Walk south on Sixth Avenue towards West 3rd Street at any time of the day or night and you’ll be hard pressed not to see a basketball game in play—be it pickup or something more formal, complete with scoreboard and advertising. It’s a perpetual motion—has been for decades—throughout New York, the city that gave us Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and, more recently, Carmelo Anthony. The Museum of the City of New York has collected photographs, audio and video clips, objects, and ephemera to provide a history of basketball in the Big Apple. “Even when I’m old and grey,” says New York native Michael Jordan, “I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.” —J.V.