Winter Basketball Hoops in America
Winter changes everything.
Courts disappear under snow. Lines fade. Backboards freeze over. In most places, the game moves indoors.
But not everywhere.
Across small towns, backyards, and open spaces, basketball hoops remain standing through the winter—unused at times, but never gone. The photographs in this post are part of my ongoing American Backcourts series, documenting the places where the game continues to exist, even in the coldest months of the year.
A winter storm covers a basketball hoop in front of a mountain cabin
Basketball in the Off-Season
Winter reveals something different about these courts.
Without players, without movement, the focus shifts to the environment. Snow collects around the base of the hoop. Ice forms on the backboard. The court becomes quiet, almost suspended.
But the structure remains.
A basketball rim buried in a massive pile of snow in the Eastern Serra
When the Court Disappears
In many of these places, the court itself is no longer visible.
A driveway becomes a sheet of ice.
A dirt court turns to frozen ground.
A painted surface is buried under snow.
The only thing left is the hoop—marking where the game returns when the season changes.
A basketball hoops sits quietly above a pile of snow as a snowboarder shovels out his car
Why Winter Changes the Photograph
Photographing these hoops in winter isn’t just about weather—it’s about absence.
Without people, the images become more about space, stillness, and time. The hoop is no longer part of an active game. It becomes a marker of one.
A worn hoop standing in front of a red brick building, the court quiet and frozen until the season changes.
Part of the American Backcourts Project
These winter photographs are part of American Backcourts, a long-term series documenting basketball hoops across the United States that has been exhibited in fine art galleries/museums and published in iconic magazines like SLAM as well as fine art books about basketball culture.
→ View the full American Backcourts basketball photography gallery
→ Explore available basketball photography prints
A snow-covered court at sunset in a small town, where the hoop remains even as winter takes over the landscape.