It’s never easy going against the grain, especially when it comes to enjoying a niche sport in Malaysia like basketball. We could all be glued to the same TV at our local mamak stores, watching the same Premier League match, and not all of us would feel the same spark. Football is king in Malaysia (badminton comes a close second), which is why liking anything else feels like you’re literally on the wrong court. 

To be fair, basketball isn’t tiny here. It sits in a strange sporting purgatory that is popular enough to have a league, but not popular enough to be profitable. It is a sport visible enough to spark some interest, but not valuable enough to attract sustained investment. Basically, basketball is the middle child of Malaysian athletics.

This realisation set in early for me, during my secondary school days. Physical education classes consisted of our coach leaving us on the pitch, instructing 35 boys to fight over a single football and disguising his own downtime as our sports education.

The football kids rejoiced, while the nerds and basketball fans lingered near the edge of the field, forced to join the rest of the flock if spotted idling by. That’s Malaysian sports culture in a nutshell—football gets the stadium while basketball gets abandoned courts and naked rims without the nets.

But let’s talk about the other reality of being a basketball lover in Malaysia. ‘Feel good, play good’ was my mantra for choosing the best basketball shoes to play in. Yet, the sneakers game—especially those pertaining to basketball—got big in the 2010s for a whole other reason. 

Like everyone else, I developed my sartorial interest first through the hypebeast vortex and limited edition drops. However the sneakers had functions to them beyond style. Yet, many a pair of performance basketball shoes became lifestyle staples thanks to culture-vultures. 

Sneakers were the only thing these hypebeasts could ‘buy into’ from basketball. The trend chasers loved nothing more than flaunting the style of a game they barely played, consuming its symbols while the sport itself remained an afterthought.  

But who could blame them, when wearing these shoes to cafes and malls was probably the kindest thing you could do for your shoes? Most flagship basketball shoes were built for pristine hardwood floors, and there was just too much of a deficit when it came to indoor basketball facilities in the country. Sure, there were models with extra durable rubber soles, but that feature did not necessarily mean better performance. Much better to look fresh in a pair of LeBron’s flagship sneakers instead.

So why does basketball—and other niche sports—struggle to flourish here? Because Malaysia is essentially a one-sport economy. And football is the king of Malaysian sports, regardless of how it garnered its cult status. 

Most of the country’s funding, infrastructure, and media coverage are still channeled into football. It’s a legacy of the British colonial rule, where the sport wasn’t just introduced but institutionalised through schools, clubs, and the armed forces. Our imperial past still lingers in many parts of our lives. While football undeniably played its role in unifying the majority of the country, it also leaves the minority sporting communities desiring more than just solely relying on passion, perseverance, and charity.

On a brighter note, there are ongoing efforts to close the gap that football has held all these years. The Malaysian Basketball Association (MABA) recently announced a high-rise development project at its existing basketball stadium. This could mean more money involved with the sport. And if that actually materialises, the next generation of players might finally experience a sport that isn’t held together by fickle sponsorships and extra durable rubber.