Former Pro Luke Bonner Breaks Down Pop Vs. Jock: Balling Against Celebs, Watching an Indie Rock Supergroup, & Making Alanis Morissette Proud

Pop Vs. Jock is a charity basketball game hosted by Arcade Fire during the Pop Montreal Music festival. For the game, Team Pop (which is made up of musicians, celebrities, and a few former pro basketball players) takes on Team Jock (which is made up of current members of the McGill University and Concordia College basketball teams). Proceeds from the game support DJ Sports Club, one of the largest youth clubs in Montreal.

In 2012, I made my Pop Vs. Jock debut as a member of Team Pop. It was my first public basketball game after calling it quits on a fledgling “professional” basketball career that brought me to gyms throughout Eastern Europe. I didn’t quite know what to expect from the Pop Vs. Jock experience, and I was slightly nervous about playing with normal people like Martin Starr (Party Down) and Nikolai Fraiture (The Strokes), among others.

What ensued that year was one of the more intriguing basketball games of my life. It was a mash-up of competitive hoops, indie rock, and the most supportive basketball audience ever (hip French Canadians).

Admittedly, the pageantry surrounding the game was distracting at times–I mean David Byrne was our coach for crying out loud! But somehow, the game remained surprisingly intense and physical. We ended up losing in 2012 on a last-second Team Jock three-pointer that was hoisted right in my face, which—as far as charity games go—is probably the most devastating way to lose.

Needless to say, I was thrilled when Arcade Fire still wanted me to be on Team Pop’s roster for Pop Vs. Jock III this past weekend. The release of Reflektor forced the Montreal band to take a hiatus from hosting Pop Vs. Jock in 2013, so I had to wait a full two years for my chance at redemption.

The Team Pop roster included the usuals: Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Will Butler (Arcade Fire), and Nikolai Fraiture (The Strokes), but we also added newcomers like Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Brian Scalabrine (retired 11-year NBA veteran), and Royal Ivey (retired 10-year NBA veteran). Plus, my brother Matt Bonner (San Antonio Spurs) coached the team.

Again, the experience was top notch. Regine Chassagne, Kid Koala, and A-Trak kept the in-game music bumping, the gym was filled to capacity, and the game was competitive. At one point in the second half we built a 20-point lead. Reaching a point of desperation, Team Jock adopted a full-court press that gave us fits, and they stormed back to tie things up after a string of three-pointers.

Ultimately, we were able to hold on to claim a 101-92 win and bring that trophy back to its rightful owners, Team Pop.

Some highlights and takeaways from the weekend below:

Luke Bonner played “professional” basketball in Lithuania, Hungary and the NBA Developmental league. He’s currently pretending to be a real-life adult at GYK Antler, a leading marketing agency. He’s the founder/executive director of the Rock On Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that increases opportunities in the arts and athletics. One time, Diddy said “thank you” to Luke. Follow Luke on twitter: @LukeyBonner

Arcade Fire's Win Butler is actually good at basketball. I’ve played pick up with him multiple times, but he seemed especially effective in this particular game. He has decent size and length, he’s a solid shooter from the outside, and he has crafty post moves. He came up big with a few huge buckets when we needed them. If Win Butler is deemed celebrity enough for the NBA Celebrity Game, I’d like to go on the record as predicting he’ll win MVP.

NBA players cannot turn off their competitiveness. It doesn’t matter if it’s a charity game. Likewise, Win Butler is super competitive. After I took an ill-advised three-pointer, he gave me an earful about how I needed to get my ass in the paint and just beast the smaller defender.

My brother forgot to put Justin Vernon into the game until late in the 2nd quarter. We had 11 players on our roster, which made substitutions a little bit tricky for my brother who was trying to distribute playing time somewhat equally. After subbing out of the game late in the 2nd quarter, I noticed Justin Vernon sitting cross-legged on the bench. He had yet to set foot on the court. My brother admitted that he had forgotten to put Justin into the game, and immediately corrected his mistake. Justin proceeded to score a bucket on his first offensive possession, earning the nickname Justin “Instant Offense” Vernon.

Nikolai Fraiture had a couple tough finishes around the basket. I noticed him knock down a few three-pointers during warm-ups, but he didn’t attempt any during the game. In this particular game, he was a bit outmatched physically, but I can see how he’d be a valuable asset in a pick up game at a local community center.

Will Butler did a somersault after his name was announced during the pre-game introductions. He also skipped to the team huddle when my brother very sternly yelled at the team to bring it in. Great move. His game is modeled after Dennis Rodman. He’s really scrappy and somehow cleans up a lot of rebounds despite his lack of size.

Justin Vernon was stuck with a challenging role on the team. Typically, when he plays hoops, he’s one of the tallest guys on the court. But throughout most of this game, he was one of the shortest on the court. Still, he managed to be a decent glue guy. Though he’s not the most skilled player, he had a good feel for the game—knowing how to keep the floor appropriately spaced. Plus, he was scrappy on defense.

Halftime was amazing. It started with a parade of preschoolers dancing all over the gym in animal costumes. Then, a heated kazoo battle between two random fans. Then, since I lost a three-point contest against my brother, I was forced to perform karaoke of Alanis Morissette's “You Oughta Know.” I think I did Alanis proud.

...I really committed.

Finally, an impromptu super-group featuring the Butlers, Justin Vernon, Nikolai Fraiture, Kid Koala, A-Trak and Régine Chassagne covered NBA arena favorites "In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes.

After letting our ringers build a comfortable 16-point lead with about 2 minutes left in the game, my brother subbed in a lineup consisting solely of the pop stars to see if they could hold onto the lead and finish out the game. However, without a ball handler on the court or any legitimate size, Team Jock quickly sliced the lead to just three points. My brother then called a time out, looked at the five he had on the court and delivered a heart-broken, “I trusted you, and you let me down.” Royal and Scal almost fell over laughing. Matt then put in our best lineup (Royal Ivey, Alisa Wulff, Win Butler, Brian Scalabrine, and me) to finish the game.

No photographic proof but trust me. He is.

The Team Pop victory party took place at the Society of Art and Technology. The party was DJ’d by DJ Windows 98 (Win Butler) and James Murphy and they also had live percussion and back-up dancers. For a portion of the party, Royal Ivey, Matt Bonner, and Brian Scalabrine held it down on the sambas as James Murphy took to the turn-tables. It was quite the combination.