Approaching 10 years of @30HomeGames. A decade of travelling and connecting over a shared love of basketball.

This year I'll be celebrating 10 years since founding 30HomeGames in Vilnius, Lithuania. I was recently invited on 'The Baseline Podcast' with Stevie Cozens to share my stories as a basketball traveller.

VIDEO: Official EuroBasket 2011 Anthem (English version)

Stevie is a New Zealander with a passion for hoops, he has an interesting mixture of guests who cover a range of perspectives on the game. The pandemic has put a halt on life as usual for all of us. Putting privileges like travel and opportunity in perspective, I'm lucky to have been able to take my chances over the years. Whilst New Zealand is an emerging basketball nation, Stevie and the Baseline Podcast is a great example of how technology and shared interests can open our world and shrink the distance between us. Even when we're robbed of travel or away from the action.

My 7 year old daughter was introduced to the WNBA today in @sabrina_i20 's debut. "Mom, I can be a basketball player even though I'm a girl?" Yes baby girl, you can do anything ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EmzVeB8i8r

— Dia (@diandraann) July 25, 2020

Stevie's guests on the Baseline Podcast have mirrored epiphanies I've had on my own journey. Photographer Diandra Ann shares her discoveries after being exposed to a wider universe of hoops through her work and fandom.

Catching Up With Diandra Ann, The Queen of Blazers Twitter

DIANDRA ANN: (10m 55s) This is all a new world to me. I'm getting familiar with it as I go because there's so much that I don't know still but like you said this is really well known outside of the United States. I think of a lot of it is why you watch basketball? Do you watch basketball because you like LeBron James (nothing against LeBron James, he's a fantastic player). But do you watch basketball because of that or do you watch basketball cause you like to watch basketball? And I think if you're a person who just likes to watch basketball there are so many other people out there that you could be watching including organisations like FIBA...

For Diandra, her exposure began when she started working with Swish Cultures and FIBA. Having international colleagues and doing work with a global focus on the game gave her access to another perspective. Travel has usually been my gateway. I've cultivated my curiosity by exploring different cultures but personal connections to places and people cement that fondness. 30HomeGames began after spending an incredible month backpacking around hoops-mad Lithuania as they hosted EuroBasket '11. The festival atmosphere connecting with hoopheads from around Europe and the amazing hospitality from locals has been a high I've chased ever since.  

DIANDRA: (16m 16s) When you put people in that are the best of what you've got then you've got the fans behind you and you build that global awareness for the game outside of just the United States. I still feel like I don't fully understand all of it as far as all the leagues, who's where and all that stuff. I'm kinda figuring it out as I go cuz it's all very new for me because I wasn't really exposed to it before. 

When you hear people say all the time "Representation Matters. Exposure Matters" and all those things and that's very true because if you don't know it exists its hard to be familiar with it. As it gets more recognition and as it becomes a bigger thing we're gonna hopefully see excitement building for basketball outside of the NBA and the WNBA...  

I'm a big believer in narrative, its a powerful drive in basketball. Its the reason we adore certain teams and players and why we despise others. It's also what pushes us to collect certain basketball cards or buy certain sneaker colourways. Its worth examining those stories because I think it tells us a lot about ourselves and each other. Looking at all my faves through the years, I've found that I have a bias towards, underdogs, small market teams and international players which I touched on in my episode.

Another conversation that resonated with me was Stevie's chat with Kaan Erel. Kaan was a contestant on 'GM School' which originally aired on NBATV and YouTube. His perspective on networking reflected my own, interestingly 'GM School' host Ben Lyons has been one of the most meaningful connections I've made on my 30HomeGames journey. I speak on that in my conversation with Stevie.

VIDEO: GM School - Kaan Erel

Kaan unpacks the basics of interpersonal connection and being able to present oneself as a professional asset. His words also double as great life advice.

Career In Basketball Media With Kaan Erel

KAAN EREL: (34m 22s) Networking is crucial to display who you are to the people that you want... you gotta know who you are and be able to describe yourself in a way that you agree with it. Once you stop trying to get someone else to agree that you are worth it... once you find your own self worth, it becomes easy to talk about it to other people...

You never know when relationships will become something of actual business or professional value but if you don't go into them with that in mind they hold value just because of the connection... It's all about building connections that can amount to different things in the future. That's what I think networking is. It's not about "I need to find a job" or "I need to change out". I wanna meet more people because that's what life is actually about. 

This sentiment by Kaan is something I touched on with Stevie. I have a similar philosophy around social media and been blessed to find the right people. My first NBA game was in 2015 at Madison Square Garden. As I do before embarking on my trips, I try to reach out to the destination NBA teams in search of a unique fan experience. During that time I had a modest 200+ Instagram followers (admittedly I don't have too much more 10 years on) but the New York Knicks graciously provided our traveling crew pregame access. That initial experience proved to me I didn't need to have tens of thousands of followers to warrant a connection. Genuineness and openness with timing and good fortune mixed in can go a long way. 

Its an honour to be able to share my story on the Baseline Podcast. Enjoy the show.

Follow Stevie Cozens online here:
- Twitter at @StevieCozens
- Instagram at @BasketballContentNZ
- Subscribe to 'The Baseline Podcast'

Follow Diandra Ann online here:
- Twitter at @DiandraAnn
- Instagram at @Diandra.Ann

Follow Kaan Eral online here:
- Twitter at @iKaanic
- Instagram at @iKaanic

All Fantasy Everything: Ep.12 – Cities for a Weekend (NBA Western Conference edition)

'All Fantasy Everything' is a podcast by Portland comedian Ian Karmel. Each episode Ian invites comedic guests to draft their Top 5 picks on a range of random, often silly topics.

Following in the footsteps of JJ Redick and Jalen Rose' selections for best cities to Champagne & Campaign in, I've excerpted the Western Conference destinations drafted by Ian Karmel, Sean Jordan and David Gborie. Sean and Dave were frequent guests in early episodes of the show when it was founded in 2016. They've since become touring regulars in the AFE family with producer Marissa.

'All Fantasy Everything' podcast (Episode 12: Dec 1, 2016)

Cities for a Weekend (w/ David Gborie and Sean Jordan)

Skipping to the end, the draft picks for each comedian went as follows:

Sean Jordan
1) Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2) Minnesota, Minneapolis
3) Las Vegas, Nevada
4) Deadwood, South Dakota
5) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

David Gborie
1) San Francisco, California
2) Reno, Nevada
3) Denver, Colorado
4) Omaha, Nebraska
5) Arcana, California

Ian Karmel
1) New Orleans, Louisiana
2) Portland, Oregon (The "Rose City", Top of the food chain, Jewel of the PNW,)
3) New York City, New York
4) Austin, Texas
5) Chicago, Illinois

I've excerpted the NBA cities from the west which I'd been meaning to since I heard the pod in 2016. To this date I've yet to visit any of the five destinations below. Hopefully the spots mentioned for each city are still around by the time I come around.

Ian Karmel: First round, Second pick.
New Orleans (Southwest Division) 

New Orleans, Louisiana

IAN KARMEL: (22m 33s) I have the second pick in the first round for 'Fun cities to spend a weekend in' and as much as it breaks my heart to do so I can't take the Rose City. I can't go PDX up top. I gotta go with New Orleans, Louisiana. There's not a more fun city. Just three days! Four might kill you. 5 probably, definitely will.

Things they did once...

DAVE: I was walking down there one time [Exposition Blvd] and I stumbled onto a Jamaican block. It was crazy, they had grills in their trucks. Like meat, they were making meats. Yooo! This is lit.

IAN: I was just in New Orleans. I bought meat out the back of a truck, or the trunk of a car, not even a truck... he was selling like these jerk meatballs.

Neighbourhoods mentioned:

- French Quarter

- Bourbon street

- Exposition Boulevard

- Mississippi River

- Cafe Du Monde 

- Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

Dave Gborie: First round, Third pick
Golden State (Pacific Division)

San Francisco, California
DAVE GBORIE: (32m 13s) Honestly I gotta go with my second city, my home away from home. The Sucker Free, San Francisco man. It is the best freak town ever... I've never gone to a city and gone out and got drunk and been like "everyone here is gonna get laid tonight".

Things they did once...
DAVE: We started drinking at 6pm. By 3 o'clock in the morning I was bombing a shortboard down a San Francisco hill on the way to the beach and hit the tracks.
SEAN: I went to a spaghetti restaurant and got a 40 [malt liquor beer] with a spaghetti. That's fantastic.

Neighbourhoods mentioned:
- Chinatown
- North Beach

Ian Karmel: Second round, Fifth pick
Portland (Northwest Division)

Portland, Oregon
IAN KARMEL: (44m 57s) I'm gonna keep it West Coast and redeem my first pick. I had to get New Orleans cuz I was afraid it was going to fall off the board but I have to redeem myself to my home city, my people. The people of Portland, Oregon.

Things they did once...
SEAN: We went there [Fire on the Mountain] on the crazy-regular. Like that's how we would start if we knew we were gonna have a real fun night.
SEAN: I'm not a big strip club guy. Portland has the only strip clubs that I've ever been to where most of the girls dancing don't look like they're having a horrible time.

Neighbourhoods mentioned:
- Kachka (Russian restaurant)
- Paley's Place (Bar & Bistro)
- Ava Gene's (Italian restaurant)
- Bunk Sandwiches
- Fire on the Mountain (Wing joint)
- Holman's Bar & Grill
- Wunderland: Cinema and Nickel games
- High Dive (Neighbourhood joint)
- Belmont, Southeast

Sean Jordan: Second round, Sixth pick
Minnesota (Northwest Division)

Minneapolis, Minnesota
SEAN JORDAN: (59m 54s) I'm gonna go with Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its always been my favourite city in general. Where I wanted to live, I wanted to move there but we used to go up for weekends constantly... It was the first real downtown we went to. That downtown actually has stuff going on. A lot of cities you go downtown and it'll shut at 10 o'clock or midnight or something.

Things they did once...
SEAN: This is a specific sort of weekend. For me, this is the weekend. You go into Fifth Element [RSE store] and you just look around. Maybe you see like Slug, a famous rapper in there.

Neighbourhoods mentioned:
- Emma Krumbees (Orchard Farm, Restaurant, Bakery)
- Green Giant Statue Park
- Juicy Lucy Burger in Minneapolis
- Fifth Element (Rhymesayers Store)
- Deja Vu Showgirls
- Gay 90's
- First Avenue (Downtown Danceteria)
- Acme Comedy co.
- 3rd Lair (Skate Park)
- Dinkytown
- Mall of America
- Bde Maka Ska [Lake Calhoun]

Dave Gborie: Third round, Ninth pick
Denver (Northwest Division)

Denver, Colorado
DAVE GBORIE: (1h 29m 47s) I'm sorry to wait for the third pick for you guys. I'm sorry but with the third pick I made the earth sick. Denver, Colorado. Mile High till I die baby! It's the best. Here's the thing with Denver, it has everything a great city has and top of it the people are fan-f*cking-tastic...
It's a spicy town, it's a hard drinking town.

Things they did once...
IAN: It was the first major city to go legal weed. I got to be there for the last High Plains I did. Two, three years ago. It was legal there but not legal anywhere else yet which was fun. It was a fun time to be there...
DAVE: Me and you did that dab in some dude's office.

Neighbourhoods mentioned:
- High Plains Comedy Festival
- 16th Street Mall
- Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park
- Fire on the Mountain
- Torchy's Tacos
- Voodoo Doughnut
- Illegal Pete's

Updated (September 2021):

#30HGlogos for the 'All Fantasy Everything' main roster

Explore links to other Champagne & Campaign recommendations:
- Former LA Clippers teammates Spencer Hawes and JJ Redick share their favorite NBA Road Cities
- Champagning and Campaigning in the NBA Cities: Eastern Conference edition
- Champagning and Campaigning in the NBA Cities: Western Conference edition
- Jalen Rose's City Power Rankings aka Black Guy City Power Rankings

How basketball leads to connection: Isaac Eger on the 'Dear Adam Silver' podcast by Abigail Smithson

Writer and baller Isaac Eger AKA @gluten_daddy

I founded my 30HomeGames mission in Vilnius, Lithuania. I created the project after an unforgettable month traveling the country as the hoopsmad nation hosted EuroBasket 2011. It was my way of preserving that spirit and hopefully a way to keep chasing that high. It was the highlight of my year backpacking Europe, unlocking experiences and connections through a shared love of basketball.

My approach to travel is an extension of how I approach life: Wherever you are, be an interesting and interested person. Basketball becoming my wayfinder these past few years since founding @30HomeGames. I consume and follow plenty of hoops writers. Whilst traveling for work can be standard in sports journalism, I hadn't found many writers with the travel experience or approach that resonated with me.

Rafe Bartholomew was one I admired, he's an American who travelled deeply around the Philippines. Immersing himself in the culture and learning the language in order to understand why a small island nation was obsessed with basketball.

Episode 12: Isaac Eger on the Art of Playing Pickup Basketball

Isaac Eger was another. I found him through some streetball articles a few years ago. I enjoyed his gonzo approach to life and basketball and followed him since. He was a recent guest on artist Abigail Smithson's podcast 'Dear Adam Silver'. She discovered him the same way, describing him in the episode intro thusly:

Isaac is a writer and pickup basketball player, he has played the game all over the world. From Sarasota, Florida to New York City, to Cuba, Israel, Lithuania and Tibet. I reached out to Isaac a couple of years ago after reading an essay he wrote for Los Angeles Magazine about playing street basketball in LA.

In the episode, Abigail and Isaac discuss the power of games and how it allows us to connect with strangers and strange lands.

'Dear Adam Silver' Episode 12: Isaac Eger on the Art of Playing Pickup Basketball
ISAAC EGER: (43m 08s) We play basketball for reasons beyond just the game itself. I think that playing pickup basketball forces you to interact with people in a way that you wouldn't otherwise. I love playing basketball in different countries because I don't feel like a tourist. You know I feel very much on the level with everybody else...
ABIGAIL SMITHSON: Yeah it just seems like a powerful way to sort of build belonging where there is no belonging.

Abigail continues with a point that I've personally lived by. I backpacked Europe in 2011, then South America in 2013.  All my travels since have been Stateside or around Australia, always instigated by basketball. The beauty of this calling is it allows me to explore overlooked locales and find appreciation for any destination.

SMITHSON: (45m 12s) Yeah and I think when you're going to a new place and you get off a plane and then all of a sudden there's this other language around you and everything that you're used to is different. The fact that knowing you have a starting point is really a nice thing. It's like you can always go back to basketball to interact with that place. Rather than feeling like you have nothing to do or feel very groundless. 

View this post on Instagram

Alice in Wonderland, the OG Space Jam 🕳🐰. #JordanIII

A post shared by Loz In Transit (@30homegames) on Oct 9, 2018 at 1:32am PDT

My @30homegames Instagram project has been a handy catalyst for me to seek adventure. Because I've designed it so every post is basketball related, plenty of life experience goes uncatalogued. It's these times that are often the most unforgettable. Lost in the moment with newly made friends, wandering the unbeaten path. Feeling like Alice in Wonderland.

EGER: (45m 38s) That's the first place I always go to whenever I travel. I always look for the basketball court and I let everything else happen on the way to the basketball court. I'm very frequently on foot and a lot of the stories I write about that have nothing to do with basketball, I discover to and from the basketball court. When I go travel, I don't look to go to museums any more. I always found it to be a funny phenomena where people don't go to the museums in their hometown but the second they're in Paris, "We got to go to the Louvre". It's just like "Why?". Why do you feel like you have to go? So I almost avoid that and so if there's a basketball court on the way to the Louvre or I meet an employee there that can get me in for free or I get some special treatment then hell yeah I'll go. Otherwise I don't want to follow the same grooves everyone else has gone through in their travels...

Playing streetball with Colombian locals on Christmas Day 2013

My camera roll is odd and cryptic, devoid of selfies or tourist photos much to my parents chagrin. I have an archive of obscure jerseys in the wild, hoops of the world and nerdy stealth shots. I do it because I enjoy it. I learnt a while ago that one has to find joy in the process. In travel as in life, doing things to impress others is a fool's game if you're not enjoying the lived experience.

SMITHSON: (47m 17s) I don't think that following that blueprint of "these are the places you can't miss". It leaves you feeling a little bit like you've experienced this place in a very enclosed way and your idea of that place hasn't necessarily changed based on your experience.
EGER: Think about the way people share or position themselves relative to these places they have to go visit? I'm sure you've seen the people who are always holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
SMITHSON: Yeah, of course.
EGER: It becomes–It's no different than a green screen at that point.
SMITHSON: Totally. I have to say if I was there, it would be hard for me not to do it. I mean I've never been. I would just do because maybe that's why we interact with that space but I understand I'm trying not to seek them out because I think it lessens the chance that there's this unknown and a variable and when you have a list and when you have a travel book of all the sights you should see. Those variables you can't hear them as much.

Read Isaac Eger's articles:
- What Pickup Basketball Reveals About L.A.
- ‘I Got Next’: Exploring New York Through Pickup Basketball
- @gluten_daddy on Instagram

Find Abigail Smithson's work here:

- Official folio site
- 'Dear Adam Silver' podcast
- @abigailsmithson on Instagram

Joe House and Bill Simmons reseed the 2018 Playoffs in order of the best NBA Food cities

AUDIO: Bill Simmons on the Best NBA-Finals Food Cities | House of Carbs (Ep. 40)

Joe House welcomes the Podfather to reseed the Playoffs according to their culinary PER with a disclaimer that it's not flawless analytics

JOE HOUSE: There is only one man in the Ringer universe qualified to have an opinion about all 16 of the NBA teams and cities that are in this years 2018 NBA Playoffs, that is "The Podfather" himself Bill Simmons. He is coming on, we are ranking from 16 to 1 the very best food experiences among all the playoff teams in this year's NBA Playoffs
...
BILL SIMMONS: When I told you I was going to do this, I was going to give you a Top 6. I went a little further, we're going from 16 to 1 cuz I think we should sh*t on some cities too.
HOUSE: That's so rude.
SIMMONS: Let's do some sh*tting. Coming in at 16—by the way no offense to these cities, it's not the fault of the people who live there. Not every city gets to have David Chang pop up and start a culinary revolution. Not every city has a history of BBQ, Chinese food or whatever's going on. Some cities are just in America getting by and it's not their fault
...
HOUSE: I also want to add the observation that we're going to get a lot of input from people who'll claim "you guys are idiots", you're white-washing this whole thing. You're using too broad a brush in considering this. I'm gonna admit it upfront, we're making gross generalisations here about the food scenes in many of these cities. We haven't been to everyone one of these cities.

16. Cleveland (5m 58s)
BILL: We settled on Morton's [The Steakhouse]

VIDEO: Kevin Durant and Grant Hill Get Cooking on Inside Stuff

15. Oklahoma City (6m 27s)
BILL: It's basically Cleveland but with a little more Southwestern. There's a meat scene going there... KD opened a restaurant called KD's [Southern Cuisine] that ranked 4th in the best restaurants in OKC. Anytime a restaurant named after an athlete isn't in your Top5, it's probably not a great food city.
JOE: That's a good rule of thumb. If one of the Top 5 restaurants in your city has been opened by a sports figure, not a great food look for your city.
BILL: I was there in 2010, the "best restaurant" to go there after the game was called Mickey Mantle's [Steakhouse], yet another sports figure.

14. Indiana (8m 59s)
JOE: I like Indiana, we had a good time at St Elmo's [Steakhouse]
BILL: St Elmo's is a fine restaurant. The shrimp cocktail was great, it put hair on my chest but I'm always skeptical of cities that when you go people only mention one restaurant... and St Elmo's is good. It's fun, it's a giant steakhouse, the bloody mary's are great. I like the shrimp cocktail, I had a good steak.
JOE: To be honest the best meal we had together when we went to Indianapolis for the Superbowl was when we visited the [Masterpiece Lounge] bar owned and operated by Jason Whitlock. We got homestyle food, we were eating ribs and I couldn't stop.

13. Milwaukee (11m 08s)
BILL: Basically in that OKC/Cleveland range except there's sausage/bratwurst, old school things you're not supposed to eat anymore or sauerkraut, cheese curds. All stuff that's incredibly and unfathomably unhealthy... I don't know if there's the high-end restaurant scene that we're looking for

12. San Antonio (12m 03s)
BILL: Good Mexican but the thing with Mexican is that it has a ceiling... I found a fish place that I really like. The Riverwalk—throw that out, the Riverwalk is a tourist trap... there is a very good Mexican scene and it should be commended
JOE: It deserves where you're putting it because it's a one-note food town in my experience.

11. Utah (13m 48s)
BILL: I've only eaten there once and it was a great meal. The thing that stuck with me is that Steve Kerr said to me once that somewhere in Utah or Salt Lake had the best restaurant [Valter's Osteria] he's ever been to... to me this is just word of mouth. I feel like I've heard many times over the years that the food in Utah is kind of a thing

10. Minnesota (15m 12s)
BILL: I hit up David Chang on some of the cities and he's very bullish on Minneapolis...
JOE: I got a lot of input from folks in Minnesota... it fell in two categories it seemed like. A lot of gastropub focused stuff. A lot of innovations in terms of that and you know they're going to do beer correctly. I want to explore if we have time, they have Ethiopian food in Minneapolis because of a big concentration of Ethiopian folks.

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A post shared by Bill Simmons (@sptguy33) on Jun 21, 2018 at 9:06am PDT

9. Boston (17m 30s)
BILL: Every good major city has pockets of different food, at the North End is one of the most satisfying pockets I've ever seen in any city. It's just a finite amount of space in blocks, you know exactly how big it is. You know where all the places are. There's an Oyster House place that's the number one place there.
JOE: You could just have 6 Italian meals and cover all of the regional cuisines of Italy. You could do high-end pizza, you could do low-end pizza, you could do meat-focused, you could do pasta-focused

8. Philadelphia (20m 27s)
BILL: Cheesesteak that'd be great but after two days you're ready for other stuff...
JOE: You can get some great Asian food and there's a strong Italian tradition in Philly. There's cheesesteak and then roast pork, you know the whole sandwich game... Chris Ryan and I ate a variety of Mediterranean and Israeli focused food that was just unbelievable...
The best restaurant in Philly by reputation and accolade is a restaurant by a chef name Michael Solomonov, he and his partner Steven Cook have this restaurant, Zahav which is an Israeli restaurant... that Spanish tapas idea but with flavours of Israel... go do a Philly food tour that covers a whole lot of unexpected varieties. Unbelievable Vietnamese varieties, Thai places, the guys behind Federal Donuts which is a donut and fried chicken place. Our boy Tom Henneman pointed out this joint called Stock which is unbelievable, of that Vietnamese pho style.

A post shared by House of Carbs (@thehouseofcarbs) on Nov 20, 2017 at 11:14am PST

7. Washington (25m 56s)
BILL: I would love to go to Momofoku one day. I'd like to go that place we went with Uncle Tony that one time, you would take me to that Italian place that you love and that one steak place you love. I'd basically get the greatest hits 'House' Tour and I'd be very happy
JOE: (House never elaborates cuz he uses the segment to defend the Wizards' honour)

6. Portland (30m 42s)
BILL: Portland has a real eclectic scene. There's a lot of microbreweries, weird restaurants. It's a cool city, I like it there. I like the different kind of options, you don't need to have a hugely expensive dinner to have an awesome time... there's a huge coffee scene.
JOE: I like how you used the word eclectic, cuz that's the perfect way to describe Portland and it's food scene. They have been at the forefront of a number of different movements. You mentioned coffee. They were sort of first on the elegant coffee vibe, not expensive but elegant. Taking the time to pay attention.
I also just wanna give Portland a pat on the back for really being at the forefront of the food truck scene, as far back as the early and mid-2000s. They were really first on farm-to-table. This way of describing local, regional ingredients and getting those ingredients in their meals.

Notable Mention: Seattle (36:29)
BILL: I love Seattle, such a fun place to go. Such a fun place to eat. They have that crazy market that's all-time, all-time great. They have an unbelievable seafood scene, great restaurants and it's shame on you NBA.
JOE: I just wanna go eat there again, it's such a good eating town. The sushi in Seattle I'm dying for it.
BILL: The tradeoff from a food standpoint, from Seattle to OKC was half as bad as the James Harden trade.

Champagning and Campaigning in the NBA Cities: Eastern Conference edition

5. Miami (37m 54s)
BILL: I've led a very blessed life. Jalen and I did the NBA show for 2 years, Miami was in it for 3 of the 4 shows we did. We went to Prime 112 a bunch of times and got to watch Jalen eat lobster over and over again. That restaurant alone and the restaurant across the street, that [Prime Italian] pasta place. Those two alone, then you got Joe's Crab Shack... they have a little bit of everything... we're talking about all these little pockets. Now we have the Cuban pocket... I'm a 100% all the way in on the Cuban scene for food.
JOE: You and me both... very clean seafood. Very fresh, bright seafood taste. You can have very authentic Cuban street food. I've had some of the very best Italian food in my whole life in Miami.

VIDEO: Eating Congolese Food with Serge Ibaka of the Toronto Raptors

(ft. Ma Yvé Grill)

4. Toronto (40m 25s)

BILL: A city I've never been to... I'm deferring to David Chang on this. Number one option in the East. Most options, most ways to go...
JOE: For some reason Toronto keeps showing up in our food news... Chang included a restaurant called the Fishman [Lobster] Clubhouse as his last meal on earth so he could go conquer the salt & pepper kingcrab or the lobster mountain...
What commends Toronto based on the stories me and Juliet are reading is the incredible diversity of micro cuisines. A lot of the folks displaced by the civil war in Syria and relocated in Toronto and there's a Syrian food scene. I'm into that.
BILL: From a diversity standpoint, it seems to have the most to offer maybe of all the cities we're gonna list on this podcast
JOE: There's one city that rivals it. It definitely has that international vibe that covers so much different territory—Arabic, Indian, the Syrian thing, huge Asian thing. Great sushi there and we haven't touched anything that's sort of Native Canadian. Shout-out Toronto.

3. San Francisco (43m 10s)
BILL: I think the Chinese food scene in San Francisco is a little overrated... but one of the things I like about it is all the pockets you can go outside. You have Berkeley, you have Oakland. You can get adventurous...
JOE: Highly well executed meals whatever the cuisine is chosen... one of our guests on 'House of Carbs', Kenji López just opened a German-Austrian style bier hall featuring wursts 10 minutes from the airport. That would be my first stop. I'm arriving at the airport, getting in the Uber and going straight to Wursthall.

"2 versus 1 is the Bird vs Magic... Joe House' belly vs David Chang's belly"

— Bill Simmons

2. Houston (46m 30s)
BILL: Houston does not get enough credit for a) being a great food city b) for the unbelievable BBQ scene to the point Daryl Morey was telling me for years and years they had an advantage in free agency partly because of the size of house you can get and the food... it's a sprawling, massive city and there's food everywhere
JOE: David Chang's instagram today shows a giant pot of crawfish, it looked beautifully spiced. The Houston food scene features...Viet-Cajun... Chang says it has some of the best Vietnamese food he's had anywhere... it has a season, it starts in February and goes through June

1. New Orleans (50m 17s)
BILL: The problem with New Orleans food is that it's so rich, it's so good and so heavy, so decadent that you just get in the rhythm of eating it and after Day 3 you kind of become an addict. It's almost hard to go back to normal food... and on top of everything else you know how much I love gumbo... you throw in the fish and everything and we didn't talk about the bearnaise... New Orleans is number one. It's unassailable choice
JOE: I have not eaten in Houston. I have eaten in New Orleans several times... I know I'm banned from the Acme Oyster House after the state Sal left that place... the problem is the list of classics in New Orleans is 40 deep so each time you go you feel like you have to eat at 4 to 5 places...
BILL: There's no sauce on the side BS in New Orleans... your in New Orleans, you're playing the game
JOE: You're having Po' boys 5 different ways. You're having jambalaya, you're having the gumbo... you're having oysters rockefeller, you're having bananas foster
BILL: I'd say the dessert scene in New Orleans trumps everybody else
JOE: It's the first place I had basked alaska

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Find Champagning and Campaigning posts here:
- NBA Cities: Eastern Conference
- NBA Cities: Western Conference
- Follow @30HomeGames on Instagram to track the food and culture finds I've found through hoops
- Jalen's Black Guy City Power Rankings

Team Chemistry: Pete Holmes and Bill Simmons on the bonds one makes through pick-up basketball

Pete Holmes and friends

Pete Homes' You Made it Weird' is my favourite podcast. I've quoted it extensively for my travels as his outlook echoes many of the observations and epiphanies I've found in my own life. Whilst Pete and Bill share a history growing up in Boston, Pete is unabashedly not a sports aficionado.

AUDIO: Pete Holmes on Conspiracies, Humor, and ‘Crashing’
PETE HOLMES: (18m 28s) This is a joke I've told before but when we used to play pick-up basketball, I didn't count points. I counted friends I'd made. Which is true. Like when guys fight and stuff, I'm like "Fellas. It's f*cking pretend."
BILL SIMMONS: Right.
HOLMES: It's 11 to 6 like who f*cking cares. We just made that up. That's two, that one's worth three. It's all baloney and people getting along mattered more to me than that.
SIMMONS: That's my favourite part of basketball.
HOLMES: Is what?
SIMMONS: Is the relationships. Is the going and playing, staying on the court for three hours. Making like weird friends you'd never make normally. Never seeing those people again after the game.

This exchange resonates with me. For my European and South American trips spanning 2 years, I sought out basketball experiences and pick-up games with locals in each country visited. Sometimes these came via Couchsurfing, more often than not connections were created organically.

December 25, 2013. Bogotá, Colombia.

A conversation struck up over a basketball tee might lead to a pickup game the next day. I reconnected with the driver who picked me up while hitching and watched a game at his nightclub days later. During a lonely holiday period in Colombia, my Christmas day spent hooping with locals punctuated my trip with indelible memories.

A post shared by Loz In Transit (@30homegames) on Jan 9, 2018 at 12:11am PST

It's moments like these that have me pursuing my hoop dreams of travel even as that shot clock winds down. I recently embarked on my Australia tour to tip-off 2018, having just completed my first jaunt in Adelaide. There I met a German backpacker, his "Frankfurt Basketball" tee immediately catching my attention. He remarked over beers, "I want a life I'm happy with on the inside rather than living one other people enjoy from the outside".
Echoing Pete Holmes' sentiment, sometimes we find joy in the little things. From parts of the game where one might not expect it.

The Tao of Jalen and Jacoby: What to do in each City

Jalen and Jacoby on what to do in each city

I'm a big believer that the reason we enjoy travel is more in the spirit we carry than the destination we're at. When we're abroad, we find novelty, we are more adventurous and outgoing. We have an appreciation for our immediate surroundings. That's partly the reason I've gone on these FIBA adventures, the destination is negligible. I know that if i'm there with a pretext that excites me (basketball) I can find novelty when I'm on the ground or I'll have a blast seeking it, it's just a matter of setting expectations.

Jalen and Jacoby talk Kyrie Irving, Super Bowl and more (1/29/15) | Grantland Channel
DAVID JACOBY: I've been to every major city in the country. Not every city is New York, where things open late and there's big parties and big night clubs everywhere but there's something to do in every city. It's not like Cleveland is dead. You know what I mean, there's trouble to get into if you want to get into it if you're J.R. Smith.
JALEN ROSE: That's not accurate. Yeah if you want to get online and do all types of things that you would do on your computer yeah that travels with you. But if you're talking about going out to dinner, hearing music, going to lounges, clubs, speakeasies, bars.
JACOBY: Its not gonna be the same as New York but they have that.
ROSE: But if you're used to eating that Tao at 11 o'clock, that comes with the lifestyle [rather than]... Applebees at 7:30... there's a different infrastructure when you're in that comfort zone.

30HG Interviews | Simon Valenzuela aka @dongmegatron: Premier jersey collector of Aussie NBA stars

@dongmegatron - Simon Valenzuela, Aussie NBA fan, jersey collector

I stumbled onto Simon aka @dongmegatron's collection on Instagram and instantly geeked out. Not only did he have an impressive array of obscure NBA jerseys but better still — was representing Australia.

I've expressed my appreciation for overlooked jerseys, having founded the #Scavenjersey campaign to encourage myself and others to snap novel basketball jerseys in the wild. Interestingly @dongmegatron found himself in my archive when I snapped his Josh Childress Atlanta Hawks jersey at a Sydney Kings game. This was an interesting revelation days after Simon was kind enough to share his process as undoubtedly the most comprehensive collector of Australian NBA jerseys.

I unwittingly capture Simon for his Josh Childress #Scavenjersey months before finding his @dongmegatron IG.

Find my interview with Simon below and make sure you check out our entries to be ESPN's Ultimate Fan.

1) The first jersey that started the collection and the moment you decided to dedicate yourself to the cause?
I first started following basketball in 1994. My first jerseys were the ones retailing in Australia made by Starter around 1994/95. I first had Shaq and Penny black Orlando jerseys, but the first jersey I was really proud of was the Champion Blue Orlando Horace Grant jersey. Got it from Card Shaq in Parramatta and was stoked to see it in the store. It wasn't til I began part time work that I was able to start buying whatever jerseys I wanted though.

The collection really started to come about when Australian retailers began selling the Concept Sports/Steve Rolton Agencies jerseys that were licenced in Australia. This was around 2001 when they had Jordan Wizards, Kobe, Vince Raptors, KG, Iverson etc. I began buying all of those and then got into the online scene as eBay became more accessible and had much more variety and teams from Nike, Reebok and now Adidas. Soon enough I had a jersey from each of the 30 teams, then a home/away/alternate etc.

2) What percentage of your jerseys were bought when the player was active compared to after. Could you break it down? 
In terms of the Australian NBA players, I guess a majority would have been acquired after the player was active or had changed teams. Obviously with the current crop of 7 players it's a lot easier to get the base home/away jerseys of these players. However, with the new style of Swingman it's much harder to get role players jerseys made up. Also about half of the Aussies that have played in the NBA are either retired or playing overseas, so all of them I've had to source after they were active.

a) Arena and Team store buys (current, physical)
Went to USA for my 30th and went to 6 different arenas, so bought a jersey at each one. But obviously a very small portion as I don't have access.

b) Auctions, outlets (after, physical)
Meigray for game-worn jerseys. Bought a few different ones in the last few years. Game worn Mills and Baynes NBA Finals jerseys, Baynes Latin Nights jersey, Baynes Christmas jersey, Dave Andersen jerseys, Mills opening day Championship commemoration jersey and the recent Bogut/Delly/Bairstow Christmas jerseys. Still a small percentage.

c) Online retailers (current, online)
Over the years I've bought a decent amount from online retailers. NBA.com when it was easier in the past, FansEdge, Fanzz etc... but prices are high and the ones they sell are generally also available on eBay so these days I don't do retail too often.

d) eBay (after, online)
Majority off eBay. Sellers are much more likely to ship to Australia. Steady supply of blank jerseys which is great for making Aussie players. Prices are much cheaper, especially for players not with that team any more (fullmoonjerseys sell cheap Swingmans) as well as plenty of sellers selling authentic jerseys much lower than the $300 retail.

VIDEO: Australia's Biggest NBA Fan presented by ESPN  

This is Simon's submission for the 'ESPN Ultimate Fan' competition. 

Find his entry here and make sure to upvote it. (Entries close March 15, 2015)

3) Where do you stand on counterfeits and the ability to customise jerseys with "Insert name" services? 
I'm against counterfeits especially the ones you see at Paddy's Markets etc that are so obvious. There's some very high quality fakes online which are much harder to spot, and they're not so bad. I think replica screen prints are absolute garbage. The Reebok/Adidas ones are so cheap looking, have huge wide shoulders which make the dimensions look square.

In terms of customising, I'm all for it. That's how most of my Aussie jerseys have been able to be made, by buying blanks or stripping other players jerseys. This has been a godsend, as NBA.com is quite a headache (shipping so overpriced/don't ship custom jerseys to AUS/limited range of customisable jerseys). This is more evident now a days when teams have all these commemorative jerseys eg. Christmas Day, Spurs Military, Warriors Chinese New Year where they only sell the star players jerseys. In the past it wasn't so bad, as I could strip the stitching on a Swingman and get it customised but now the 2015 jerseys are heat pressed and I'm not sure they can be removed with any amount of ease.

4) Have any of the players ever reached out to you about your collection? 
A few have. Mark Bradtke sent me a DM on Twitter, and I've seen plenty of ex NBA guys at NBL arenas or Boomers events (Schenscher/Heal) or (Jawai/Patty Mills/Dave Andersen) and they've all commented on the jerseys and often told a story or two.

5) If you were to start another collection now, i.e collecting jerseys of every NBA player from Lithuania, would it be possible? How crucial is timing and getting a headstart? 
It helps but I have only really been making an effort to collect Australian players the last 5 or 6 years. I think it'll be harder now if you're going for era authenticity as the NBA logo is now on the back of the jersey etc, so current custom swingman jerseys won't be consistent with players prior to this season. But many of the jerseys I've made eg. Longley Timberwolves have had to be customised jerseys (strip name and number off Laettner) and sent to this tailor in the US who does a very good job. So it can still be done but depending how far back you want to go, it obviously gets harder. But using your example it'd be quite easy to find an old Rasheed Wallace Portland swingman and turn it into a Sabonis, a Tim Hardaway or Chris Mullin. A Warriors Hardwood Classics jersey into a Šarūnas Marčiulionis, so it's not impossible. Just need to know the right place to get the custom name/number sewn on.

6) Talk about the process and rewards. Describe the thrill of the chase to those non-collectors out there. Any "ones that got away"? 
There's always ones that got away. In the last year or so there was a Game-worn Anstey Bulls and a Longley Suns jerseys that went for only a couple of hundred bucks but as with any hobby there's always a thrill in collecting. You learn to recognise the rarer types of jerseys and appreciate someone else's collection. And by posting my pics on Instagram now I see how many other people out there like the same thing.

Inspired by the collection of @dongmegatron, a tribute graphic to the forgotten stints of Australians in the #NBA. I had the chance to interview the avid jersey seeker about his process and prized possessions. Find it on the blog here: tinyurl.com/ljdbqdf #ESPNultimatefan #AussieBoomers #GoBoomers #NBL #NBA #DownUnder

A photo posted by 30homegames (@30homegames) on Mar 2, 2015 at 7:10am PST

7) What is your all-time holy grail? What's your prized possession. Any preferences as far as manufacturers and eras?
I love the Patty Mills finals game worn jersey. It has a place in history and it also fits me so I can wear it in public. Also Horace Grant was the first player I began collecting so I have plenty of game worn Orlando/Lakers jerseys as well as some hard to find ones like Authentic Bulls, Authentic '94 All-Star and Authentic Sonics jerseys. But the era I probably like the most is around the '95-99 era, when Champion used a lot of the tie-dye or whatever it was to ink the logos in the jersey. Ones like the Pistons horse head, Hawks Mutombo style, Sonics finals, Rockets Pippen types. Brings back that nostalgic feeling of when I was younger and never had access to these jerseys.

8) Any Jersey collections you look up to or would like to mention?
The way I began getting them customised was when I bought a Sonics blank jersey off eBay and the seller was able to make it into a Horace. After that I kept in contact and found out he could do it to many jerseys, as he had access to old Champion materials and had a good tailor that did a professional job. His name is Jersey Jim and I popped into his place in Fresno California when I was in the States. This dude has one of the most impressive NBA game worn jersey collections in the world. Thousands of jerseys, I could've spent all day there. He obviously has contacts in the league to allow him to get such good gear.

9) Do you have collector peers? Is there a scene, how can someone get involved in it? 
Not really into any scene as such, I'm not aware of any. My friends and I all have an abnormally large amount of jerseys, but that's about it. I've come across some nice collections on Instagram, but I'm very new to the app.

Follow Simon on Instagram - @dongmegatron
Vote on ESPN and send Simon to LA - Australia's Biggest Fan

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Part of the reason I started @30HomeGames was not only to share my love for the game but to find likeminded folks with the same passion and interest. It's been an ethos that has served me well in my travels, bonding through sport and connecting with fellow fans even when language and being an outsider proved a barrier. This connection has been an example of that, the mutual appreciation and willingness to share tricks of the trade to a fellow fan. Realising @dongmegratron and I had already crossed paths says a lot about the "court vision" #UltimateNBAfans share.

#SummerisSerious 2: Nike's Global Search for the "Baddest" streetballers

Nike have returned with their 'Summer is Serious' campaign and this time it's Global. Culminating in a pickup game in Barcelona, it seems to be capitalising on the congregation of basketball stars that will be in #Spain2014 for the newly named FIBA World Cup of Basketball.

Here is the promo:

Summer is Back and Summer is Serious. And this year we want to see your "baddest"... and because the baddest don't have borders get your passport because this time we're going Global.
We're going from LA to Liverpool, from Pittsburgh to Paris, from Chi-town to China. From the Parking lot to the Pool...
Ladies, fellas you can not hide if you've got game... so we wanna see your Hypnotic Handle, the Teardrop, the Crossover, your Eurostep. We wanna see it all. We don't care where you do it. We don't care how you do it and if you bring your baddest you could be drafted by one of these folks [Harden, Irving, Nowitzki, Diaw etc...] to play in the World's Biggest Pickup game this Summer in Barcelona.
- Film yourself
- Put it online
- Hashtag #SummerisSerious and we'll find it
If you've got game, it could be you. Move em!

'Summer is Serious 2' is going Global

Entrants are eligible from all around the World

Simply
1. Film yourself
2. Put it online
3. Hashtag #SummerisSerious and they'll find it

Get drafted by WNBA and NBA International superstars
from Kevin Durant to Marc Gasol.

I'm not sure I have the elite game to be a part of this but I definitely have the passion for Travel and Hoops which is what draws me to this campaign. It would also make it a trifecta having been at FIBA Americas 2013 and EuroBasket 2011. I'm encouraged that they're looking for the "Baddest", I'm sure I satisfy at least one of its meanings.
I'd love to be a part of this somehow.

- Go to the Nike Basketball 'Summer is Serious 2' minisite for more
- Find more about the the FIBA World Cup of Basketball