Words by Jeffrey Arthur
Before going courtside at Hoopsfix’s All-Star Classic event, we spoke to Sam Neter and Steve Bucknall about the state of British basketball.
My introduction to basketball was perhaps a little unconventional. It came courtesy of John Schultz’s 2002 blockbuster, Like Mike. And as far as feel-good films go, it does the job, portraying the love affair many have with the game with comedic flair. In the years since – not that I’m attributing the sport’s popularity to the film – the global appeal of basketball has never been higher. It’s arguably the coolest sport, one that continuously attracts the biggest, hype-inducing names on the planet. You’ve never seen Adele pitch side at Lords – and seriously, did you see President Obama’s viral “that’s what I do” clip?
The kids will forever be down with what’s cool, explaining the global boom in people shooting hoops. And whilst there remain plenty of opportunities to make it big in the US – it is one of their national sports, after all – other countries have struggled to support the wealth of basketballing talent. Take our own United Kingdom, for example, a trio of sports have long dominated the national conversation: football, cricket and rugby. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that. It’s rather to make the point that basketball should and must be supported and platformed like the others – and I have the stats to back it up: more than one million British people regularly play basketball, and among those aged 18-34, 14% play every week. That makes it Britain’s joint-second most popular team sport among young people – after football, of course – tied with cricket, netball and softball, and ahead of rugby union and rugby league.
Those aren’t some made-up stats – they’re straight from Sport England’s recent Active Lives survey. British basketball has a promising future – and nowhere was this more evident than at the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic event last Saturday. Before it, I spoke to its founder Sam Neter and British basketball legend, Steve Bucknall. “Me and my dad ended up building a hoop in my back garden” is how Sam explains his beginnings in basketball. It’s been a long love affair, and one that at one stage involved big plans to end up in the NBA: “I was so sure of myself. I had no plan B; it was like I am going to the NBA. It’s only now, you know, 30 odd years later… that I realised how far off I was.”
Playing the sport at the highest level isn’t for everyone. And as we chat, I’m minded to think of football’s own José Mourinho, an example of someone obviously destined to excel in other areas of their chosen sport. Passion is an often overused word, something cheaply distributed as praise of any and everyone. For Sam, though, it’s dead right. Armed with a litany of examples, he points to the obvious benefits of the sport. But far from being supported, British basketball has long had to survive and thrive on the passion and time of those in love with it, something Sam points out: “the people that are making those decisions [investments] in government, you know, they went to private schools. They played netball, football, and cricket. We don’t have people in positions of power… fighting our corner in all these meetings.”
At this point, Steve Bucknall – the first Brit to play in the NBA – joins. Fresh from “giving some work experience kids things to do”, he explains differences in the UK and US’s approach to basketball: “there’s a lot more appetite for basketball, obviously, in America. Everybody kind of understands it, gets it. Just the sporting culture over there is a lot different to ours.”
The media attention is also very different. In the US, it’s widely watched, and media teams, personalities and organisations regularly scramble to capture games across the country. Morning talk shows are full of basketball segments – and I’d be very disappointed if I had to explain the hype surrounding ‘March Madness.’ In the UK, the opposite is true. Few – if any – media outlets give the sport the attention it deserves. It’s something that needs changing, they both tell me – fast. To round off our chat, I ask an age-old question: Jordan or James? For both, Jordan is the answer. It’s not even close, they insist. Steve goes further, uttering words most dream of saying: “When I first met Michael Jordan.”
Two days after, at the Hoopsfix All-Star Classic event, we paced past queues of people, collecting our media passes to cover the event. There were free Jordan t-shirts and shorts on offer, a nice sponsorship touch from basketball’s biggest brand. Sporting a Hoopsfix grey t-shirt, with the Jordan logo stitched on the top left corner, we stepped past hoards of paying fans to resume our seats, with cameras at the ready to capture the best British basketballing talent.
The players, too, had some cool drip of their own. They came dressed head-to-toe in Jordans, shoes included. And before the festivities began, I had to chance to shoot the breeze with two players. Declan Tchuenté-Kom, a young player from Sheffield, spoke of the opportunity that comes with an event like this. He’s been playing since he was 11, introduced to the sport, he tells me, by his older cousin. He dreams of the NBA, prefers James to Jordan – and thinks a lot more could be done to support basketball in the UK. Sat next to him is Charles Okafor, another young player from Sheffield (must be something in the water). Like Declan, the NBA is the big goal – and he too thinks there’s a lot more to be done to support the UK game. He won’t entertain any talk of James being better than Jordan, though. And after our chat, both stepped out on-court, impressing in the dunk contest (Charles took home the winning trophy).
On the day, dressed in whites and blacks, the girls and boys teams (separately) battled it out – showcasing the best of the British game. In front of a full, cheering crowd – and with the likes of Santino le Saint and host Harry Pinero in attendance – the best young hoppers in the UK proved the need to invest heavily in the game’s future. The 1500 seater arena was buzzing – but when a young, 17-year-old player by the name of Quinn Ellis began to play, the damn roof nearly blew off. He shuffled, danced and shot his way to stardom. In his own way, he was the real-life Calvin Cambridge from Like Mike. Is there a greater compliment for a young star?
When all was said and done, the crowd favourite collected the MVP award. But a few feet away, pacing around in shorts, a hat and a magnificently grown beard was the real, true MVP: Sam Neter. Whilst crowds cheered and players played, Hoopsfix’s founder roamed around, headpiece in tow, doing what sporting authorities, brands and people like you and I need to do more often: supporting and amplifying British basketball.
Long after the last bits of confetti were swept up, I imagine him planning ahead to next year’s event, dreaming of bigger and better ways to highlight Britsh basketballing talent. With people like him, British basketball is in safe hands.
It just needs the support and investment of those in charge – and it needs you to pay close attention.
Speaking of basketball, here’s how Michael Jordan became the king of trainers