You’re Killing Me, Smalls

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:30 am, there is a pick-up game at the gym. Men (and at least one woman) from all walks of life and of all ages come together to start their day with play. The rules of engagement are not complicated. You show up; you get to play basketball.

Oftentimes, there are more than two teams worth of players. When that happens, they self-regulate and take turns. They make it work.

Pick-up games demand mutual respect amongst the players. They require discipline and a sense of fair play. There is something very appealing about the simplicity of living by playground rules. Grinning through one another’s triumphs, laughing at each other’s mistakes, and offering a hand when one among the team falls–these are the touchstones of this simple and time-honored tradition.

It is not possible to have a “me first” attitude and win a pick-up game. That’s true in any group dynamic and becomes starkly obvious in a pick-up game because team members don’t always have the luxury of knowing one another’s strengths. They rely on the structure of the game and often unspoken etiquettes to guide their game-time decisions.

Ever since there has been sport, there have been pick-up games. One person saying to another, do you want to play with me? Or the lone player bravely going up to a group and asking to be included in a game. Just like life, this kind of engagement takes courage.

Here’s the thing, we can make all kinds of legitimate comparisons between pick-up games and our personal/professional lives. Building trust, demonstrating situational leadership, and respecting contradictory opinions–all of these are present. But what it really comes down to is people loving the game so much that they are willing to curb their own selfish orientations and play well with others. Is there anything better than that?

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