Opinion: New York needs a point guard, not pickleball

New York is, at its core, a basketball city. The game here is not just a pastime but a civic inheritance, from the rec leagues and asphalt playgrounds to the rafters of Madison Square Garden. Nearly 1,800 public courts dot the five boroughs, a testament to how deeply hoops are woven into the city’s identity. The Cage at West Fourth Street is still a global pilgrimage site for streetball. Rucker Park is so central to the city’s story that it’s now being considered for the National Register of Historic Places.

For generations, basketball has offered New Yorkers something rare: a sport that requires little more than a ball, sneakers and a willingness to play. Our public parks are where communities forged ties, where kids found mentors and where the next Sabrina Ionescu or Karl-Anthony Towns might be playing their first pick-up game as you read this.

And yet, in recent years, something curious has happened. City Hall and private developers have bent toward a new obsession: pickleball. A kind of miniaturized tennis with a pop-culture halo, pickleball has grown rapidly – 19.8 million Americans played in 2024, though analysts already suggest the fad may be cooling. In New York, though, its rise has come at a cost.

Across the city, basketball courts and blacktops have been carved up for pickleball grids. At Passannante Ballfield in the West Village, parents organized against taped-off pickleball lines that crowded out kids. At John Hancock Park in Bed-Stuy, the fights over space became a daily ritual. In Chelsea’s Seravalli Playground, the Parks Department eventually banned pickleball altogether. And in Carl Schurz Park on the Upper East Side, permanent pickleball nets were sunk into place – even as the neighboring basketball courts sat cracked and neglected.

The private market has been even more aggressive. Gyms like Life Time and installations like CityPickle at Wollman Rink have embraced pickleball, with court rentals running as high as $120 an hour. Compare that to pickup basketball, which has long been free and open to all. 

Advocates often describe pickleball as democratic, but in practice it has skewed toward the affluent. A YouGov survey found players are disproportionately from households earning over $100,000. Early research has also noted racial disparities in participation, raising uncomfortable questions about who these new investments are designed to serve.

The timing couldn’t be worse. Youth sports are already pricing families out. The Aspen Institute’s Project Play reports that average family spending on a child’s primary sport reached $1,016 in 2024 (nearly 50% higher than just five years ago). Even basketball, once a low-cost refuge, now demands about $1,000 a year when travel teams, private trainers and registration fees are factored in.

The result is that a sport rooted in community has been pulled into the same pay-to-play pipeline that sorts kids by income and neighborhood. And when public land is handed over to for-profit racquet operators, basketball loses ground. Even at places that balance the two, like Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 2, the broader reality remains: the city cuts ribbons for pickleball courts far more readily than it fixes its battered backboards.

None of this is an argument against pickleball itself. The city can, and should, make space for new games. But there needs to be a balance.

This is why New York should appoint what I’d call a Basketball Czar – the civic version of a point guard – responsible for maintaining a comprehensive inventory of courts, ensuring safety and equity and protecting access in neighborhoods where the sport is not a hobby but a lifeline. This position could be replicated across sports and other areas of public interest.

Such a role could commission the first citywide study of basketball’s social, health and economic impact – an honest accounting of what the game means, particularly compared to new pickleball investments. It could set rules: no permanent pickleball fixtures without equivalent replacements, protected hours for youth basketball in city gyms and requirements that private concessions fund nearby court repairs while offering free community access. This Basketball Czar could also recruit investments, work with schools and colleges, co-manage tournaments and serve as the sport’s official ambassador.

Many New Yorkers aren’t happy and want to see some action. I spoke with James Patterson, a fellow park player and a New Yorker who is part of the music group “The Knocks” and owner of a nightclub in Brooklyn.

“I grew up playing basketball on New York City’s public courts. You’d show up at a park, and it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from, the game brought everyone together. It’s hard to watch those same spaces, and even private gyms like Life Time in Dumbo, pivot to pickleball,” said Patterson. “Basketball has always been part of the city’s soul. It deserves the same investment and respect,” he continued.

Pickleball may last, or it may fade. That is not the point. Basketball is essential to New York’s identity because it is democratic. It is the rare sport that belongs to everyone. To lose ground to a privatized fad would not only be shortsighted – it would be a betrayal of the city’s soul.

With the Knicks and St. John’s seasons kicking off, there’s no better moment for the city to recommit to its basketball faithful. And with possible Mayor-to-be Mamdani showing a clear interest in equitability and city sports, maybe now is the perfect time.