The first time Jeff McDevitt (@JeffMcDev), he who created the very concept of playground pickup basketball (still subject to historical verification), ever tweeted about challenging someone — anyone — to a game of one-on-one was March 2015. The prize? A Carrabba’s $50 gift card.

It’s almost 18 months to the day: Wednesday, September 14, 2016. The site is 18th and Catharine in Graduate Hospital. Tip off, as always, is called for 5:53 PM. I get there at 5:59. The first thing I see is the DJ. He’s wearing a full Sixers warmup. It’s blue suede velour. Really. I later learn this is one half of Lunch Money Quizzo.

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Up next, the jerseys. There are usually more, but it’s still a solid collection: Sonics Shawn Kemp #40 (McDevitt), Grizzlies Mike Bibby #10 (@MaxRappaport), New York Liberty Rebecca Lobo #50 (other member of Lunch Money Quizzo duo and obviously the belle of the ball jersey here), St. Joe’s Jameer Nelson #14 (@meechone), red Sixers Andre Igoudala #9 (@scottdkessler), what I initially thought was Sixers Mark Davis #7 but then realized when the guy turned around it was an Andre Miller jersey (duh), Lakers Gary Payton #20 (@kurtwearshats).

Jeff, as he’s wont to do, went above and beyond. He made me a credential (out of an old Drexel one with the laminated portion ripped off) with all the rules and reserved a prime seat on the bench with a “Media Only” designation. The 28-year old Conestoga High School and Temple University grad is such a sweetheart, and he cares so very much about others. Also, his brand.

Already at least 40 people are here, either on the court shooting and otherwise warming up or milling around on the sidelines. The first two five-on-five teams are ready to play. There’s a subwoofer-speaker on the ground blaring a playlist that has every basketball-related song ever recorded (Lil Bow Wow’s epic jam is the opener) and a multi-colored strobe light on top of it going berserk. The DJ fires up his lungs: “Let’s get ready to rumblllllllllllllllle!!!!”


Ball is checked in, and the guy about to catch the rock in the picture below scores the first point. He’s a cat-quick lefty who receives the pass and explodes by his man all in one motion. On the way up and among the trees around the rim, he does a little up-and-under move and spins the ball off the backboard for a nifty layup. An “oooooooooh” rises from the crowd. Game on. Scott Kessler isn’t the defender beat on the play, but look closely and you can see that he has his fucking red Iggy jersey tucked into his fucking shorts. There’s no way I wasn’t going to find a way to work that into the article.

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I get my first whiff of weed at 6:09. The over/under was 10 minutes. Smoking joints and then playing (or just chilling) is as much a tradition here as the collection of mid-20s-to-later-30s male adults manchildren trying to recapture their athletic glory of yesteryear.

While holding a baby!!

From the same thread, and because Cheese from Slamball deserves a mention:

Spencer, aka The Bathing Suit, walks by and lights his pre-game cigarette. “Pre-game smoke,” he says. Then two girls passing on the sidewalk stop in their tracks and start dancing to the music and twerking all over the place. We have cheerleaders! A few minutes later, I’m asked if I can write a list of teams since there are so many people and I’m the only one with a pen and notepad. I feel so important. Immediately four teams put their names down, all obeying the time-honored, first-come-first-serve code of pickup basketball. Exercising their right to eschew creativity, there’s a “Chris in Red” team because Chris is wearing red shorts. There’s a “Chris in Black” team because this other Chris is wearing black shorts.

 

How It All Started

“It was May or June of last year, I think on a Tuesday,” Jeff recalls wistfully. “I’m a big wrestling fan and John Cena always does this “U.S. Title Open Challenge” thing on Raw where he’d get in the middle of the ring and say, ‘I’ll challenge anyone here to a match right now,’ then he would drop the mic and wait. All of a sudden the music would play and out would come this challenger and everyone would go nuts. It was awesome theater, great entertainment. So I was just playing off that and tweeted I’ll challenge anyone to a game of one-on-one right now, I don’t care who, let’s go. I put on my gear and went to the court.

“That day, nobody showed up. I got some solid individual work in, though.”

Persistence pays off, and slowly but surely the #OpenChallenge (the official and trademark-pending hashtag) started to gain traction and build a foundation.

“There was a small group of us to start, barely enough for two full teams. Then people began picking up on it on Twitter and tweeting at me, ‘Yeah, I’ll play next week, I’ll play next week.’ That’s how I met Swaggy Mitch (@SwaggyMitch) and Dennis (@GipperGrove). They came and were like, ‘Are you Jeff? Can I play?’ That’s when it hit me, pickup basketball is such a unifying thing. More people kept coming and it was like this cool little club.”

It went mainstream this spring and summer. It’s even attracted Marshall HarrisThe 700 Level crew and made Philly Sports Talk.

“The Open Challenge didn’t become this phenomenon and viral sensation on Twitter until Meech got involved and started playing. That’s when it really took off and got out there because he’s such a legend and everyone loves him. I have to give him a lot of credit for being a good sport about it too and letting me exploit him for marketing and stuff.”

(Mike) Meech came onto the scene with The Fightins in 2007 and apparently there was some blog beef with this website at one time, but that’s ok because time heals all wounds and everyone kinda gets over themselves at some point. The 37-year old father of three boys (soon to be five boys because he’s so damned masculine and he and his wife have been #blessed with twins) is a Northeast Philly lifer and elder statesman of the #OpenChallenge.

“I saw everyone on Twitter talking about it,” Meech said. “I hadn’t played pickup basketball in over 15 years, and I wanted to come and play, but I had softball in the spring and I can only get out of the house so many nights a week. Once softball ended, I started coming here instead and haven’t missed a week since. That was over two months ago.”

“So, two months in, do you feel like you’re back in shape now?” I ask.

He laughs dismissively and shakes his head.

“No, not even close, but I feel rejuvenated. I’m getting there. Maybe 2018.”

Modest as always, Meech scoffs at the notion that he’s some kind of celebrity, though the truth is he’s a revered and beloved member of Philly Twitter. I tell him he is actually considered one of the Founding Fathers, that he physically (not virtually) signed the Philly Twitter Declaration of Independence. The coronation makes Meech uncomfortable, but he says if it has to be that way, he wants the record to show he was just one of the guys there who said, “Yeah, let’s do this, sign it, whatever.” After some research, I’ve concluded Mike Meech is the George Clymer of Philly Twitter.

Here he is schooling some punk Millennials with fundamentals two weeks before and humbly letting everyone know about it:

“Would you like anyone to follow you on Twitter?” I pose as my last question.

“No,” Meech responds. “As a matter of fact, if people are following me and they read this, I want them to unfollow me.”

By the way, the conceited part of me chooses to believe this iconic video (which I’m certain Evster still watches everyday) from an early season #OpenChallenge in mid-April is what piqued his interest:

 

The OG GOATS

After all, what would Jesus have been without his disciples? In addition to Jeff, there are four other visionaries who compose the original #OpenChallenge crew. You already know @SwaggyMitch and @GipperGrove, but don’t forget about @HEYITSJAWN (John Hilly) and @VeryVeryHansen (Chris Hansen).

I once described Jeff’s game as “Z-Bo mixed with Vlade and a little Rex Chapman, with the mouth of Gary Payton.” I’m sticking with Z-Bo since he’s got the body of a svelte Zach Randolph as well as a repertoire of the same nimble and elegant post moves (no coincidence). He’s not as concerned with facilitation as Vlade Divac, and rather than Rex Chapman, I’ve decided the sweet lefty stroke from the outside and willingness to put the ball on the floor and drive to the hoop conjures Manu Ginobili. Jeff’s highlight of this #OpenChallenge was a dribble-drive in which he Eurostepped around a defender but took off too late and attempted an underhand layup that hit the bottom of the rim. Not to be deterred and showing enviable hustle and determination (just like Jesus would have), he got his own board and went back up. Blocked. No matter, third effort was the charm as Jeff snagged the ball out of the air again and hit a fadeaway baseline jumper to give his team an 11-9 lead and bring up game point (just like Jesus would have).

I’ll let Swaggy Mitch, aka Billy Williams (definitely his real name), tell you about his basketball prowess, as only Swaggy Mitch can:

“Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer for you,” he says when I ask him what’s the best part of his game. “My game sucks. However, if someone bad is guarding me, I can score points. If someone good is guarding me, I got nothing for you. Maybe I’ll punch them in the penis or something.”

Me: “And who would you say you model your game after?”

“At this point in my life, I’d be honored to say Carl Landry. I’m talking about Sixers Carl Landry, of course.”

Me: “Carl Landry rules. What do you like best about the #OpenChallenge?”

“It’s a nice escape after a hard day at work. I’m a trash man. The camaraderie among Internet-turned-real-life friends makes me happy, too.”

Chris Hansen (the more famous one) almost exclusively wears his signature light blue, mesh Flyers tank top. Like McDevitt, he is a big-bodied presence (let’s say 6’4″ or 6’5″ and 230-240 pounds) and double threat who can bang inside but also step outside to drain shots in your eye if you disrespect his range. He displays more brute force than McDevitt and has more of a mean streak. I would advocate in favor of self-preservation and recommend against getting in his way if he’s coming at you in the lane. As I’m jotting down notes about his skill set, Hansen gets the ball on the left elbow and turns to face his defender as he decides his plan of attack. He jab steps to create some room, then pump fakes to get his man in the air and drives past him. As help comes in the paint, Hansen jumps and gracefully contorts his body in the air to get around the defender and kiss the ball off the backboard for the bucket. He effortlessly hits a couple threes later in the game.

Regrettably, @GipperGrove* and @HEYITSJAWN are not in attendance today, so I’ll let Jeff give you their scouting reports.

*Recovering from a strained AC joint suffered last month when, in her very first game, the rambunctious, dangerous and subsequently suspended Melissa Stites decked him on a layup attempt and ruined the #OpenChallenge for girls everywhere. Sad!

Gipper: “He has unlimited range and loves to shoot threes but doesn’t go in the lane. A true white shooter.”

Jawn: “Gripping fear of shooting and refuses to do so, but he defends and rebounds really well. Glue guy.”

 

The Young Guns

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There are three of them; they walk in around 6:15 and are wearing Hawks Shareef Abdur-Rahim #3, Bucks Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 and Duke Kyrie Irving #1 jerseys. In a sea of washed-up male adults manchildren, they stick out like a sore thumb and I’m convinced they are maybe 15 or 16 years old.

In between the first and second game, they get out on the court and start shooting around. The one in the Abdur-Rahim jersey, who looks like this kid from Billy Madison, is a lefty (so many Devil-worshipping lefties at the #OpenChallenge) and rises up from beyond the arc with form that would make Aaron McKie blush. He locks and loads and unfurls a line drive reminiscent of a Shaq free throw. Swish. He gets the ball back, and the next shot is nowhere even close to the rim. I’m hooked, entranced, fascinated and even consider adopting him. I approach the trio after they come back to the sidelines and ask how old they are.

“Uh… 19,” says Carter Fillman, the kid in the Antetokounmpo jersey, seemingly terrified that I’m going to kick them out for being too young even though I have no authority whatsoever and would never do such a thing anyway because I’m cool and nice and merciful.

Turns out they’re sophomores at St. Joe’s. Bryce O’Connell (@bryce_oconnell3) is the one in the Kyrie jersey. He’s the quietest, I think he said maybe five words. The name of the lefty chucker and star of the show is Collin Giongo (@FreeCollin). Sporting a magnetic personality and absurd amount of confidence, I have no choice but to request an interview.

“I follow Jeff on Twitter,” Giongo says when I ask him how he found out about the #OpenChallenge. “Seemed fun, plus I love basketball. It’s my favorite sport.”

Me: “Where are you from? Where’d you go to high school?”

“I’m from Conshohocken, went to LaSalle College High School. You don’t have to write ‘College,’ though. I don’t like to say it, sounds pretentious.”

Me: “Sure thing. Love the Abdur-Rahim threads.”

Him: “Gotta respect the legends.”

Me: “Amen. Aside from that, what are your top three jerseys?”

“Jameer Nelson, Magic, gotta have it. Rip Hamilton, Pistons. Gerald Henderson, Hornets.”

Me: “That kind of sucks for a top-three list.”

He tells me he’s a history major (focusing on race in the United States), to which I respond that I too was a history major.

Him: “What do you do now, just Crossing Broad?”

Me: “Ha, no. Food sales.”

Him: “So you didn’t use your history degree at all?”

Me: “No, you’re pretty fucked unless you want to become a teacher or lawyer, but I get the sense you already know that.”

Him: “Yeah.”

Me: “Don’t worry, you’ll be alright and figure it out. Anyone you want to give a shoutout to?”

Him: “Conshy, Cousin Vern and the whole B.O.A. Crew. Southwest Philly Floater forever. One last thing, do you know Collin Mehalick from Twitter?”

Me: “Actually, yes. Why?”

Him: “Fuck that guy for taking the @collin handle, and you can tell him that too. I was tweeting at that account since 2012 trying to get it!”

After I stop recording, he tells me, “Can I be honest with you? I don’t like Crossing Broad, except for the funny comments. I mean, I can’t like it, [Kyle] hates St. Joe’s!”

[Editor’s note: National Champions.]

I tell him that’s ok, I don’t take it personally nor do I care.

Thirty minutes later, Giongo and his two buddies are on the court. He is guarding Meech and doing his darnedest to stick with the wily veteran like white on rice. At one point Giongo hits a shot from deep and yells, “CONSHY!!!” as he runs down the court with his arms raised. McDevitt is nearly in tears from laughter on the sidelines and bellows back, “CONSHOHOCKEN, PENNSYLVANIA!!!” The St. Joe’s Three and other two guys lost their game handily.

Nobody at the #OpenChallenge made a greater impact on me than Collin Giongo. He’s a unique breed and a special kind of hilarious, easily the day’s MVP.

His motto? “Shoot to get hot, shoot to stay hot.”

 

Best Team: Sixers Front Office

Four of the five players on this squad are either current or former employees of the Philadelphia 76ers. There’s Max Rappaport (former Social Media Coordinator), Kurt Gies (current Social Media Coordinator), Charlie Widdoes (Director of Digital) and another guy (update: it’s the uniquely-named Jon Mills!). The fifth is some dude wearing a LaSalle Explorers student section shirt. They win three games in a row, which is the longest streak of the night. They also almost get into a physical altercation with the “Chris in Black” squad over fouls, score disputes and an out-of-bounds call as only two teams that take themselves way too seriously can. Jeff films the latter confrontation as part of the Snapchat story.

“Be sure to mention I go over my mom’s data plan every month, that’s how dedicated I am to the #OpenChallenge,” he says with a mixture of shame of glee.

 

Conclusion

“The whole thing has been wild, above and beyond anything I could’ve envisioned,” Jeff says when I ask him for his thoughts on how the #OpenChallenge has evolved. “It’s funny, I always joke about being ‘The Brand,’ but, I mean, this has actually become a brand. We even have our own Snapchat filer and sponsors now! Fink’s, Lunch Money Quizzo, others are asking. In fact, I just got a call today from a friend of a guy who owns a beer company that wants to sponsor our end-of-year party or something? And, it’s like, what? Why would you want to do that? I guess there are eyes on this now, people are talking, people are finding out. An end-of-year party wasn’t even being talked about, but we’re having one now.”

Given the presence of Sixers peeps, I ask Jeff about the possibility of, say, you know, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid showing up to the #OpenChallenge one day.

“Wow,” he says, taking a moment to think about the possibility and soaking it in as his eyes widen. “It would just blow up. They were actually down the street at the other courts (at 19th and Washington) last weekend. Getting a big name like that would be unreal. Could you imagine? I know all the Sixers guys are here tonight, which is great. [Getting a Sixer to show up] would seem to go hand in hand, right?”

I can’t help myself.

“A big name? What about flying in Sam Hinkie?”

Jeff’s eyes momentarily roll into the back of head.

“Oh, my God. Yeah, sure, and everyone would just get down on their knees and bow,” he says with a no-chance-in-hell chuckle, “because I think a lot of the people here are like that and real believers in what he did and big fans of his.”

Maybe if enough people tweet at Simmons and Embiid (and Hinkie?!), we can turn this dream into a reality. After all, the #OpenChallenge has exceeded everyone’s wildest expectations so far, and I feel an NBA tie-in straight out of Hollywood is the final (even logical) act in this feel-good summer movie.

It’s a little after 8 o’clock and getting dark. At least 15 people still remain. There are stadium-style lights above the court, but they’re off. Nobody cares, the game in progress goes on. I stay for another five minutes before gathering my things. As I leave, suddenly the lights come on and with them, new life.

“LET THERE BE LIGHT!” someone exclaims.

They will play into the night, and they will be right back here next Wednesday to do it all over again.