Get a unique look at the NYC Street Ball with this Airbnb experience

Outside of the Knicks, Nets, Siena Saints, UAlbany Great Danes, and others, there’s a whole new world of basketball taking place in the parks of New York City.

With an experience concocted by a user on Airbnb, you can get closer than ever to the world of street basketball.

---

Discover the “NYC Street Basketball Tour” on Airbnb

Airbnb user Jalisha set up an exclusive New York street basketball tour experience, bringing basketball fans to some of the city’s most famous streetball courts.

Jalisha’s profile on Airbnb claims that she interned and worked in some of the tournaments the tour will take you to, and has worked for Nike and the NBA in similar capacities.

The tour itself includes the following accommodation …

We attend some of the most famous basketball courts in New York and around the world to see the best professional basketball players from New York and the NBA show off their skills. Get the opportunity to meet some of the players and see NYC Basketball firsthand. We’ll enjoy live entertainment, authentic and cultural New York City food, and celebrity sightings. – Airbnb

It also goes to some of the specific places the tour takes you to, and based on a little research, you’ll see a lot of the history when you get to each one.

---

Visit some of New York’s most famous courts

The first court listed is the West 4th Street Courts, known as “The Cage” by many.

Here is a different view of where you will be.

The West Fourth Street Courts have a legendary history, with their annual Amateur Streetball Tournament bringing together some of the country’s top talent each summer. Officials estimate that each summer the tournament brings about 100,000 spectators to The Cage to watch the tough, physical style of play that the small field brings.

After The Cage you will head to Rucker Park.

Located in Harlem, near the former site of Polo Grounds according to sources, has held the “Rucker Tournament” every year since 1950. Rucker Park’s style of play was revolutionary at the time, bringing a touch to basketball that the NBA didn’t. , at the time, own.

Rucker Park was also the backdrop for Kyrie Irving’s movie “Uncle Drew”. So even if you are more of a movie buff than a basketball fan, there is something for you.

Finally, you will head to Dyckman Park in Manhattan.

Dyckman Park (also known as Monsignor Kett Playground) carries such an incredible story. As the official Dyckman Basketball Tournament webpage reports, the area of ​​Manhattan where the park is located was a mess in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Three gentlemen, Kenneth Stevens, Omar Booth, and Michael Jenkins, cleaned up the park, repainted the basketball court, and started a tournament in hopes of bringing back the energy Rucker created in the 1950s.

The tournament is still going strong today and has corporate sponsors like Nike every year.

---

Street basketball has a rich history in New York

Although basketball itself was invented by James Naismith in the late 1800s, the New York street basketball craze was really started by Rucker Park creator Holcombe Rucker at the early 1950s.

Over the decades, and through the various cultural and social changes in the city, basketball has remained a constant. Hoops began to appear in neighborhoods in many boroughs, and entire neighborhoods were united by pickup games.

The style of play was often more exciting than playing in the NBA, and with no officials or set rules, physical play was not for the faint or the faint of heart.

---

That being said, be sure to check out the Airbnb NYC Street Basketball Experience. During this city tour, you can see the sights of an entire sport that grew and evolved there on the New York hardtops.