Ever Play Pick Up Basketball with a NBA Pro

[CellarDoor]

Played with Deron Williams and Dee Brown back when they were at UofI. The biggest thing I took away was how big Deron is (build, not height necessarily) and how freakishly fast they both were compared to your average gym goer.

[RSCD3_]

I played a 3 on 3 with my friends with Kobe. I was guarding Kobe lol I stopped him once and I did a step back jumper in the post over him

Did he win the matchup though?

[Sabas11]

When I was 16 and pretty decent, I played an official game against a team that featured Ronny Turiaf and Boris Diaw.

Turiaf was an absolute beast, he must have blocked like 10 shots during that game. Also used to dunk two-handed like it was no big deal, and he had the fundamentals too. It was clear he would become a pro at that stage, and I remember being so jealous of him after that game. He had the perfect basketball body and the skills that match it - everything he was doing seemed natural and effortless. Also everyone seemed to love him and he seemed to love everyone.

I don't remember much about Diaw except that he was a freakish athlete (yes, hard to believe now) and that he used to alternate from playing inside and outside. He also seemed to be a like a shy guy

[Louie_Ruckuz]

I lived down the street from Grant High School and I would go ball up there. Gilbert Arenas would show up from time to time along with J-Farmar and we played pick up ball a few times. The most reason person was Nick Young, he showed up to Valley College (next to Grant High) and he was balling dudes up. Other than that, I see Farmar around town and the mall.

[WD]

Played against Cedric Cebollas at a bday party some years ago...I always thought I was 6'
No comment, all I can say is you need to know when it's time to shut it down and I'm not talking about the Pro.

[Zombiesonics]

Ray Allen forever @ LA fitness

[Higga]

Not an NBA pro, but I used to play regularly with a guy who played at UVa back in the late 80s/early 90s. He was really good, I mean even D1 benchwarmers are still amazing compared to the rest of us. I did block his shot once though.

[Sir Psycho Sexy]

He isn't nba player now but will play for Suns next or year after but I played against Bogdan Bogdanovic when I was 20 and he was 18. We knew that he joined Partizan and that he is going to be a star someday. He watched us play 3vs3 on some court and said that he wants to play against the best among us and choose me. He wasn't even dressed for basketball because he waited for someone... he destroyed me, humiliated me I think it was 21:2 in like 3 minutes and every basket he scored was in different way.

[DoctaJ]

No NBA pro's but I played pick up with Jordan Baker quite a bit over the last few years and was coached by Greg Francis in 09 when he was coaching at the U.

(nobody even know's who I'm talking about lol)

[nikster]

I pplayed against a 1st overall pick in highschool (Anthony Bennett)...but i was mostly on the bench lol

growing up i used to go to this gym in the area a lot and do drills with my dad. This one kid came often as well, he was like 4-5 years younger than me and We played a lot of 1 on 1 whenever we were in the gym together. I remember thinking he was crazy good for his age. He was pretty short back then but had a big growth spurt since. Hes going to play at Kentucky this coming year and will most likely be a 1st round pick

[Albo19]

Andre Drummond frequents my gym. He is a pretty big a-hole and his posse is definitely no better. Drummond has a rather poor reputation among those that have met him here in Detroit, but he's the best player we've had in 10+ so we deal with it. Hopefully he matures with age.

Details?

This is all simply anecdotal, everyone's experience will vary. At my gym, Andre talks excessive trash to his opponents, even to the younger/smaller kids. His crew is very aggressive and will stop the game entirely and hold the ball if they see you taking your phone out at all, strict no-phones policy to prevent pictures or video. You can forget about autographs as well. Also, I have a few friends who work in upper-class restaurants that have told me he tips very poorly/not at all. I simply have not heard of anyone that has had a great experience with him, but this is all anecdotal as I said.

At the end of the day, he's only 21 and likely grew up rather entitled. He will likely get more mature as he gets older.

[Dat2U]

Bobby Sura abused my team once in a pickup game at FSU. He was actually BS'ing and clanking long jumpers until someone on our team had the nerve to talk trash. Sura then proceed to take over... he called for an ISO on dude, crossed him up and made him slip and went hard to the lane and dunked on everybody (catching a few teammates on the way down). He then went off and either nailed jumpers or dunked the next 8 times down court till game was over then slammed the ball and walked out the gym.

It was at that point I learned the difference b/w guys who think they can play and run full court everyday and legit NBA talent.

[DaXIthR]

Played with Paul Pierce a few years ago - summer of 2011. Dude rolled into the park and wanted to run. Played left-handed the whole time (even shooting) and was walking past people who were sprinting. He refused to shoot except double-pump fadeaways, even when he lost his man on his first jab step. Even. On. Fast. Breaks. Nothing touched the rim. He was constantly open underneath the basket somehow.

Dude didn't run the whole time. Didn't break a sweat. And was hilarious.

I remember a game announcer once talking about Jason Kidd's rebounding ability, and saying he good hands, decent size and great grip strength but he also had "the gift of sticky hands", which struck me as a weird thing to say. This random guy who sometimes shows up to our pick-up games has that and Paul Pierce has that. Doesn't matter which angle the ball is coming at, with how much spin or how fast, if any of these guys can get a fingertip to it, the ball somehow ends up in the center of their palms.

[tiderulz]

i just got back from playing pick up basketball with Isaiah Rider. Probably the only time i ver played with a NBA player. HE was a lot shorter than i thought he would be. I think I'm like 6 to 6'1 and he was about the same height.That dunk through the legs is more amazing now knowing he was lot shorter.

anyone else ever play with a nba pro? Maybe pick up or in high school or college??

played pick up games with pro's before they were pro's.

At Alabama, you used to see a lot of the players play out at the rec center, so ive played with Robert Horry, Latrell Sprewell, James Robinson, and David Benoit

[MaltonMavericks]

I played with Tristan Thompson before CIA bounce was big. He was still in D'Youville my boys were from Campion. He definitely was not the same player he is now.

[JWiLTHETHRiLL]

Gilbert Arenas would play ball at leydecker park in alameda when he played with the warriors. He was there ALL the time. He signed and gave a pair of his shoes to my buddy. He was a koo/chill dude from what I remember.

[Greatness]

I played a 3 on 3 with my friends with Kobe. I was guarding Kobe lol I stopped him once and I did a step back jumper in the post over him

No you didn't.

[ItsThatEasy]

From 6th to 8th grade I played for Baron Davis' AAU team in Santa Monica. He would come by during the off season and play with us, never anything too serious. That experience made me realize at a young age just how good you have to be to make it to the NBA though, let alone become an all-star. Baron is a good 6'2 but he's absolutely huge especially in his prime man, dude was strong as hell and had crazy bounce.

[jsa]

I played with/against a few on both coasts, when I was young and decent myself. The most profound difference in my view was the muscularity. I would always come away with bruised thighs and forearms guarding these guys.Some would be goofing and losing, then the competiveness kicked in and they would take over the game, especially in make it-take - it games. Indoor pick-up is slightly different than outdoor, which is mayhem.

This new pick-up game where the ball guy is "guarded" by everyone else is terible in my view. Crazy shots, no passing, horrible defense.

[DarthDiggler69]

Its nice to hear some of these pros still go to the park or local gym to play ball with a bunch of regular guys. Also cool to hear they don't take it easy on us