A strange little side quest
The rules may be simple on screen, but the backstory around Block vs Pirate is anything but tiny. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in 1891 at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. It also connects to a different milestone: Basketball became an Olympic medal sport in 1936, while women’s basketball joined the Olympic programme in 1976. So a round of Block vs Pirate is not just a quick distraction; it is a tiny stop on a much longer basketball timeline.
