Enter many a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the U.S. and you will find a pew-packed chapel next to a ready-made sports court separated only by an accordion-like folding wall.
That pairing says a lot not only about how the faith views the intertwining of the spiritual and the physical but also about the vaunted place in Latter-day Saint culture held by this particular sport: basketball.
From its conception, it was seen as a way to exhibit “muscular Christianity,” build character, learn discipline and practice teamwork — “no place,” its inventor said, “for the egotist.”
(Kim Raff | The New York Times) Voters cast ballots at Latter-day Saint meetinghouse in Riverton in 2022, complete with basketball hoops (a mainstay in many of the faith's U.S. chapels).
Latter-day Saint leaders and the members quickly adopted it, to the point that “church ball” became an integral ingredient in congregational life.
Fast-forward to today’s NBA, where showtime and showboating sell tickets, and the college ranks, where money increasingly rules — even at church-owned Brigham Young University, where millions in name, image and likeness cash helped the Cougars land prized recruit AJ Dybantsa.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) picked BYU partly because of coach Kevin Young's NBA ties.
How did this happen? How did basketball blend into church culture for so many years? And how does the modern game fit with BYU’s religious mission?
On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Matthew Bowman and scholar Wayne LeCheminant, authors of “Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball," answer those questions and more.
Listen to the podcast: