A streetball odysee in the West Indies

Thanks to Christopher Columbus the Caribbean Sea has revealed a precious secret: The West Indies are a bball mecca! Among those 22 islands, France settled two lands, Guadeloupe & Martinique two small islands formerly propriety of the Arawaks, Indians from South America Latina who disappeared during massacres perpetuated with colonization.

Settlers took possession of the islands doing the sugarcane & tobacco business during years, the islands have known many social conflict & racism between the native people & settlers, today tensions are still not alleviated. However tourism & sport are the main focuses of the islands, you’ll find people doing cycling, soccer and off course basketball –

The number of courts is tremendous, it’s like gathering all the playgrounds of NYC in one island, each village got his court, even fishermen’s villages.Between the local grilled chicken & tropical vegetation odors you’ll smell the dusty asphalt of the street courts submerging the cities.

Highly influenced by the States, even more than France, every kids are potential ballers, you won’t find them on sunny afternoon, but at night, when temperature is cooler kids are trying to imitate their NBA favourite stars, like Dejan Luce, 10 years old, already proclaiming himself as a streetballer on this wacky court of Gosier, just located behind a cemetery.

During games the crowd is sitting on tombs and players sharing their love with ballers in rest. The Basketball Federation is not equipped with enough gymnasiums, outdoor trainings and games depends on the weather and the state of the ground.

Nevertheless Guadeloupe is a land of bball, some of the best French players comes from this island, the Pietrus Brothers, Mike Gelabale, Michel Morandais, and Ronnie Turiaf from Martinique. Constantly evolving & feeding French sport with new athlete’s “ les Antilles “ has earned a special place in our hearts and definitely a hoop spot on the world map !