Mark Twain once wrote, "The coldest Summer I ever spent was playing basketball at The Panhandle in July". The Panhandle Basketball Court, or The Nate Thurmond Court brought to you by The Warriors, is legendary.
I have been playing there for 15 years and can say with ease that I have seen it all. On any given day you could play a great game of 3-3 or a really shitty game of 5-5, get into an argument with a homeless guy, or be asked to be in a Nike Ad. If you're lucky enough JB might even give you a nickname, but you'll have to earn it. Here is a short list of nicknames: Meatclaw, RoboCop, Peja, Rudy, New York, Nard, E, Tu-Tu, D-Mo, and my recent favorite Harry Potter. I have played there long enough to be on my 3rd nickname.
The Panhandle rules are simple: Game goes to 32. Win by 4. 2's and 3's. Winners stay. But there is one Panhandle rule that flies in the face of convention: The "continuation rule". If you yell "foul" and hit your shot you get the ball back but you don't get the point. That's right. Read that one again. Think about it for a second. Kind of makes sense. This keeps all of the weak players from always squealing "FOUL" and also hoping to god that their weak-ass shot goes in.
One thing is certain, you will learn "something" at the PH. You might learn that you suck at basketball, you might learn how to "holler" at the ladies with JB, you might learn how to roll a blunt, and you might learn that the runs are actually pretty good, that the players are decent people, and basketball is a metaphor for life (Nah! Just joking. It really isn't). The PH is a great mix of people that have grown up at the court and new guys that are looking to run.
If you go on the weekend and the weather is accommodating you might have to wait to play a game but while you're waiting, soak up the "cultural institution" that is The Panhandle Basketball Court.
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