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What Happened to Basketball Hoops in America?

posted a year ago by BillHicksFan (10719)
27 replies | jump to latest

When I was growing up, there was only one family that did NOT have a hoop in their yard and/or driveway, but another one of our friends two doors down from him had a court in the front and the back to make up for it... Today I realized there isn't a single house on either streets of my neighborhood with a hoop. Five years ago, there was a mobile hoop, but that didn't last long. I asked a group of people the same thing (from all over the US in a live setting like this place) and a few said it was because the parents didn't like kids from adjacent neighborhoods playing on them.... If kids don't have some way like sports to get rid of their nervous energy, they'll find crime, or even worse, the phone!

[–] MaximRecoil (4863) a year ago

Not many people in my town had a basketball hoop when I was a kid in the '80s. I can only think of two kids who were about my age who had one, and neither were in very good locations. My hometown is very hilly and there aren't many flat driveways.

One of the kids I knew with a basketball hoop was Mandy, who I had a crush on. She was a tomboy, very athletic (and very smart), and was often out in her driveway by herself playing basketball, which gave me an excuse to stop by if she was outside when I was walking or riding my bike past her house (you know, just to play basketball), which was just a hop, skip, and a jump from my house. I was there a lot during 5th and 6th grade and when it got too dark to see the basket we'd continue hanging out until her parents called her in.

One time I beat her in a game of "Around the World," which was the crowning achievement of my basketball "career."

She was a "star" in high school girl's basketball and in college too. She went on to coach a women's college basketball team; I don't know if she's still doing that now or not.

Edit: Yeah, it looks like she still does that:

https://keanathletics.com/staff-directory/mandy-king/248

[–] sslssg (35205) a year ago

As I'm reading this, I can hear the kid 2 doors down bouncing his basketball. He's out there everyday that's nice.