Why Basketball Is the BEST Sport For Your Life

If you've played a lot of basketball in your life and you've never made any friends from it, you probably are not a very likable individual. This guy, PJ Performance, he's a basketball trainer, dancing at his wedding and or just using like basketball moves. And you're almost trying to jujitsu your way to the basket without it being an actual altercation. Front yard, backyard, open gyms, two-on-two, three-on-three, one-on-one. You can do training drills by yourself. Basketball really is just pure creativity, man. Most even just casual sports fans feel that the NBA is closing that gap and becoming the most popular sport in America. Basketball is practically a perfect sport. Welcome, everybody, to the Hot Pop, boys. We have a list video for you today. Here are 10 reasons why basketball is by far the greatest sport in the world, especially for social development. Oh, man, it's a list I've been wanting to make for a while and we finally organized our thoughts. Basketball is absolutely something I encourage everybody get involved in if you play it the right way and if you have access to the right systems. So we're going to break it down for you guys today. Make sure you like, subscribe and turn on your notifications and let's get into the list. Point number one, playing a lot more basketball will make you feel cooler about yourself and introduce you to a lot of cool culture. Yeah, I mean, listen, guys, I don't know how to say it. I think that for some reason, basketball just elevated itself to be like the coolest sport by far in America, you know, whether it's being considered the fifth element of hip-hop and hip-hop is now, you know, the most dominant culture in America. Or just all the major clothing brands, whether we're talking about ALD, Andrew, obviously Virgil, RIP, Louis Vuitton, Kanye, all hyper-basketball centric, Ronnie, Fygat, Kith. Yeah, I mean, I even see like soccer players or football players imitating basketball players. So I'm not saying that soccer, for example, is not a more popular sport around the world, of course. However, when it comes to impacting cool culture, it seems to be basketball. Yeah, I think that there are a lot of other sports where you can develop, but I think in the sense of like just the on-court and off-courts aspects of basketball, they're really, really expansive. Moving on to point number two, David, it is a highly flexible game and there are unlimited variations of the game of basketball. Front yard, backyard, open gyms, two-on-two, three-on-three, one-on-one. You can do training drills by yourself. You can just put a milk crate up on a light pole, Andrew. They've got the WNBA. They've got all these other formats. Wheelchair basketball is incredibly popular. Man, it's just like a highly, highly flexible game. You can't play football with like one-on-one. No, David, have you seen a 60-year and older football league? No, but I've seen 60 and up basketball. Incredibly flexible. Point number three, by playing basketball, you do end up meeting a wide spectrum of people. Yeah, I've met everybody from like VPs of gigantic companies to people who are like fresh out of prison. You know, you just meet an incredible range of people playing basketball because the games go so quick. There's so many people on the court. There's people who got next. And yeah, if you want to be exposed to a wide range of people and learn how to get along with a wide range of people, basketball is really where it's at. And also even just talking to people after a basketball game, you just gain so much perspective. So a lot of these people you really wouldn't meet if you played sports like tennis or lacrosse or golf, right? Yeah, sure. Maybe if you only wanted to hang out with rich people, you might play golf, but also you're not going to meet like the other types of people through that either. So I think it's just like the spectrum is very wide when it comes to a basketball court or basketball league. Especially if you want to like do something where you're like public interfacing in the future. I think basketball is really good because it learns, you know, you're taught how to deal with everybody in a company. Point number four, basketball is a highly communicative sport and it does force you to be vocal if you're playing the right way. Yeah, I mean, I think as especially as a quiet immigrant kid, nobody teaches you to be vocal. Nobody teaches you immediately how to be a leader. You're just sort of focusing on your own tasks and trying to accomplish that. You can play basketball that way, but if you actually are trying to play at a higher level, there is just so much going on and teamwork and, you know, defensive rotations and you go here on offense and everybody's got to constantly be in communication and listen to each other. Yeah, screen coming on the right side. Switch, switch, switch. Okay, drop back. Hey, someone get the middle. Okay, watch baseline. Okay, hold up. I'm blocking foul, shot, everything. Guys, there is just so much communication that goes on that even if someone is a complete stranger and you just met them, you are going to end up talking to them a lot. Point number five is that basketball is truly an international sport. Yeah, not every sport as international is as international as basketball. It's obviously huge in Asia. It's growing around the world. I mean, it's just a relatively new sport. I want to say it was invented in 1896, but it is growing in popularity. I would not be surprised in 20, 30 years if it's not only second to soccer globally. I mean, we're talking about Eastern Europe, Luka, you know, Jokic to Asia. You got Rui Hachimura and Watanabe right now, but obviously you had Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin's Asian-American. You've got people from Africa that have been good for a long time, Hakeem Olajuwon, Joel Embiid, you know, the people who are like cross-cultural, like Giannis. I mean, even think about it, Manny Pacquiao is world-renowned for his boxing, but actually his second favorite sport is basketball, and he's got that forward fadeaway. Moving on to point number six, basketball is a fairly straightforward game, and to be honest, it is very hard to cheat. Yeah, that means that real has to recognize real, like the results speak for themselves. Of course, height does play a factor. I think that that's the one big knock on basketball is that the closer you are to the rim, the easier it makes you to rebound and easier it makes you to score. But basically, I just really like it because there's no way you can dirty up the game. I know in soccer, people are saying they're dirtying the game. Even the Houston Astros and MLB, they're using an electronic clicker device to tell people what pitches are coming. There's nothing like that literally in the NBA or just basketball in general. You cannot cheat by giving away the plays. Yeah, the scandals in basketball are definitely not reaching the levels that even Deflategate with the New England Patriots or Sammy Sosa's cork bet. Now, there was a little bit of referees betting on games, but really at the end of the day, referees don't actually determine the game in basketball for the most part. You're right, Andrew, because obviously a ref cannot dictate whether you make or miss shots. And I think due to the straightforwardness of basketball, when somebody does end up breaking those stereotypes, it's almost like Real just has to recognize Real. You know, just watch 38 at the Garden. Moving on to point number seven, there are a lot of analogies and terminologies that you can learn from basketball and apply them to real life. Yeah, there are so many terms that are in my mind that I would never use if I wasn't familiar with basketball. For example, Andrew, there's making reads, connective tissue, even the concept of a heliocentric player, a locker room vet, to everything to journalistic narrative terms, you know, someone's a team cancer, what's somebody's stunted growth, did they turn out to be a bust, somebody who needs to be motivated by constant one-year contracts. Plus there's a bunch of technical terms, there's weak side, strong side, drop, switch, you know, flare, ice, pin down, X out, stunt. Basically, Andrew, there is a lot of things that you can apply to real life. For example, Andrew, people calling a one-four flat, this is a play where, you know, people are going to try to do something spectacular in an iso at the top of the key or beyond the three-point line. People might try to run a one-four flat in real life too in other, you know, instances like just business or project management. And on the flip side, there can actually be an actual ball hog in basketball, which is unlike other sports. However, that is also like real life because there's also ball hogs at the workplace too. And I will say this, I do think if you're in the military, actually the football more closely mimics the military, but as far as like creative professions, for sure it's more similar to basketball. Moving on to point number eight, basketball really is just pure creativity, man. Yeah, I really think it gives you the most room to be creative because you're using your feet, you're using your hands, you're using the ball. There's street ball culture, which is almost like mixing dancing with basketball and sport. And then, you know, there's even videos of this guy, PJ Performance, he's a basketball trainer, dancing at his wedding, Andrew, just using like basketball moves. I've never seen anybody do that in any other sport. I mean, to be honest, there's a whole industry around creative basketball, whether it's the Globetrotters or and one mixtape, you know, these things don't really exist with other sports where you can go around and entertain people by playing kind of a variation of basketball. And I just love it because, yeah, there's just so many moves you can do. And there is honestly a lot of chances to showboat, but that's also part of the fun. Yeah, the closest thing that it reminds me of is like vastly different characters in like a one-on-one fighting game, you know, like Marvel versus Capcom, you know, you could be like Shaq, that's like Balrog, or you could be more, you know, small and have a lot of like swift moves. That's more like Chun-Li. David, it's like when you get past the ball in basketball, the spotlight's on you. It's your time to shine. Everybody's staring at you and you just get to dance, move, dunk, shoot, whatever, or you can make a mistake in front of everybody. So it's really just the spotlight is on you once you've got that basketball and you can just hot potato it around and give everybody a chance. And you know what it is too? There's five players, Andrew, and everybody plays offense and defense. And the star of one team might be the point guard, the star of another team might be the center. And that is completely different than other sports because sometimes for soccer, for example, in soccer, Andrew, you're stuck in the backfield. You're probably never gonna get the glorious goals. All right, moving on to number nine. Basketball is a pretty safe sport considering it is a contact sport still. Yeah, I mean, you can play at high contact, medium, low, and you know, even players in the NBA, some players are known for being really physical, some are known for being non-physical. But you have never seen, Andrew, a retired NBA player with CTE like going crazy in their older age. No disrespect to anybody, but you just haven't seen it. No, I mean, we played football for a couple of years and yeah, let's be honest, like mom and dad did not want us to continue playing because it was unsafe. High school football, and I'm not saying this is good or bad, it just is what it is. It is a direct feeder into like the Marine Corps. It is people who like, you know, Navy SEALs or whatever like that. Like a lot of people want to go into like other, I guess, violent things after football. Yeah, another thing that I love about basketball is it's kind of a good way to practice even martial arts or wrestling with someone without actually having to fight them. You know, when you're fighting through screens or you're trying to fight someone off with your off arm when you're driving or you're guarding somebody or you're trying to put a drop step on somebody, you're feeling their body weight and you're almost trying to jujitsu your way to the basket. And that's what I love about basketball because you can kind of wrestle with someone without it being an actual altercation. For sure, semi-contact is really like the nice, sweet spot. And I'll tell you this, Andrew, even NFL legend quarterback Steve Young is famous for pushing his kids away from football despite him being a Hall of Fame football player. That's how you know that he was like, no, no, no, this thing is way too violent. Moving on to number three, Andrew, the most popular sport in America, football. You know, the stoppage of play is just like really long in between plays, Andrew. I mean, even at two hand touch at church, I've seen people break bones. So really, football is clearly a very violent sport. Yeah, you just also need a lot of equipment and there's just a lot of people on the field. And yeah, there's just a lot of contact, especially if you're playing obviously tackle football. Andrew, number four, baseball is fun, but a lot of stoppages in play. I mean, you could step away from the game for 30 minutes and come back and just like not even miss anything. There's a reason why people say baseball is America's pastime because it is a pastime. It is best complemented by also doing something else at the baseball game, such as hanging out. I'm not saying I don't enjoy playing baseball whenever I did. However, watching it is just boring. And I think everybody agrees. Yeah, if you're a dad trying to connect with your son, probably even a baseball game is better than a basketball game. But just the fact that it's like a background soundtrack thing. And lastly, point number 10, basketball is overall the best balanced sport, period. Yeah, I mean, every sport has pros and cons, guys. I'm not saying that some of them aren't better at basketball at this aspect and basketball is better at this aspect. I'm just saying basketball is the most balanced. For example, Andrew, hockey, also fluid. A lot of people flowing around the court, but you need an ice rink. The puck is tiny and it is dangerous because you can get cut with somebody's skates. Number two, Andrew, soccer, also fluid. You know, a beautiful game, but you can't use your arms. The field is so big. You don't know who it is because the camera's always at like the eight millimeter, super wide. It's like flying in a helicopter above the stadium. Football, the stoppage in play. You get hit in the brain too much, too much CTE. Andrew, we have seen people break bones at church two-hand touch football. That is how aggressive football can get sometimes. And plus, there's just too much of breakage of play between plays. And of course, baseball, it is fun when you play it, but the games do take about five hours long. You can step away for 30 minutes, go get yourself a hot dog and garlic fries and literally like not even miss anything. Listen, baseball is a pastime. It's almost a background soundtrack to something else that you're doing. Yeah, I really think that basketball is this crazy mix of using your legs, using your hands. Every player can do everything. They play offense, they play defense. Every player could have the exact same usage rate because it's not like somebody's a quarterback, somebody's a pitcher. So they're like way more important than the other players on the team. But basically, it reminds me a lot of playing Counter-Strike, Andrew, or even on a more complex side, Overwatch. Hey, how about this, everybody? If you've played a lot of basketball in your life and you've never made any friends from it, you probably are not a very likable individual. That's what I'm saying because you meet so many people when you play pickup basketball that ultimately you're going to meet people that you wanna hang out with afterwards, or at least you keep in touch with somehow. And obviously, we've all met people with bad attitudes playing basketball and playing any sport, but it just goes to show you how social it is. And not only that, even if you meet people that have bad attitudes, dealing with people with bad attitudes is part of life. And especially, I think, for me, specifically to my situation, being an immigrant kid, having parents who are highly academic from a foreign country, our dad always wanted us to play ping pong. And ping pong is a very individual sport. There's not a lot of talking going on. There's not a lot of diversity in movements you can do, to be honest. It's just like back and forth. Well, also, literally, David, in America, where are you going to play ping pong? There is no pickup ping pong. I'm sorry, dad. Oh, what does a pickup ping pong player, Andrew, look like on a Monday? David, ping pong is so unpopular that beer pong is more popular than ping pong in America. Yeah, shout out to ping pong, but you can't make it your main thing. That's almost like for people in the locker room of whatever sport they're playing ping pong. Basically, I've never met anybody, any dude who didn't like playing basketball, no matter how bad they were at it. I've never met a guy who hated basketball. By the way, I do think that everything we said in this video does have a caveat, Andrew, that you got to kind of play the right way. And you got to, you know, you got to communicate. You got to rotate, whether that's offensively or defensively. You know, obviously there's like all these different levels of depth. You can get into it from one to five, five being like Coach K, you know. But basically, guys, basketball is something I highly encourage for personal development, especially for guys who like, you know, you might just not come from a culture that fully like stresses those elements. Overall, I would say if you come from a traditional Asian family, an Asian family that taught you to be a little bit more reserved or a little bit more like insular or whatever, I think picking up a sport like basketball is super important. Yeah, like I said, I think it could be any sport. I just happen to think that basketball is the most accessible. Obviously, it's a sport that's growing in popularity. I do believe it is the favorite sport of the youth of America. Youth culture happens to be like really big in America. It's not like a very classical country. So yeah, I just highly recommend that you look into picking up basketball and then playing it the right way if you can. All right, David. So overall, what are your major takeaways? What would you tell people? What is the main message of this? Like who should pick up a basketball? I think for new immigrants who do not plan on going pro in another sport, for example, if your dad was a pro golfer or a pro tennis player, by all means, pursue tennis and golf. You know what I mean? Because that's like your lane. But if you are just going to be a regular person who wants to develop regular social skills to enter a company and start your own company, I think that playing basketball the right way, especially if you get in some good systems, is an incredible, accessible way to develop. I'm not saying hockey's not great. I'm not saying baseball, football's not great. I'm just saying way less accessibility, especially to an immigrant kid. And it might fill in some of the blind spots of the way your parents are raising you, especially if you're kind of like cloistered and just, you know, sheltered. Dave, I remember this story. What happened was that there's these two young brothers at church whose parents were immigrants and they didn't speak English and they were very like scared and kind of like paranoid about the area around them. And our parents were friends with them. So we took the two younger brothers out to go play basketball for the first time at an actual court. No, because they were not allowed to leave their front yard. They were only allowed to shoot around on that little rim in the cul-de-sac. And when we played five on five at an open court at the park, it was so shocking to them. And that was the first time. And ever since then, they still kept playing basketball. And I think it did help them develop because it just put them around a group of people that had never been in a pretty safe environment at the same time. So honestly, guys, trust me, if you especially come from a reserve or insular Asian family, for example, or immigrant family that like doesn't really know or is very uneasy about how American culture is, I think basketball is a great way to get introduced to it. And it's not that basketball can't be nerdy either. You know, like you can get into the stats and you can get into like a lot of heavy play action and stuff like that. There's just a lot of different ways you can stay more artistic and free flowing organic with it, or you can get hyper calculated. Long story short, Andrew, I just recommend that a lot of people get into basketball for personal development or at least some type of sport. I just happen to think basketball is the best balance and most accessible. Hey, David, to end it off, I've never met a guy who hated playing basketball, no matter how bad they were. Yeah, maybe you might not want to play basketball against people four or five levels better than you, because then you'll just get beat and it won't be fun at some point. However, playing basketball with your friends, I never met a guy who didn't like to do that. All right, everybody. So let me know in the comments down below what you think. Is basketball truly the best sport for social development? If there's another sport out there that you want to make an argument for, please do. I like playing all the sports. Everything from volleyball to baseball to soccer. But when it comes to social development and meeting friends and hanging out with people, basketball is by far the best one, in our opinion. Yeah, definitely not dissing on other sports, not saying they're bad, just saying basketball's the best. Basketball's the best, but not all the other sports suck. Just basketball's the best. Anyways, guys, thank you so much for watching the Hot Pop Boys. Let me know what you think in the comments down below. And until next time, we out. Peace.