Days after officiating Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding at New York’s Madison Square Garden, Adam Sandler returned to his true calling: playing pickup basketball.
The comedian hopped on the court at Backus Lane in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for three games of five-on-five basketball on Sunday. He officiated Swift and Kelce’s wedding in Manhattan on Friday before making the trip to Nantucket Island, south of Cape Cod.
Sandler is known for showing up unannounced to local courts in eye-popping outfits looking for competition. His outing in Nantucket was no different.
According to the Nantucket Current, Sandler called the Nantucket Police Department’s nonemergency line to inquire about where to play basketball. Personnel directed him to Backus Lane court, which is part of Nantucket Intermediate School.
Andrew Kesler and his friends normally don’t go around playing outdoor basketball, but they went to the park “coincidentally,” he told ESPN. Kesler, a local resident, and his friends were trying to play a game at the court before someone else arrived 10 minutes later.
“We see a car pull into the parking lot and there’s a guy wearing an interesting outfit,” Kesler told ESPN.
Initially, the group joked that it was Sandler. Once the person got closer, they realized it was, indeed, him. Kesler said it shocked and excited everyone in his group. As Sandler approached the court, he told them he’d join in a second. He’d have to stretch first.
Kesler ended up on the same team as the actor and described him as “actually pretty good.”
“He has elite passing. He didn’t miss a pass,” Kesler said. “They were all dimes. His layup game was good. I didn’t really see him shoot the ball.”
A decent group of people hovered around the court, recognizing the star and recording the action. Sandler fit right in and was “pretty competitive,” Kesler added.
“He’s [a] really good playmaker,” Kesler said. “You can tell that he’s played a lot in his life.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by many who have come across Sandler on the court through the years.
A Los Angeles based photographer who goes by the moniker Xavier Luggage faced Sandler in March 2023. He told ESPN in 2024 that Sandler “just got the OG game like he’s been playing forever.” In 2019, a pickup game player named Joshua Jackson received a pass from Sandler that five years later he described as “still the best pass that I’ve ever received in my life.” Others have emphasized the friendly personality of the Grammy Award nominee.
Kesler witnessed the same on Sunday.
Following the final game, Sandler stuck around to take a group photo with his latest teammates and opponents on the court.
“He was very friendly while we were playing,” Kesler said. “I think he’s a great guy. It was very fun to play ball with him.”
Just another weekend for the legendary comedian: having a key role in one of the biggest pop culture weddings on a Friday; dropping dimes to people he’d never met on a Sunday.
