TACOMA, Wash. — KING 5 Evening hosts Saint Bryan and Jim Dever met at Wright Park in Tacoma to play on the same basketball court where local legends like Isaiah Thomas, Malachi Flynn, and Avery Bradley played.
"I am 6'6" tall," Bryan said. "The same height as Michael Jordan. I am often mistaken for a professional basketball player or a college legend. I am neither. I was just a little boy with a basketball hoop in the backyard and a dream. At the YMCA in Asheville, North Carolina, I finally learned how to play the game."
"I've shot baskets obviously," said Dever, who is 5'7. "I have a great shooter's eye and shooter's hand, but I don't typically play one-on-one."
"Well, I think it's called 'shooter's touch' not 'shooter's hand," Bryan said. "And besides, we're going to play blindfolded".
In recent years, blindfolded basketball has become a popular stunt on YouTube, where athletically minded influencers try to draw subscribers by playing with blindfolds. It looks impossible and ridiculous so naturally, it fits well into a new Evening franchise we're calling Bad Sports.
"I started out with so much confidence and then I realized I don't know where the basket is, I don't know where the basketball is, and I don't know where I am," Dever said.
"It's like you were wearing a blindfold or something," Bryan responded.
"Exactly," Dever agreed. "But I always knew where Abe was."
"Abe" Abrahamson just happened to be at the park on this afternoon. He's a self-described sports nut who offered to coach Bryan and Dever.
"The ball is right in front of you," he yelled at them. "Nope, go forward. Go forward!"
The ball went flying into tree branches and rolling out of bounds. Then, just when it seemed this legendary court would be forever tainted by such a poor performance, Bryan hit a miracle basket.
"Saint claims that he got a basket but I didn't see it," Dever said.
"I didn't see it either," Bryan said.
As Abe counted down the seconds to the end of the game, that would be the only basket. The final score has Bryan winning 1-0.
"What makes a great basketball player?" Bryan asked. "It's always having a sense of where you are and where the basket is and this is the ultimate test of that. And we failed miserably."
As they parted ways with Abrahamson, Bryan asked Dever, "So what's up next Jim? How about blindfolded archery?"
"Ok, you'll be the target," Dever said.
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