Top 11: Pickup Ballers We Love To Hate
*Editor’s note: Originally published in March, 2009, this article is one of the most popular in Seattle Sportsnet’s brief history. It was linked on a number of different pages and message boards, including SI.com, and helped bring in the first wave of national readers to the site. If you haven’t seen it before, check it out.
Many of us enjoy a good pickup game. We head to gyms or parks to get our fix, and most of the time it’s all fun and games. But occasionally, we run into one of these 11 dudes and things don’t go as planned. We all know these guys. They have the ability to implode a team or destroy an entire game. And chances are if you don’t recognize any of the ballers on our list, you may very well be one of them. Uh oh.
Weight Room Guy.
11. Weight Room Guy.
Vital Signs: Wife-beater tank top; shorter than average shorts; disproportionate amount of muscle.
Player he most resembles: Dwight Howard, assuming Howard was a foot shorter and had been dropped on his head repeatedly as a child.
Reason we hate him: Weight Room Guy looks like he could be good at basketball. He’s clearly in shape, resembles a shorter version of the Incredible Hulk, and appears to be passionate about athletics. Of course, none of those attributes necessarily translate to the basketball court.
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