SLAM issue 239: Ukrainian Hoopers and the Power of the Game in Wartime

Yesterday morning Ukrainian professional and Harlem Globetrotter Dmytro “Smoove” Kryvenko sent the following message: “Would be great to be mentioned by SLAM in other circumstances, but thank you for your work.”

I feel a similar conflict in my first story in SLAM magazine. On one hand it is a tremendous honor to have my debut fast-tracked to a print issue. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be in SLAM and to tell a very important story for people who need to be heard and recognized for their resilience in wartime. On the other, the reporting is about people who have had their lives destroyed by an unprovoked invasion. The circumstances could not be worse. Uncertainty looms over Ukraine as they continue to fight for their country. The war has gone on for six months. Thankfully, everyone who I’ve spoken to for the story is safe, their families are safe, and they remain optimistic. But that safety is not secure.

Photo of Valentyn Dubas

In speaking to former Arizona Wildcat Kyryl Natyazhko he said, “we as human beings, we can adjust to anything.” It’s a profoundly tragic truth. The limits of human will are being tested in Ukraine. The trauma is immeasurable. The piece opens with Valentyn Dubas, a basketball coach from Hostomel, and an AK-47 to his head. He was not armed and he was not enlisted in the military. He was simply collecting supplies to repair homes in his neighborhood. Everyone I spoke with has spent nights in underground bomb shelters. Wives, parents, and children have fled. In the worst of scenarios, loved ones are now behind the borders of Russian occupation and the possibility of annexation threatens their future. There is hope though. I’ve seen videos of people playing pickup again in Kyiv. Children are attending basketball camps. The war is not lost and it’s not over.

Please go read the story, which is on shelves in issue 239 and now available at Slamonline.

I am proud of the work I did for SLAM. It’s my best work to date and my biggest byline. I want to thank the editors of SLAM for approving my pitch and expanding the piece. They did so without hesitation, which is a huge vote of confidence given this was our first run. I also want to thank all the people who spoke on record and helped me make connections for this story. Thank you: Valentyn Dubas, Kyryl Natyazhko, Alex Len, his agent Michael Lelchitski, Dmytro Kryvenko, and Natalia Yudytska.

Ukraine still needs aid. Len and Svi Mykhailiuk have set up a mutual aid foundation called the Hope 4 Ukraine Fund. Please consider donating. Please share info about their foundation. Please share this story. Please keep Ukraine on your mind. It’s important that people all over globe continue to declare support for Ukraine and pressure their representatives to provide support and action. Kyryl Natyazhko was very concerned about the sustained global pressure. His biggest concern was about what would happen when the world stopped caring. He told me this two months ago and it remains relevant:

“Most important is to understand that war is still going on. If you cannot donate or give goods, keep posting on Instagram. Keep sharing on social media. Keep reporting. Keep telling people so people understand it is not normal. They wait for that. They wait for the noise to go down. So they can do the stuff they want to do. As the time moves on we become stronger because we have support from all over the world. They become weaker because no one want to support evil. It’s like a game. We wear them out and wear them out.”

ні війні / No War

Meditation on Jerome, AZ

January 2022: I was moving from California to New York City, doing the cross country drive in the Subaru Forester with my girlfriend, my Aussie, and my possessions. We took a detour down to Jerome, AZ, a place I once visited nearly a decade ago with friends. On that prior road trip, I'd seen the court on our way out of town. This was before cell phone cameras, or at least decent ones, and we had no ball in the car. This was also long before I started Sacred. The court was lodged in my mind and I thought about it often when it came to hoops I wanted to document for this project.

For more on Jerome, AZ, including photos, visit the Court Vision section.

release. rotation. splash.

Whereas Hoops holds a St. Louis Park accountable

Forest Park in St. Louis is the “Crown Jewel” of the city. But visual artist John Early and sports studies scholar Noah Cohan noticed that basketball was missing from the extensive amenities of the park. Forest Park has tennis courts. Forest Park has volleyball. It has baseball and softball. Its waters are used for kayaking. Forest Park even has cricket and archery. People are permitted to shoot arrows at Forest Park. But as Whereas Hoops notes, “Basketball would apparently just be too much, and too dangerous.”

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Paint Days in Hell's Kitchen with Project Backboard

Project Backboard is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that renovates public basketball courts into large-scale works of art, while maintaining and even improving the structural use. The organization has renovated over 30 courts into inspiring, creative spaces of play since 2015. These “works of art” (the finished piece) have been designed by noteworthy modern artists like Sophia Dawson, David Huffman, and Faith Ringgold. The week I moved to New York City the organization posted a video of the artist Andrea Bergart shooting hoops at their next install location. In the near background of the video I saw my apartment tower. Kismet.

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Timeless Thrills x Sacred Lookbook by Phoenix Kanada

Timeless Thrills and Sacred Lookbook for the reversible practice jersey was shot by Phoenix Kanada and modeled by Derek Hironaka.

You'll never stop practicing the game. A timeless pursuit. Which is why Sacred and Timeless Thrills have collaborated on a reversible practice jersey. The design is simple and constructed with attention to the receptive and reactive, the essence of a community of practice. Our reversible jersey is made of 100% polyester mesh. It is moisture wicking, odor resistant and has stain release components. The jersey was produced in Sacramento, CA, screen printed with white ink on the Timeless Thrills side and black ink on the Sacred Hoops side. The dark and light are opposing forces which become a driving force for change and creativity. Practice keeps the game evolving.

The jersey will see official release on Saturday October 23, 2021 in Sacramento at the Timeless Thrills Store on J Street. It will be available for global online orders on the Sacred webstore starting Monday October 25, 2021.

Coming Soon: Timeless Thrills x Sacred Practice Jersey

You'll never stop practicing the game. A timeless pursuit. Which is why Sacred and Timeless Thrills have collaborated on a reversible practice jersey. The design is simple and constructed with attention to the receptive and reactive, the essence of a community of practice. Our reversible jersey is made of 100% polyester mesh. It is moisture wicking, odor resistant and has stain release components. The jersey was produced in Sacramento, CA, screen printed with white ink on the Timeless Thrills side and black ink on the Sacred Hoops side. The dark and light are opposing forces which become a driving force for change and creativity. Practice keeps the game evolving.

Jerseys will be available 10/23 at the Timeless Thrills Store at 3714 J Street in Sacramento.

Available online in the Sacred Shop on 10/25.

Giannis x Ram Dass: A Guided Meditation at the Line

The approach to free throw shooting as a meditative practice. We are taking the idea a step further with a guided meditation by Ram Dass applied to a trip to the line for Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2021 NBA Finals.

LIFESPAN: Thai Neave of @shootinghoops

LIFE SPAN is a series in which hoopers and those who document the game share stories of courts that, to them, represent something beyond the game. Thai Neave runs the Instagram account: @shootinghoops This is his story of a special court in the Lower East Side.

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Physics of a Basketball (in Santa hat)

Filmed for Red Museum's A Christmas Bullshit Spectacular. A live streamed event in December 2020.https://www.facebook.com/events/3343055252490304/Filmed with...

Created for Red Museum holiday event 2020.
Filmed with the assistance of Alexis Wilson and Oscar the mini-aussie.
Music by Steel Tipped Dove