Brad Torchia

Pickup is a casual game of basketball on a local court with people you do or don’t know. And pickup is a metaphor.

The beauty of pickup is that people can just show up and become part of a team. We were strangers before, and now we’ve got each other’s backs. You don’t have to be the best or even be in shape, and yet you belong.

There’s magic in this spontaneous bonding, which is based on nothing more than being in the right place at the right time and being accepted. In a society that’s all about competition, pickup is democratic. If the world worked that way, we’d all win.