In basketball, a snowbird is a player who hangs back while the rest of her team plays defense. That way, she’s ready to break for the basket when her team gets the ball. The terms snowbird and snowbirding most likely derive from the use of the term snowbird for someone who moves south for the winter. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Basketball Snowbird”
Joe called us from West Virginia to say that his dad used to refer to a basketball layup as a snowbird, and he’d never heard anybody else use that term, and he wondered if it was his dad’s term.
But no, it’s a common term. Snowbirding in basketball is when a player hangs back, you know, back past half court while her teammates play defense.
And when the opposing team misses a shot, then that player breaks for the basket where she can be ready for a long pass and an easy layup.
And that’s called snowboarding probably because it describes people who move to warmer climates during the winter months.
You know, they sort of go off and avoid the tougher conditions.
And I said she because I’ve been watching a lot of Indiana Fever basketball.
But you’re an ex-basketball player, right?
Well, yes, I played 35 seconds against Florida State once.
That’s enough. It counts.
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