Streetball in Tokyo

I checked out a streetball tournament at Yoyogi Court this weekend. There were a lot of solid players out there. I’d say on the whole that Tokyo streetball seems a lot more fundamentally sound than the American outdoor game. Players looked to set screens. They made very traditional chest and bounce passes. They didn’t overdribble the basketball. The only hole in their game I was struck by was a complete lack of boxing out. In America, going for the rebound is always the perfect excuse to ‘lay a little extra wood’ on your opponent. That’s where streetball can get nasty. I didn’t feel any nastiness out there.

There was no guy who tried to recreate Allen Iverson’s career highlight reel in a single possession.

There was no guy with fifteen arm bands, Kobe leggings, a 50-cent doo-rag.

There were some nice hints of style out there though. One guy wore two jerseys, one on his torso, and the other rigged around his neck, flowing Superman cape style. Nice. The emcee of the event had a New York 1979 level afro, and an announcing style that was unrecognizable as English or Japanese. He seemed more just flowing and freestyling with the DJs beats. One series of runs saw him simply saying ‘Cool. Cool. COOL! Cool. Cool. Cooooooool.’ This lasted for a two minute stretch. 

He was no Bobbito, but he was sure trying. And the players seemed to enjoy interacting with him.

A couple guys out there could jam, and a lot more tried. There were some nice lob attempts, that really didn’t have the juice on the finishing end to pull off. But you gotta appreciate the spirit. They were trying to take it to an And1 level.

There were a lot of kids and families around, which made it strange to my ears to hear the kind of lyrics the DJ was spinning. But then again, it was Japanese families and children, so of course many of them had no idea what those rappers were saying. They were just appreciating the beats and samples and hoops action.

The fans were pretty tame by streetball standards. They clapped politely as if they were watching a high school JV game. I suppose this is still the early ages of what streetball could become in Tokyo, and the crowds haven’t had a chance to develop the vibe or voice of the American game.

Streetball in Tokyo, I’m convinced could become a ubiquitous game.

In such a fashion frenzied city, what other sport gives you the chance to mix personal style and dress with competitive play?

You see an untapped passion here and there.

There are those guys who show up at Yoyogi Park to DANCE AND DRIBBLE A BASKETBALL. They are at it for hours. Dribbling, doing weird moves, sitting on the ball, spinning around the ball on their backs, blasting their boomboxes all the while.

There is a basketball only t-shirt shop in Shibuya. They make limited runs of Rodman with multi-colored hair. They reference old Nike ads. They worship all forms of the Jordan 5. We are talking serious hoops otaku here.

There is another shirt shop in Harajuku, hoops only themed, that mostly just make their own shirts about different Jordans. It’s a beautiful place.

These fires should be stoked. These voices must be heard. I’m tired of hearing that no one cares about basketball in Tokyo. A few people do. Not enough to show up in a marketing report pie chart maybe, but a few good people do care. A lot. I’m convinced if more people came into contact with this passion for the outdoor game of hoop, it could take off. Tokyo is another concrete jungle, like New York. The infrastructure of courts aren’t widespread yet, but with the subway, everything is easily connected.

In the future, streetball could be THE signature sport of the Tokyo streets.

What do you think would fan the flames of outdoor hoops in Tokyo?