Love of competition brings top hoops players together

By Kevin Beese For Chronicle Media
: Ian Mahoney (left), director of emerging networks for Viacom, at former University of Illinois star Levi Cobb stand at the FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championships in Orlando, Fla. Their team took third place. (Photo courtesy of Ian Mahoney)

Ian Mahoney (left), director of emerging networks for Viacom, at former University of Illinois star Levi Cobb stand at the FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championships in Orlando, Fla. Their team took third place. (Photo courtesy of Ian Mahoney)

As 15-year NBA veteran Kendall Gill smoothly glided to the hoop for a finger-roll layup on the main court, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took long-range jumpers at a side hoop.

Regular pick-up games at the University of Chicago’s Lab School bring together local former pros, political powerhouses and business leaders — all with a love of the game and some basketball skills to boot.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has taken the court here for pickup games as has President Barack Obama.

Ian Mahoney, director of emerging networks for Viacom and a basketball coach at the Lab School, coordinates the invitation-only pickup games which occur two or three times per week. Only between 12 and 15 players make the guest list for each session.

The gatherings, Mahoney said, are a chance to share some laughs, get a good workout in, and keep the competitive juices flowing.

“We’ve all known each other for years,” Mahoney, said of the core group of guys, most in their 40s and 50s , who get together for the pickup games.

The games are for bragging rights — and fun.

Mahoney has some bragging rights of his own. He was part of an American team that took third in August’s FIMBA World Maxibasketball Championships in Orlando, Fla. He is also a cancer survivor. Five years ago, Mahoney, 57, went through surgery to remove a cancerous salivary gland.

Getting back on the court was one of the things that drove Mahoney.

Duncan said whenever he is in town, he tries to make it to the Lab School games.

“I love to spend time with these guys,” said Duncan, who was co-captain of Harvard University’s basketball team and was named a first-team Academic All-American. “And it’s excellent competition.”

: Former NBA star Kendall Gill takes a jumps shot during a pickup game at the University of Chicago Lab School. Gill and other top area players get together several times per week for pickup games at the school. (Photo courtesy of Ian Mahoney)

Former NBA star Kendall Gill takes a jumps shot during a pickup game at the University of Chicago Lab School. Gill and other top area players get together several times per week for pickup games at the school. (Photo courtesy of Ian Mahoney)

Mahoney remembers well when Duncan’s boss and his personal friend, Obama, has come to the Lab School games.

“There were snipers positioned up on the roof,” Mahoney said.

The pickup games have players calling their own fouls and Mahoney mixes up the personnel present to try to make squads even for each game.

Jordan Gipson, who played at Lake Forest College, graduating in 2010, may be one of the younger players, but doesn’t see much of a youth advantage when out on the court.

“This is good competition. It tests you,” Gibson said. “It challenges you. It make you compete … but it is also a good time.”

“Guys get up and down the court,” Mahoney said of the older players. “We still enjoy playing. We are all local so we can get together and shoot around and play.”

Gill, the fifth pick in the 1990 NBA draft, loves the chance to still compete at a high level.

“These guys have been outstanding players for many years. They still possess some skills,” the 47-year-old Gill said. “These guys can play.”

 

 

 

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