Streetball is a very popular game worldwide,[citation needed] and some cities in the United States have organized streetball programs, such as midnight basketball. Many cities also host their own weekend-long streetball tournaments. Hoop-It-Up and the Houston Rockets' Blacktop Battle are two of the most popular. In recent years, streetball has seen an increase in media exposure through television shows such as ESPN's "
Streetball" and "
City Slam", as well as traveling exhibitions such as the
AND1 Mixtape Tour and
Ball4Real.
While the rules of Streetball are generally completely non-existent, Streetball places a higher emphasis on taking it to the paint and cramming it home. Often the attacker will perform numerous flashy moves while attempting to dribble or "drive" to the basket, including crossovers, jab steps, and other fake-out tricks. Streetball often features spectacular dunks and alley oops, impressive ball handling, and trash talking. In most versions of streetball carrying, traveling, or double dribble is an accepted part of game and is encouraged to make it less challenging for offensive players to score and more showy for the crowds.
Rules vary widely from court to court. Almost invariably a "call your own foul" rule is in effect, and a player who believes he has been fouled, simply needs to call out "Foul!" or "Ball!", and play will be stopped, with the ball awarded to the fouled player's team. A common misconception is that saying "And 1" is synonymous with calling "foul." It is not. The phrase is commonly employed as a form of trash talk. For example, when a player knows they are going to make a shot and they think they are getting fouled as they are shooting will say "And 1", to let their defender know, "You can't even stop me even when you foul me." In reality, and as the rules that follow indicate, there is no such thing as a traditional "And 1" in Streetball.
When a player calls a foul while taking a shot, and makes that shot, the basket does not count. The fouled player's team gets the ball back, hence calling "ball" when a foul occurs. This rule is designed to have players call as few fouls as possible ensuring speedier game play and shorter waiting times for the next game. Also, the rule helps to ensure that nobody gets hurt. As a player can not foul-out in Streetball and since the duration of the game is dictated by the score, teams will often employ the intentional foul as a last resort on defense.
