By Mike Patton
Competition, high-level play, and entertainment. Those are three things Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball provides for fans each week at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. And fans are enjoying the product on the floor, cheering players on at every game they attend.
But for the players, it is much more than entertainment.
There is fun along with the competition, but each player is also looking to accomplish something more on the court: getting better.
In AU Pro Basketball, players use this time to work on their skills, adding new elements to their game and refining others. According to forward/center Mercedes Russell, it’s something AU Pro Basketball provides during their time on the court.
“For a lot of us, we work on several things in the offseason, and AU gives you the platform to showcase whatever you’ve been working on.”
In each game, you see players working on different aspects of their game, like forward/center Natasha Mack and forward Aneesah Morrow expanding their range to the three-point line. With AU, that freedom is given for players to grow, as guard Shey Peddy explains.
“Nobody’s in a box here. You don’t necessarily have a role. Everybody that comes here wants to work on something. So when I talk to the young players, I tell them if they are working on it in the offseason, work on it here. Don’t come here and do something you have not previously been working on. You have the freedom to do whatever you want.”
Peddy and the rest of the players have created an entertaining brand of basketball, and Nashville has been showing up to see it each week. But along with that, they are also creating a space where they can play and grow their games without worrying about the criticisms that usually come with professional basketball.
That is what makes AU Pro Basketball not only fun to watch, but also something players can truly enjoy, along with the bonds formed in the process.
