Sports fans have to get creative to find their fix during the time of coronavirus. With live sports shut down unilaterally across the world, there has never been a better time to reminisce about history, reboot an old video game dynasty, or wonder what the future of your favorite sport might look like.
Nuns playing basketball is the only sport we have left
Nuns playing basketball makes us wish we were playing right now.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
We now have another option to occupy our time: nun basketball. This video of nuns in Spain playing a game of pick-up is the closest we’ve come to real sports since the pandemic arrived.
This is the type of ball movement that would make Steve Kerr blush. Crisp passing, genuine unselfishness, some impressive finishing: these nuns have it all. Just don’t ask them to show off their ball handling or their defense.
These are not the first nuns to enjoy a game of basketball. Shelly Pennefather was a former standout at Villanova in the 1980s, averaging over 20 points per game for her four-year career, winning Big East Player of the Year three times, and being named a first-team All-American as a senior. Pennefather was playing professionally in Japan at age-25 when she decided to turn down a $200K contract offer to instead become a nun in Virginia.
Pennefather would become known as Sister Rose Marie of the Queen of Angels upon entering the Poor Clares, one of the strictest religious orders in the world. She is only allowed physical contact with her family once every 25 years. Read this great profile from ESPN’s Elizabeth Merrill for more on Pennefather’s story.
If nuns ever hold a basketball draft, we know who the No. 1 pick is. Until then, we’ll enjoy these pick-up runs.
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