Over the years, Johnathan Motley has always associated Fonde Recreation Center with the most competitive basketball you can find away from the glare of the cameras.
The basketball tradition at the Sixth Ward gym runs deep and there ain’t no passes just because you are an NBA player or the star of your college basketball team. When you show up at Fonde, lace’em up and be ready to be challenged.
And on a recent Sunday afternoon, Motley and his Competitive Choice teammates were being pushed to the limit against Mob Ties during NEPL, otherwise known as No Excuses Pro League, action on Fonde’s immaculate hardwood floor. It looked like Mob Ties has sealed it with a three-point lead in the final five seconds, but at Fonde no lead is safe until the whistle blows.
“It’s pretty competitive,” said Motley, a Houston native who played at Baylor and spent some time with the Mavericks and Clippers organizations but now plays in Turkey. “Guys always want to compete with the guy who plays pro and show that they can play on the level that we play at. So, it’s always competitive and it’s a little trash talk.”
9 July 2023: Mob Ties guard George Williams (8) drives past Competitive Choice forward Shawn Williams (44) during an NEPL game at the the Fonde Recreation center. Credit: Jimmie Aggison/Houston Defender
9 July 2023: Mob Ties forward Jonathan Motley (32) attempts a shot during an NEPL game at the the Fonde Recreation center (Credit: Jimmie Aggison/Houston Defender)
That’s the Fonde tradition. You check our ego and star status in the parking lot. Once you are inside, you’re just another baller who is about to be talked to and dealt with like anybody off the street.
It’s been that way for decades now. Fonde has a reputation around the country as one of the best gyms to get a run in, especially during the summers when players like NBA legends Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Elvin Hayes and Calvin Murphy used to be regulars at the rec center on the edge of downtown where the sweat on the floor can make staying on your feet tricky.
Malone once famously said, “You ain’t done it, till you’ve done it at Fonde.” And that is still plastered on the Fonde’s walls.
As a kid, Nate West used to be in the stands watching his dad, Nathaniel West, compete against some of the big names in the game with Houston ties. Now, the 5-foot-10 point guard who starred at Strake Jesuit and LeTourneau and is now playing professionally in Switzerland is back home playing on that same floor.
“I used to come up here as a kid and I’ve seen a lot of NBA players growing up,” said West, who was the Division III National Player of the Year in 2020. “I know that it’s a real traditional thing for Houston players to come play.”
For a few years, the tradition of Fonde had fallen off some, but by all accounts the reputation is slowly returning. Former Rockets player and current Philadelphia 76er Danuel House is the biggest name and his old Rockets teammate and Houston native Gerald Green will sometimes join him as members of the Yungs.
On this particular Sunday, both were no-shows. But the game still went on and was as competitive as ever.
“The men’s is picking up this year. We have an energy and a buzz like I have not seen in over 10 years,” said Casey Williams, who is the executive director and commissioner of the NEPL. “That’s basically due to a big-time rivalry between Danuel House, Gerald Green, Savion Flagg and De’Angelo Harrison, who comes out of St. John’s and they are all one team. And they are going up against the two-time defending champions who have Jonathan Simmons, formerly of the Spur and Magic, Shannon Shorter, who is the current No.1 player in the league and Simmons is the No.2 player in the league.
“That game when they played, there was a lot of talk about who is the best and that was a one-point game that went down to the wire.”
While players show up to compete and stay in shape, they also show up to hone their skills and add different dimensions to their games for the upcoming season.
“It’s always good to play against good competition, see what works and what won’t work in a game,” said West. “You go play and do whatever against guys at LA Fitness and it’s easy.”
But nothing comes easy at Fonde.
“If you are here, you can play,” said Williams. “And I try to protect the essence of that always by just now allowing anyone to come in and play. But honestly, that’s not something I have to regulate as much because the competition takes care of itself. You get on that floor, they are going to be going after you.
“We want to keep that kind of competitiveness going on. It’s the NEPL for a reason, that’s the No Excuses Pro League. No matter if you are this or that or an NBA All-Star, if you play here you are going to have to put it on the line when you step out here.”
