By Bobby Panza
Look out for alley-oops at Lincoln Center this weekend. On Friday and Saturday, the 2023 Nike World Basketball Festival will be taking place on the Josie Robertson Plaza, at Columbus Avenue and 64th Street, with live basketball action featuring some of the top high school basketball athletes in the country.
Constructed by Nike, a full court has been placed on the plaza, on top of the iconic fountain, right between all three major venues — The Metropolitan Opera House, David Geffen Hall and the David H. Koch Theater. Over the course of the two-day tournament, 40 boys and 40 girls, from 23 states and three countries, will compete, with the championships broadcast on the NBA YouTube channel.
The 2023 Nike World Basketball Festival is the culmination of this summer’s tournaments held by Nike in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto. “If running is the heart of Nike, then basketball has always been Nike’s soul,” says Scott Uzzell, Vice President and General Manager of Nike North America in a press release sent to WSR. “There’s no place like New York City to witness basketball’s deep connection to culture. And that influence grows as the global game continues to grow.”
To register for free tickets to the World Basketball Festival please click here. The first game on Friday is at 4 p.m. The championship games begin at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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Lincoln Center is for the arts, not basketball. The new Director wants to engage the community. He should go back to the Y where he came from. He has no idea what he is doing. The people playing basketball on the plaza will not buy tickets to the opera or the ballet. Gelb must be furious.
I guess you never went to a basketball nor multi purpose venue for concert..
And said by whom Lincoln center is only for performance and MSG is only for basketball
Wow. Lighten up. It is there for 48 hours. From what I understand, attendance and fund raising at Lincoln Center aren’t what they used to be, so they are finding creative ways to make some money as well as to engage the community.
Perhaps a kid will go to watch basketball and ask what happens in all of the surrounding buildings?
Sorry that this isn’t your cup of tea, I think it’s a pretty amazing event to be having in our backyard.
Stay Mad 😂😂
So depressing to walk out of the divine Lise Davidsen recital at the Met last night and see this ugly, lit-up and looming metal structure. I thought we were done with that after the summer discos etc. ended, but this is even worse. Is our world capital of culture really so starved for funds as to rent out our lovely plaza to big advertising events?
I’m a big opera fan. My son has been joining me since he was 5.
We embrace other events at the plaza such as disco (we went and ran into many other opera fans there) and now this tournament. Understood that it attracts different type of crowd, but so what? It is not instead of the opera.
Disappointed to see some other commenters bemoan what should be a wonderful event for the community. Basketball, especially outdoor basketball in New York City, is just as much art as the performance arts that take place inside Lincoln Center (and free, I might add). Outdoor basketball IS summer in New York City and I can’t think of a better place for Nike to bring this event.
And I’m sure that Nike will be bringing out a line of revolutionary ballet shoes and sponsoring top performers with promotional contracts worth millions of dollars.
This week is Climate Change Week.
Hopefully Lincoln Center will be messaging at all its performances and events.
And remind everyone not to be wasteful, not to litter.
And encourage people to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
The response from the West Side Rag readers is as expected. Basketball and streetball are deeply woven into NYC’s identity. The sentiment in some of these comments suggests subtle class and racial undertones.
AG
My guess is that commenters would be equally concerned about a beach volleyball or pickleball or poker tournament at Lincoln Center.
Would you also contend “subtle class and racial undertones” sentiment there?
I like sports and thinks this is cool…my wife hates sports and thinks this is silly and should be done elsewhere. We are the same class and the same race. Not everything has to involve race & class. It is hardly surprising that ven diagram of opera aficionados and basketball fans does not have much overlap, and that’s OK…
It has nothing to do with rave. It has to with noise and quality of life for those of us who live here. And playing basketball does not require loud speakers that can be heard in New Jersey and lights to blind you. All day?
Wow. Am I reading this correctly? First and second night of Rosh Hashonah and on the Upper West Side of all places?
I guess you don’t know about the big Rosh Hashonah event at David Geffen Hall going on this very morning?
You realize that not everyone who lives on the UWS is Jewish and it’s not like the tourney is being held at a synagogue. Also… even if you are jewish there is no reason why you can’t celebrate the new year (day or night) watching a fun sport
Most New Yorkers respect the religious traditions of others. It is insensitive at the very least.
Can you explain how this is insensitive? What should non Jews be doing during Rosh Hashanah?
Eating out at popular restaurants while others are observing Rosh Hashanah.
“There’s no place like New York City to witness basketball’s deep connection to culture.” Which culture IS that, exactly? I find this offensive to insinuate that basketball or Nike has anything to do with THIS iconic cultural landmark. And there are undoubtedly many other spots more relevant in Central Park, for example, if what isreally wanted is a celebration of the many young players and their community, World Basketball Festival. This is a travesty
Some people just need to find something to be offended by.
Wow … so much hatred for a 2 day event.
Amazing.
I think it’s neat that Nike is holding a basketball event at Lincoln Center which isn’t know for such events however this event will prove to be a total success.
Great alternative and something unique…this is what makes Lincoln Center special!
Everyone, please take a chill pill. New York City has far bigger problems than basketball on the Lincoln Center Plaza!
Geesh!! You’d think there was a limit to what fun residents and visitors can have. Relax! This is a testament to the UWS having a great variety of activities for everyone. The “shoes don’t match” rigidity doesn’t align with our global city.
We’ve been subscribers
I am as native an Upper West Sider as there can be. One thing we native UWS’ers don’t do is take ourselves too seriously. Sadly, some comments here are more worthy of, uh, East Siders. FYI, we’ve also been subscribers and supporters of the NY Phil, ABT, NY Ballet since forever. I think this is cool, cutting edge—and fun. Heavy on the fun. I fervently hope Nike is paying a ton to Lincoln Center for using this grand venue.
And Nike is probably paying a ton of money ..just like Fashion Week and all the other events that happen there …. It’s a good thing that a lot of the people commenting do not run cultural institutions
The irony, of course, in trying to be ‘inclusive’, this event looks pretty exclusive. Everything is raised off the ground, you can’t see what’s going on. Unless of course you are the owner of a pretty exclusive ticket, which allows you entrance to the actual event. I’d bet most of those tix are going to friends of Nike corporate. Contrast this to the jump rope event they had a few years ago, where no tix were needed to get a seat, and all kinds of events were scattered around the plaza, open to all.
This was a free event. You just had to check in at a table.
Actually, I believe the article above has a link to get free tickets.
Everyone is looking for an excuse as to how the mainstream, white man is sticking it to them. Can’t you cheer up and enjoy life a bit?
There’s a long history of sport on that plaza. The Double Dutch Championship! https://www.vogue.com/article/double-dutch-summer-classic-national-competition-lincoln-center
It is interesting that Nike is holding its 2023 World Basketball Festival at Lincoln Center today. What’s less known is that 1 block west at Amsterdam Houses, the public housing development where the average income for a family of four is just $30,000,/yr, there has been a summer basketball league for over a decade called Positive Influence. The league attracts over 800 boys and girls from all over the city, and is led by a neighborhood icon named Andrew Blacks. Blacks has demonstrated a deep commitment to helping young people by organizing the league every summer. Instead of sponsoring a “World Festival” Lincoln Center needs to look no further than its own backyard and support programs like Positive Influence. It also makes me wonder whether Lincoln Center is truly committed, despite its PR, to honoring the history of San Juan Hill — destroyed to make way for Lincoln Center, and paradoxically, the site where a local summer basketball league struggles each summer to survive.
Heads up that at least 200 + attendees from Amsterdam Houses Positive Influence were hosted at last weekend’s Nike event.
The issue with basketball is the same as with the summer festival for the city …. Those neighbors that are proximate to the front and sides of Lincoln Center are inundated with the sound from the event. It does not matter if it is the person calling the basketball game, salsa, disco or the NYPhilharmonic, this is a neighborhood. Not a park. We did not choose to go to the event, the event sounds permeate our spaces. This is not an isolated incident but ongoing since June.
Yes!
Beach volleyball at Lincoln Center,
Nathan’s hot dog contest at Museo del Barrio.
NASCAR race in Central Park.
Corporate sponsors are getting ready.
Sorry, as a resident that lives right next door, this is insane. It’s ridiculously loud. We’ve basically spent the last two days being screamed at by the speakers. Waaaay too loud! I’d wager 311 is very busy tonight. This is absurd. Not a fan at all.
I think the neighbors negatively affected need to speak up more proactively and in unison. Lincoln claimed that they were getting isolated complaints when I called. To ask for the volume to be turned down
Some of us old timers remember when one of the greatest players in NBA history played several hundred feet from here back in the early 1960s . Lew Alcindor for Power Memorial Academy.
I originally was going to post my complaint about this. BUT….This article omitted THIS very important fact about this event:
In addition to celebrating basketball, Nike will partner with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to create year-round access to the arts for local young people. The long-term commitment includes a $2 million grant that will help provide access to the arts for tens of thousands of youths across the five boroughs
What this article omits which might put a different light on it is that in addition to celebrating basketball, Nike will partner with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to create year-round access to the arts for local young people. The long-term commitment includes a $2 million grant that will help provide access to the arts for tens of thousands of youths across the five boroughs.
BRAVO NIKE!
Lincoln Center is for the arts! Keep the sports at MSG. Very bad sports spilling over into cultHeal space. How about MSG stage a ballet or symphony?