And 1 Streetball

By Alan Bertolero

In “And 1 Streetball” from season 2 episode 9, a streetball team travels around the world to the best basketball parks and play the best streetball players in that area. The show has mostly men in it, in fact the clip that I saw doesn’t show a single woman in attendance. The people there try to act very masculine by acting tough and showing off. They like to portray themselves a certain way to maintain a reputation of toughness. High rep doesn’t necessarily mean that a lot of people like you, it means you are known by many people to be tough and that nobody will mess with you. This is no doubt a very masculine show.

The “And 1 Streetball” video communicates to men, especially African American men, that to be a true man you need to show your superiority and dominance. We have to show that we are better. Competition is part of our male culture. Sometimes men compete with each other to impress the ladies, but many times it is just to prove to everyone that we are the best at what we do. Men strive to be the best. I tend to think of this trait as a good thing, something that pushes us harder and harder. In this clip one of the players who is nicknamed “Hot Sauce” for his fancy dribbling and “saucy” moves, shows off and showboats in a way to give him respect and credibility. He has the ball at the wing and dribbles the ball in-between the defender’s legs, brings it back, pulls down the defender’s headband over his eyes so he can’t see, bounces the ball off the guy’s head, and dribbles around him to the hoop. He could have easily just dribbled by him and avoid all the hassle, but that wouldn’t be good enough for him. In his mind he has to humiliate his opponent; he has to make him look stupid. This is the primary goal of each player, to make their opponent look stupid. This scene of Hot Sauce playing with his defender is a perfect example of how men like to show their dominance and superiority.

True men don’t just need to compete in a certain way, with fancy dribbling and jaw-dropping dunks; they need to dress just right. All of the players wear balloon shorts that are so baggy that they barely stay on their waists. Sometimes you can see them pulling them up or just holding on to them when they run down the court. Clothes, fashion, and the way a man looks is almost as important as how they perform. In the clip, the baggy shorts are worn because they are cool and they want to look a certain way even though it makes it harder to play. I know because I sometimes wear extremely baggy shorts too and when I run it sags down and when I try to dribble the ball between my legs it gets caught in the shorts. Men’s priorities sometimes put how they look first, in front of practicality.

To be a man you have to be loud, demand attention, and make noise. Being loud makes you known and brings attention to yourself. In the clip, every time a player does some fancy move or a thundering dunk, the crowd goes nuts. You can hear every person in the room screaming “oooooooohhh!!!” It’s something men like to do because men desire to be independent, but also to fit in; once most people yell out and jump around everyone starts doing it. It is another way we can act cool and be part of the group.

We have this drive to be better than everyone at everything, no matter if it’s a basketball game or a simple game of tick-tack-toe. Men worry almost as much as women do about their appearance, although we act like we don’t really care about our looks. Men need to be loud. Shouting and screaming when something cool happens or when someone gets made fun of is how men like to get attention.