Named after an African-American riverworker who became a Memphis hero in 1925 by singlehandedly rescuing 32 people from drowning in the Mississippi River, Tom Lee Park is a $61 million, five-years-in-the-making project designed by leading global architecture names, Studio Gang and SCAPE.

The architectural centerpiece of Tom Lee Park is the Sunset Canopy, a soaring open-air structure whose ground surface is a multi-color basketball court based on “Democratic Experiment: Extended,” 2023, a painting by the acclaimed New York-based artist James Little, who was born and reared in Memphis. The pavilion is named in memory of the late Tyre Nichols, the young Black man who lost his life earlier this year at the hands of local police.

The court has been created with the support of Five-Star Basketball and the direction of Project Backboard, a non-profit organization that has collaborated with artists to reimagine more than 60 public basketball courts with site-specific works of art since 2015. 

In fitting fashion, Memphis’ own Penny Hardaway, a four-time NBA All-Star and current Head Coach of the Memphis Tigers, inaugurated the newly unveiled court on Saturday, September 2, with a made free throw on his first attempt. 

While it is common playground parlance and practice to “never leave on a miss,” it’s also fundamental to make sure you launch with a bang. And that’s exactly what Tom Lee Park has done. From art to architecture, views to vibes.

It’s guaranteed to be a staple on the ‘Gram for years.

The post Penny Hardaway Unveils Newly Renovated Court at Tom Lee Park in Memphis appeared first on SLAM.

This past June, France’s Victor  Wembanyama, was selected No. 1 overall in the NBA draft, a 7-4 unicorn (and recent SLAM cover subject) hailed as a franchise savior in San Antonio. Then in early July, Paris celebrated the 20th anniversary of Quai 54, an international rendezvous of hip-hop and basketball sponsored by Jordan Brand, with guest appearances by Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson and Jayson Tatum. And Tony Parker, four-time NBA champion and lead facilitator during the Spurs’ era of dominance, will be the first Frenchman immortalized in the Naismith Hall of Fame by the time you’re reading this.

But the country’s roundball roots run deep. Real deep. Though it’s not a widely known fact, France is the birthplace of European basketball. 

On December 23, 1893, only two years after Dr. James Naismith tacked up a pair of peach baskets at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, MA, Naismith’s former student Melvin Rideout organized the first game outside of the US at 14Trévise, at the YMCA Paris which opened earlier that same year.

For the next century and change, hoops have been a year-round endeavor at 14Trévise, giving it the unique distinction as the “oldest surviving basketball court in the world.”

The gym is a carbon-copy replica of the Springfield Y, complete with an overhead wooden running track, two steel support pillars that run vertically down the middle of the court and iconic oak herringbone parquet floors. 

However, 14Trévise encompasses much more than basketball. A beacon of innovation at the time of its inauguration in 1893, the building brought together sports and intellectual and cultural activities, featuring a student hostel, theater, swimming pool, bowling alley, library and restaurant.

In 1993, for its 100th anniversary, 14Trévise was honored by the French Historical Monuments Administration for its “originality as a social, educational and sports complex,” thereby protecting its status as an original 19th century Y building.

From our perspective, any building with the legacy and lineage of 14Trévise not only deserves recognition, but restoration. And it’s finally happening. 

The Y is currently undergoing a $10 million overhaul to preserve the building’s architectural heritage and integrity while continuing its social mission to use sports and the arts for youth empowerment. 

In order to reopen for next summer’s Paris Games, 14Trévise closed its doors in early 2023 for 18 months of construction. Although the famous court will not host any official competitions, it will be a must-see destination on the Olympic map and all Olympic basketball games will be screened inside the gym for fans.

“Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee, was a supporter of the YMCA Paris from the start, and would be proud to see it renovated for the ’24 Games,” Christelle Bertho, architect and historian of the project, tells SLAM. “However, the gym will not become a museum. It will stay as vibrant as it has been since 1893—a much-used space for social, sports and cultural activities [that] will [also] host many special events.”

Hoopers from all over the world habitually stop in at the YMCA Paris to put up shots and travel back in time. Stephen Curry, Tyler Herro, Rudy Gobert, Boris Diaw and Nicolas Batum have all made pilgrimages to 14Trévise and left their marks on the place. And now, you can too, whether you travel to Paris or not. 

Remember those iconic oak herringbone parquet floors we mentioned earlier? Well, starting at €100 (approximately $100), any fan can “adopt” one of 2,024 gym floorboards—via adopteunelame.com—to have their names etched into hoops history and be featured on the donor board upon the Y’s reopening.

“Because there are so many basketball lovers all over the world, it was dear to us to offer an opportunity to get involved in our unique restoration project and share our passion and dedication for saving this historical gym,” Danuta Pieter, philanthropy advisor to YMCA Paris, tells SLAM. “We already have supporters of all ages and from all continents.”

Floorboards aside, all eyes will be on Wemby this season and Paris next summer. And when 14Trévise reopens its doors, France’s influence and imprint on basketball culture will continue to grow.

Word to Dr. Naismith!

Photos via Ludovic Marquier.

The post Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the World’s Oldest Surviving Basketball Court is Being Fully Restored appeared first on SLAM.

Public health officials are urgently advising everyone to hunker down and practice social distancing, which means a lot of downtime with no live basketball to watch. We got you covered…

SLAM brings you an exhaustive list of every basketball movie and documentary we can think of—along with where you can watch it—to fill the void.

Enjoy, fam:

Note: We’ll be watching some of these with you via social media soon. Get hype for SLAM movie nights…

MOVIES

1000 to 1: The Corey Weissman Story (2014) // Tubi

A Season on the Brink (2002) // YouTube

Above the Rim (1994) // YouTube Movies

Air Bud (1997) // YouTube Movies

Amateur (2018) // Netflix

American Streetballers (2009) // Tubi

Annie O (1995) // Tubi

Basketball 3:16 (2016) // Tubi

Blue Chips (1994) // Tubi

Brotherly Love (2015) // Amazon Prime Video

Celtic Pride (1996) // YouTube Movies

Church Ball (2006) // DVD

Coach (1978) // Tubi

Coach Carter (2005) // YouTube Movies

Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975) // YouTube

Crossover (2006) // YouTube Movies

Dear Basketball (2017) // Daily Motion

Double Teamed (2002) // Disney+

Eddie (1996) // YouTube

Fast Break (1979) // Vudu

Finding Forrester (2000) // YouTube Movies

Full-Court Miracle (2003) // Disney+

Glory Road (2006) // YouTube Movies & Cinemax

He Got Game (1998) // YouTube Movies & Cinemax

Heaven is a Playground (1991) // DVD

High Flying Bird (2019) // Netflix

Home of the Giants (2007) // YouTube Movies

Hoosiers (1986) // YouTube Movies

Hurricane Season (2009) // Amazon Video

Inside Moves (1980) // YouTube Movies

Just Wright (2010) // YouTube Movies

Juwanna Mann (2002) // YouTube Movies

Kazaam (1996) // YouTube Movies

Like Mike (2002) // YouTube Movies

Like Mike 2: Street Ball (2006) // YouTube Movies

Little Hoop Dreams (2016) // Tubi

Love & Basketball (2000) // YouTube Movies

Maurie (1973) // YouTube

Michael Jordan: An American Hero (1999) // YouTube

One on One (1977) // YouTube Movies

On the Court (2017) // Tubi

Passing Glory (1999) // Amazon Prime

Rebound: Legend of Earl The Goat (1996) // YouTube

Saints of Mt. Christopher (2012) // Amazon Video

Semi-Pro (2008) // Netflix

SLAM Dunk Ernest (1995) // Tubi

Slamma Jamma (2017) // Prime Video

Space Jam (1996) // Netflix

Spirit of the Game (2016) // Tubi

Sunset Park (1996) // Crackle

Teen Wolf (1985) // Tubi

The 6th Man (1997) // YouTube Movies

The Air Up There (1994) // YouTube Movies

The Basketball Diaries (1996) // DIRECTV

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979) // YouTube Movies

The Mighty Macs (2009) // Tubi

The Minis (2007) // Tubi

The Pistol: Birth of a Legend (1991) // PureFlix

The Red Sneakers (2002) // YouTube

The Way Back (2020) // In Theaters Now

The Winning Season (2009) // YouTube Movies

Thunderstruck (2012) // YouTube Movies

Uncle Drew (2018) // YouTube Movies

Uncut Gems (2020) // YouTube Movies

White Men Can’t Jump (1992) // YouTube Movies

Winning Season (2010) // YouTube Movies

Wolves (2016) // Netflix

DOCUMENTARIES

1 Love (2003) // DVD

A Cut Above: 100 Years of Duke Basketball (2005) // YouTube

A Cut Above: The Legacy of New York City Basketball and the ACC // YouTube

A Kid From Coney Island (2020) // Pre-order

Amazing (2012) // Amazon Prime Video

Bad Boys (2014) // ESPN+

Ball Above All, Volume 1 (2000) // YouTube

Ballin’ Outta Control (2001) // Vimeo

Baltimore Boys (2017) // ESPN+

Basketball: A Love Story (2018) // ESPN+

Basketball Jones: The Overseas Journey (2015) // Vimeo

Basketball or Nothing // Netflix

Benji (2012) // ESPN+

Ben Simmons: One and Done (2016) // Showtime

Bernie and Ernie (2013) // ESPN+

Best Shot (2018) // YouTube Premium

Big Bang in Pyongyang (2015) // Tubi

Bill Russell: My Life, My Way (2000) // YouTube

Carmelo’s Way (2010) // Amazon Video

Celtics-Lakers: Best of Enemies (2017) // ESPN +

Chi-Town (2018) // Amazon Prime Video

Chiefs (2015) // Tubi

City Dump (1998) // HBO

COWBOYS! Story of the 1943 Wyoming Championship Team (2018) // Vimeo

Doin’ it in the Park (2012) // Web

Dream Team (2012) // YouTube

Duke 91 & 92: Back to Back (2012) // iTunes

Duke-Carolina: The Blue Blood Rivalry (2013) // Tubi

Elevate (2011) // Tubi

Fathers of the Sport (2008) // YouTube

Finding Big Country (2018) // YouTube

Free Spirits (2013) // ESPN+

Gunnin’ for that №1 Spot (2008) // YouTube Movies

Guru of Go (2010) // ESPN+

Hardwood (2005) // Amazon Prime Video

Hardwood Dreams (1993) // DVD

Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius Mitchell (2003) // YouTube

Hoop Dreams (1994) // HBO

Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters (2018) // Google Play

Hoops U (2015) // Showtime

I Hate Christian Laettner (2015) // ESPN+

Iverson (2014) // Showtime

Jacksonville Who (2019) // Amazon Prime Video

Kareem: Minority of One (2015) // HBO Now

Killer Bees (2018) // Amazon Prime Video

Kobe Bryant’s Muse (2015) // Showtime

Kobe Doin’ Work (2009) // Sling TV

Last Days of Knight (2018) // ESPN+

Legacy: Bob Hurley (2017) // Showtime

Lenny Cooke (2013) // YouTube Movies

Lessons of Basketball and War (2015) // DVD

Linsanity (2013) // Tubi

Longshot: The Brian Upson Story (2017) // YouTube

Long Shot — Kevin Laue (2013) // Vudu

Long Shots: The Life & Times of the ABA (1997) // YouTube

Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals (2010) // HBO Now & Hulu

March of the Troopers (2013) // Amazon Prime Video

Medora (2013) // Tubi

Michael Jordan to the Max (2000) // YouTube

Mind/Game: The Unique Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw (2018) // Vimeo

More Than a Game (2008) // YouTube Movies

Morgan Wootten: The Godfather of Basketball (2017) // Vudu

Morningside 5 (2017) // ESPN +

Mr. Chibbs (2016) // Amazon Video

Nash (2013) // Amazon Video

No Crossover: The Allen Iverson Story (2010) // ESPN+

Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot (2014) // YouTube Movies

On Point (2020) // Crackle

On the Map (2016) // YouTube Movies

On The Shoulders of Giants (2011) // Amazon Prime Video

Once Brothers (2010) // ESPN+

One in a Billion (2016) // Netflix

One Night in March (2018) // YouTube

One Not Done (2017) // ESPN+

Perfect in ’76 (2017) // Showtime

Phi Slama Jama (2016) // ESPN+

Pirate Pride: The Winning Tradition of Proviso East Basketball (2018) // Vimeo

Pistol Pete: The Life and Times (2001) // YouTube

Playing for the Mob (2014) // ESPN +

Pooh (2019) // Stadium

Prayer for a Perfect Season (2011) // DVD

Q-Ball (2019) // Netflix

Quantum Hoops (2007) // Amazon Hoops

Quiet Storm (2019) // Showtime

Requiem for the Big East (2014) // ESPN+

Rock Rubber 45s (2018) // YouTube Movies

Rodman: For Better or Worse (2020) // ESPN+

Salaam Dunk (2011) // Tubi

Saved for a Reason (2016) // Amazon Prime Video

Shot in the Dark (2017) // Fox Now

Shut Up and Dribble (2018) // Showtime

Sole Man (2015) // ESPN+

Sonicsgate: Requiem for a Team (2009) // Vudu

Soul in the Hole (1997) // DVD

Streetball Confidential, Volume 1 (2004) // DVD

Survive and Advance (2013) // ESPN+

The 84 Draft (2014) // YouTube

The American Game (1979) // YouTube

The Announcement (2012) // ESPN+

The Carter Effect (2017) // Netflix

The Class That Saved Coach K (2019) // ACC Network

The Doctor (2013) // YouTube

The Dominican Dream (2019) // ESPN+

The Drew (2015) // Tubi

The Fab Five (2011) // ESPN+

The First Basket (2008) // DVD only

The Gray Seasons (2014) // Tubi

The Heart of the Game (2005) // YouTube Movies

The Iran Job (2012) // Tubi

The Legend of Swee Pea (2015) // Vimeo

The Other Dream Team (2012) // Amazon Video

The Rivalry: Red vs. Blue (2015) // Tubi

The Street Stops Here (2010) // Showtime

The Youngest Guns // DVD

There’s No Place Like Home (2012) // ESPN+

This Magic Moment (2016) // ESPN+

Through the Fire (2005) // Facebook

Unbanned (2018) // Hulu

UnbelieVAble (2019) // ACC Network

Unbelievable is Believable Here (2016) // Tubi

Unguarded (2011) // ESPN+

WAH-NEE PRIDE (2017) // Vimeo

Whatever Happened to Michael Ray? (2000) // YouTube

When The Garden Was Eden (2014) // ESPN+

Winning Time (2010) // ESPN+

Without Bias (2009) // ESPN+

Women of Troy (2020) // HBO

Year of the Yao (2004) // YouTube Movies

The post Every Basketball Movie and Documentary + Where to Watch 🎥🍿 appeared first on SLAM.

But this is not your typical open gym run. The song and setting have deeper meaning here. When you step inside the double-red doors of the St. Francis Youth Center, a recreation hub carved out of the old St. Adalbert’s Parochial School in the Melrose section of The Bronx, hoops and holiness converge.

Beyond the statue of Jesus at the gym’s entrance and up a short flight of stairs, three Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, fitted in ash-gray religious habits and sandals, are chopping it up with a group of 20-somethings getting ready to play pick-up. They joke, they banter, they compare early NBA MVP candidates.

To an outsider, it makes for a unique dynamic and display. A group of Friars and locals, from different walks of life, bonding through basketball. To those in the circle, the open gyms are tried and true, a well-worn tradition of 33 years and running.

It all started back in 1987, with $800 and the approval from Cardinal John O’Connor, then Archbishop of New York. The Friars set up shop in a neglected Polish parish on East 156th Street and Melrose Avenue. Their mission was simple: to serve and live alongside the poor by establishing homeless shelters, soup kitchens and community programs. Their method, however, was hard: To accomplish all of this, while meeting their own needs, through begging.

And this was the South Bronx of the ’80s, a different era with a different level of urgency.

“They called it Fort Apache back then. People selling drugs on the streets, gunshots all the time. Empty parking lots, burned-out buildings, burned-out cars. It was rough,” says Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, a point guard-turned-priest from Orange County, CA, and Friar since 2009, who oversees the open gyms today. 

Ever the facilitator, Fr. Mark-Mary sees the game as an organic way to engage with the community, both then and now.

“Basketball from the very beginning was common ground. It was a bridge, and it was a way for us to connect as monks… guys from one background living and serving a community where we didn’t grow up.”

More than a platform to evangelize, the St. Francis Youth Center is a refuge from the temptations and dangers of the streets, including increased gang activity, and drug and substance abuse that plague the neighborhood. For those who participate in the run, it’s a blessing and brotherhood.

“I’ve been coming here for 20 years,” says Celso Gotay, a lifelong Melrose native. “This program is big for the community. It’s a family. We hang together, battle together, have fun together. The Friars pour themselves into their work, they teach us about the faith and are always there for us. This program has kept me off the streets and out of trouble.”

Francis Lino, a pharmacist technician and unapologetic Kobe Bryant fan, has been involved with the youth center and open gym initiative since he was 7 years old and credits the Friars with reinforcing his faith.

“I did all of the after-school programs. The church part of the program as well,” Lino tells SLAM. “It’s been great. Life is similar to the game of basketball. It’s always changing. You have to make adjustments. You’ve got to learn from it, grow from it. When you don’t have the strength to go through it, you have God.” 

For the Friars, that’s all they have and all they need. All by choice. This is their vocation. It’s a lifestyle of sacrificial service; they live and serve together as brothers of one family.

“I’m so convinced of the value of playing a team sport and taking on a team identity,” Fr. Mark-Mary continues. “Even in the spiritual life. It’s not just me and the goal, but it’s us and our success. It’s always communal. Becoming a Friar, becoming consecrated to God, is like taking a charge, diving for a loose ball, or guarding the guy nobody else wants to guard. It’s sacrificing yourself and dedicating yourself so that the whole team wins. And yeah, I love it.”

Fr. Pierre Toussant, a devout hooper and Friar of 11 years, agrees.

“A lot of our ministry involves personal encounters. It’s about getting to know the person in front of you, restoring whatever their physical and spiritual needs are. But that requires teamwork and making a connection. Basketball makes that initial connection easier and more real.”

—

Follow Peter Robert Casey on Twitter @prcdotwork.

The post OPEN GYM, OPEN HEART: Friars Bond With South Bronx Community Through Basketball appeared first on SLAM.

The collaboration will take shape July 15-18 at the inaugural NBPA x Five-Star Camp at Basketball City in NYC, and will provide boys and girls ages 9-17 with a structured basketball learning experience emphasizing fundamental skill development and quality competition.

SIGN UP FOR THE NBPA x FIVE-STAR CAMP HERE

“We are excited about this collaboration and the impact it will have on the next generation of youth basketball,” Dan Gladstone, the NBPA’s Senior Vice President of Grassroots Basketball and Business Development, told SLAM. “Combining our passion for grassroots basketball with such a historic camp in Five-Star, we are confident that this partnership will build a unique experience for campers and leave a legacy that will help to continue to grow the game we all know and love.”

Five-Star traces its roots back to the summer of 1966, when two founders— Howard Garfinkel and Will Klein—six counselors, and 62 campers converged on an outdoor campground in upstate New York to feast on the finer fundamentals of basketball.

Future Hall of Famers, Hubie Brown and Chuck Daly, taught and lectured at that very first session in ’66. Bob Knight invented the concept of “teaching stations” as the camp’s lead instructor two years later. And hundreds of future NBA and college coaches, including Rick Pitino, John Calipari, and Brad Stevens would all launch their careers on Five-Star’s courts.

More than a cradle for coaches, Five-Star has been a proving ground for everyday blue-collar players and blue chips alike. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Chris Paul (current NBPA President), Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Kemba Walker, and Kyrie Irving have all worn the iconic orange and white camp t-shirt.

Over 50 years and 250,000 campers later, Five-Star remains a rite of passage for young basketball players and who better to partner with than the NBPA, which runs successful camps of their own and whose cadre of players are the game’s most globally recognized.

—

CHECK OUT THE FIVE-STAR WEBSITE

SEE MORE NBPA CAMPS.

GRAB YOUR COPY OF SLAM 222

The post SUMMER SCHOOL: The Iconic Five-Star Basketball Camp Is BACK appeared first on SLAM.

Christian Laettner’s indelible turnaround, game-winning shot. Tyus Edney going coast-to-coast for the win. A jubilant Jimmy V running around the court searching for someone to hug. Magic and Bird squaring off for first time in the ’79 title game, ushering in March Madness as we know it today. 

Oh, and don’t forget about the iconic unis and shorts, which evoke instant nostalgia and connect us back to the fond moments of yesteryear. Those shorts—and the memories they trigger—are now available in the marketplace. 

Meet 19nine, the world’s only throwback college basketball apparel company, aptly located in basketball’s Heartland of Indiana. Founded by Josh Barnett, Aaron Loomer and Chad Amo in 2011, 19nine—a nod to the old distance for the college three-point line—focuses on recreating retro shorts and vintage t-shirts that celebrate college basketball history and the players and teams we love.

“What we have found is people don’t really buy a shirt or pair of shorts,” Barnett told SLAM. “What they are buying is the story. The better the story, the better the response to a product. Nostalgia plays a huge part in what we try to do.”

19nine currently has licenses with 22 universities—including Indiana, Purdue, St. John’s, Wake Forest, Xavier, UNLV and Bird and Magic’s alma maters of Michigan State and Indiana State, respectively—with two more schools coming on board this March, dropping the moment brackets are revealed on Selection Sunday. 

How fitting, especially for a company hyper-focused on marrying quality feel and timeless authenticity. 

“It was extremely important for us to bring the vintage feel of the ’80s and ’90s to our shorts,” Barnett remarked. “Our mesh-poly blend to give the shorts the heavy feel of yesteryear but with a smooth inside lining for the comfort of today.”

Barnett and company take their mission—capturing the emotion, essence and look of theirs schools’ most memorable teams of the past—very seriously. 

“In a sense, we view ourselves as the curators of college basketball history and we tell that story through apparel. We don’t want to let these players, teams, coaches, moments go un-celebrated,” Barnett said.

With the calendar getting ready to flip toward the onset of Madness, 19nine will be busy watching games, shipping product and executing toward their greater vision of becoming a licensed vendor of all Power-5 Conference teams. 

“Every school has a great story to tell and we’d love to be the ones tasked with doing so,” he said. “I think it’s literally impossible to run out of college basketball stories to tell but until we do, there’s work left to do.”

The post 19nine Brings Back College Nostalgia with Retro Apparel appeared first on SLAM.

In the early 2000s, Iowa native Doug Campbell launched Airborne Athletics and pioneered the AirCat Volleyball Training Machine to serve up precise throws for hitting, digging, setting, tipping and blocking drills.

What Campbell served up next, however, forever changed how basketball players and programs would get better. Recognizing the need for a more versatile and innovative product in the hoops market, Campbell prototyped Dr. Dish with a tech-enabled vision to build the “complete player.”

By 2014, all Dr. Dish machines were redesigned into today’s revolutionary SMART models that include an industry-first phone app and Training Management System to keep up with the analytics age.

“One of our favorite sayings is, ‘Shooters are made, not born,’ Campbell, Founder and CEO at Airborne Athletics, says. “It should be no secret that countless, purposeful reps are necessary to build a great shooter and there aren’t any shortcuts to get there.”

Nature or nurture aside, the genius of Dr. Dish is where efficiency and effectiveness meet.

“Our machines can pass out 1,500 reps per hour, but we’re more interested in providing workouts that simulate game scenarios and translate into game situations,” Campbell adds. “Through our innovations and 100-plus provided game-like workouts, including ballhandling and conditioning drills, we feel we’re accomplishing this on another level.”

Another level may be an understatement.

Dr. Dish customers include thousands of high schools, top-notch trainers (Drew Hanlen, DJ Sackmann, Jordan Lawley), blue-chip college programs (Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Texas A&M), NBA teams (Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers) and players (Zach LaVine, Mike Conley Jr, Langston Galloway).

As Dr. Dish continues to build out its user base, the aim is to provide more comprehensive leaderboards, challenges and competitions to increase player engagement. For example, a player in Australia can now compete with a player in Florida within the same workout and actually have verified results.

“We’re most excited about the comprehensive training analytics our machine and app provide, as well as a library of world-class trainers that we’ve partnered with to provide the best instruction at your fingertips,” says Jefferson Mason, Dr. Dish Marketing Lead. “You can now literally watch trainers like Drew Hanlen break down a pro-level move and then execute it in a complete workout using the Dr. Dish.”

And Dr. Dish is just getting started.

“While we remain very proud of the products we’ve created and the brand and community we’ve built,” Mason says, “we also know we have a ton more work to do and look forward to the journey.”

The post Dr. Dish Is Revolutionizing Basketball Training 💪 appeared first on SLAM.

It takes only a minute for Allen—Duke’s captain, lone senior and only non-freshman starter—to begin ribbing the youngsters. As the jokes roll, the group breaks out in laughter and Trent Jr drapes his right arm around the fourth-year veteran in playful solidarity.

That’s what brothers do. They laugh together, they compete together, they fight together—sometimes with each other, but always for each other.

Duke’s brotherhood defines its program and goes back decades. The Brotherhood—yes, known as #TheBrotherhood on social media—is a relationship forged by bond, not blood, but it runs just as deep

“What The Brotherhood means to me is, simply, unity and togetherness,” Trent Jr tells SLAM. “Being part of something that’s bigger than yourself, fighting for someone other than yourself, just always looking out for the next man and your brother.”

“The Brotherhood is basically the bond that is Duke Basketball,” Allen says. “It’s former players from 20 years ago to guys now and to future commits. It’s the whole thing. You share a common experience of playing here, playing at Duke, playing for Coach.”

“Coach” is Mike Krzyzewski, the center of it all. The HOF bench boss, now in his 38th season at Duke, has amassed over 1,000 wins, five National Championships, 12 ACC regular season titles and 14 ACC Tournament crowns.

Hundreds of players have come through Coach K’s program, and this season alone there are 19 former Blue Devils on NBA rosters [20 if you include Boston’s Semi Ojeleye, who finished his collegiate career at SMU—Ed.], including Allen’s former teammate and roommate, Justise Winslow, a third-year forward with the Miami Heat.

Allen and Winslow remain tight until this day, forever linked by the 2015 National Championship banner hanging from Cameron’s rafters. Winslow attests that The Brotherhood extends all the way to the League.

“Everyone from the coaching staff, trainers, the entire Krzyzewski clan, Sam the chef and the players make it feel like a family,” Winslow says. “But, to be honest, I started feeling more a sense of The Brotherhood once I got to the League. Seeing guys on different teams, regardless of age, you know you can go and talk about anything, whether it’s Duke-related or not.”

Winslow makes it back to Durham on occasion and his presence has had an impact on Allen’s current roommate, Javin DeLaurier, a 6-10 sophomore forward from Shipman, VA. DeLaurier wears Winslow’s old number (12) and says the NBA forward and other former Duke players regularly give him tips on the college game and “life in general.”

“I think the thing most people don’t understand is that it’s all-inclusive and lifelong,” DeLaurier says. “Guys that played before I even picked up a basketball come back and treat me like we’ve known each other forever. I think that’s the most under-appreciated thing about it.”

On a wall behind Krzyzewski’s desk hangs a photo from February ’09 of Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson as they walk off the court at Maryland’s Comcast Center after a thrilling 78-67 win over the Terps.

The former Duke standouts are both smiling, Henderson’s left arm wrapped around Scheyer’s shoulder. It’s a specific time and situation, but it conjures up the image of Allen and Trent Jr’s own interaction during our photo shoot. Two guys with different stories, from contrasting backgrounds, bonding through Duke basketball.

Krzyzewski lauded the photo in a Duke Basketball video published before the season, “Gifts of the Game: Brotherhood.”

“The picture with Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer is one of my favorites because it’s really what I want every young man who plays for me to experience and that is the feeling of The Brotherhood,” Coach K says in the vid.

Scheyer, who helped Duke capture its fourth title in 2010, currently serves as an assistant coach for the Blue Devils. That’s no coincidence. All of Scheyer’s colleagues—Associate Head Coach Jeff Capel, Assistant Coach Nate James and Special Assistant Nolan Smith—have played for Krzyzewski. It’s culture by design.

This collection of former Duke players-turned-coaches help serve as connective tissue from past generations to the present. It provides a continuity that Krzyzewski’s current team is trying to learn. The 2017-18 Blue Devils are not your typical band of Duke brothers.

After losing four of his top five scorers at the end of last season—three to the NBA and one to graduation—Krzyzewski hauled in a heralded quartet of five-star freshmen, including two elite bigs in Bagley and Carter Jr, a ready-made scorer in Trent Jr, and Duval, an explosive PG to pair with Allen. All are likely one-and-done prospects.

Despite a dramatic loss in offensive production and experience, Duke and its reloaded roster entered the season No. 1 in the AP poll for the second consecutive year and ninth time overall.

The young Blue Devils matched early expectations by reeling off 11 straight wins to open the 2017-18 campaign, including notable victories over then No. 2 Michigan State at the Champions Classic and then No. 7 Florida in the championship game of the Phil Knight Invitational.

Bagley, a walking double-double who graced our SLAM 212 cover, became the first player in Duke history to register consecutive 30-point, 15-rebound outings. The 6-11 forward leads the ACC in scoring (21.4 ppg) and rebounding (11.2 rpg) and has already claimed six Conference Player of the Week honors.

Allen, the Jacksonville, FL, native and Final Four hero his freshman year, is having a solid senior season, averaging 14.5 ppg and a career-high 4.4 apg.

His backcourt mate, Duval, is chipping in 11 points per while doling out an ACC-best 6.0 dimes and has demonstrated the ability to take over games down the stretch. Fellow freshmen Trent Jr and Carter Jr have made immediate impacts, each averaging double digits on a nightly basis.

Through their first 23 contests, the Blue Devils are the only team ranked among the NCAA’s top 5 in scoring, rebounds and assists per game. True to its size and spirit, Duke is third in the nation in rebounding margin and first in offensive rebounding rate, claiming nearly 40 percent of its own misses.

But with youth comes challenges.

Due to sluggish starts, the team has trailed opponents at halftime in seven of its games, and Duke is ranked 69th in defensive efficiency while allowing an average of 79 points to ACC opponents. Defense requires trust and fluency in Krzyzewski’s detailed man-to-man principles. Both of those elements take time, and with four freshmen, they don’t have that time.

Duke came out flat at Boston College in their ACC opener, resulting in their first blemish of the season. Eagles guard Ky Bowman probed and poked holes in the defense all afternoon, running a pick-and-roll clinic to the tune of 30 points and 10 assists, while the team shot a blistering 57 percent from beyond the arc (15 for 27) to upset Coach K’s crew 89-84.

After taking care of business against Florida State at home, Duke gave up an alarming 96 points in a road loss to unranked rivals NC State, dropping the Blue Devils to 15-2 overall and 1-2 in ACC play, their second defeat in four games. Duke shot 51.7 percent from the floor but hit just 3 of 15 treys and never led in the second frame.

Following the loss, Duke went on to win six out of its next seven ACC games, but on an early February afternoon at Madison Square Garden, the Blue Devils fell 81-77 to St. John’s—losers of 11 straight up until that point. Following the game, Coach K was incensed, telling reporters after the game that his young team was “very frustrating group to coach” during the game and that the level of play was, “disgusting, really.”

In every loss there’s a lesson. And this Duke team is still learning.

“We hate losing, and we don’t want to accept it, and I feel as if all of us, we have a will to win,” Duval says. “Whenever we’re down, whenever we’re going through adversity, we always fight back and try to figure out a way to win.”

“We’re learning as a team and [Coach K is] learning as a coach about us individually,” Bagley says. “Everybody is still learning, and I feel like once everybody knows everyone more, we can take this to the next level.”

“I want to come every day and give my all to win a National Championship with this group of guys,” Bagley says.

Whether Duke cuts down nets in April depends on work, growth and some luck. What is known, however, is that no matter how far this team goes, wherever its players end up, and whenever someone is in need, they will always have Krzyzewski and The Brotherhood. That’s a given.

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Peter Robert Casey is a washed-up Division-III JV point guard who occasionally writes about the game he loves. Follow his Twitter musings at @PRCdotwork.

Portraits by Jeremy M. Lange

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