with the street, with rap in the opposite direction, give something to professional athletes?

Swede: As such, we do not have a boundary between street basketball - subcultural - and professional. Everyone communicates, and the players are always ready to take the first step towards the fans so that this sport develops in Russia.

L'One: By the way, I don't know why, but basketball players are very funny guys. It’s hard for me to find among my acquaintances those who break off to dance some kind of idiotic dance at the match, if this is necessary to attract additional attention to the game. Unlike football players. Or male hockey players. This is a very open positive sport. But in general, guys, given the year 2018 and the amount of money spent on football, we must admit that the splash of basketball we want will be overshadowed by new stadiums, national team training, qualifying tournaments...

Matheran: You're talking about money, right? But in Russia, no one has ever run since Soviet times - and look what happened to amateur running now! How the Moscow Marathon has grown into a city-wide event in just three years...

LʼOne: All you need to run is sneakers and a street. And for basketball: sneakers, ball, ring, court...

Matheran: Hockey needs even more equipment, and it is considered a national sport. It seems that in order to play basketball on all school playgrounds in the country, motivation is needed. And I have a question: what kind of motivation could this be? Friends?

Oskes: Association with something right, healthy. And yes, something fashionable as well. You should not think that everything is sad. We are in the process of evolution, and the interests of Russians are being radically swung from one to the other. Mass interest in basketball will return if more efforts are invested in education and infrastructure. Who and where will tell me about street basketball? How can I find out where in my city you can leave the ball in the ring? Who's to say you don't have to be tall to shoot three-pointers?

Swedish: I have a status question. Here in America, who do children want to be? Athletes. But in Russia? MPs or athletes? Ask 20 kids and everyone will say we don't want to be athletes.

LʼOne: But we have cool players - the generation has changed, and we have a cool team that I really like. We certainly have top teams in Europe - CSKA and Khimki. It's nice to watch streetball action. We have affordable stores where you can buy any sneakers. There is everything to popularize basketball. Perhaps this requires the will of sports managers, brands, directors ...

Matheran: Next year, by the way, "Upward Movement" will be released - a film about the victory of the Soviet team at the 72 Olympics. In general, it is likely that the basket should develop from below, and not from above, according to instructions. And in the last few years I see that this is already happening. There are more and more street tournaments, student leagues, school leagues, thousands of teams are already playing. So far, maybe poorly, but regularly. A couple of years ago, I undertook to develop basketball at my university in Vladimir. My friends help me with money: a beautiful uniform, sneakers, food on the road ... And there are many such private stories ...

LʼOne: Or maybe you need a media resource that will include players, replays, sneakers, street fashion, hip-hop, student, children's, and professional basketball. No, seriously - in sports they underestimate the power of the media. One minute video for Instagram featuring Lehi or some other prominent player can start the process of change. In the music world, when a new product hits the listener from all sides, you have to learn how to generate better content and scatter it properly to grab attention. It's the same in basketball! We must generate attention-grabbing content. In America, it is created by the National Basketball Association. And with us everything is based on disparate fanatics.

“The globalization of basketball in the 1990s was influenced by the strategy of the NBA, which at some point began to treat sports as show business and sell broadcasts to other countries. Popularization was facilitated by the fact that Michael, together with Nike, launched his own brand, and a number of athletes released branded sneakers. The biggest change of today compared to that era in technology is, first of all, in the influence of social networks on sports, on its perception. Basketball has become more open: fans now have the opportunity to follow their idols off the courts using Instagram. Everything has become more: sports stars, and sneakers too.”

Matheran: All right. Let's not reduce the conversation to minor notes, let's say why we love basketball.

LʼOne: This is a beautiful game. It can change at lightning speed within the allotted 40 minutes.

Oskes: Industry! This technology is crazy, the advanced design of sneakers comes from basketball, and again, few people talk about it. The mission of Faces & Laces is to draw attention to the meaning of basketball through their cultural and expositional projects.

Matheran: And I also love basketball because of the colorful characters. Of the modern heroes, LeBron is an absolute alien. It's easier to identify with Stephen Curry. And Jordan, by the way, was also different in this: he was almost a living person, not 2.


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