They have played it, coached it, scored it, administered it, refereed it - they probably even dream about it.
Russell and Rae Garland have been in and around basketball for more years than they can remember.
The couple were made life members of Basketball Otago earlier this month.
It was an honour overdue for the Garlands, who have worked tirelessly for the sport in the province since school days.
Russell (71) and Rae (69) said they loved the sport and always would.
"There are a lot of good things in basketball. Just the camaraderie of all the people that you work with. All the hard-working volunteers you have in the sport and the families who have come through,'' he said.
Russell and Rae (nee Chisholm) were introduced into basketball at an early age and simply stayed involved in the sport.
Rae's father, Len, who was heavily involved in basketball in Otago, was made a life member of Otago Men's Basketball Association.
Rae played for Ajax when at school while Russell was in the first basketball team King's High School ever had.
"Lee Smith and I were the first to get blues in basketball at King's. They didn't have a team before that as they didn't have a gym.''
The couple were married in 1967 and, when children - daughters Vicki and Tracey - followed, their involvement in the sport increased.
"The girls were at Opoho [school] and I started coaching,'' Russell said.
"Vicki was 8 and Tracey was only 5. Vicki was the one who made the rep teams to start with, playing for Otago.
"Tracey was only 5 but those early years I'm sure they really helped her. She used to get on and pass the ball. In the end, she went past her sister.''
Tracey Garland went on to play for New Zealand many times.
Right beside her was her dad, who coached the school and Otago women's sides with Carl Dickel.
‘‘We did really well. But it was a lot of hard work. We had trainings in the morning, at lunchtime and after school. We worked them hard.''
Tracey Garland teamed up with another talented young player in Kate Jerram to make Logan Park High School the champion school in women's basketball.
‘‘I remember there was one game when the side scored 43 points. Tracey and Kate scored 21 each and the rest of the team got one point between them. But it was still a team game,'' Rae said.
Russell, who also played fullback behind Laurie Mains for many years at the Southern club, said they were like any parents, always following their children around.
Rae has organised the referees for club and school basketball in Dunedin for many years and still officiates more than 100 games a season.
"For a schools tournament I had to arrange 203 referees for 101 games. I spent 42 hours down there [at the Edgar Centre] in four days. It is taxing work.
"And it is not as easy as it used to be. Once you could just ring someone up, tell them where to be and they would turn up.
"Now people want to be texted. And they say "I can't make that time, I can only ref at this time'.
"You get up on Saturday mornings and you're still looking for refs.''
Russell said it was a tough sport to officiate.
"It's hard because of the closeness of it. Refereeing is about the angles. Seeing all the angles. If you have two referees then you shouldn't ball watch.''
"The game is rougher, there is no doubt about that. The discipline isn't as good. Young people abuse you now. Think they know it all. And the travelling you see these days is awful,'' Rae said.
"We watch the Breakers on television and you just see all the stepping. The pivot foot is moving, moving all the time. But they get away with it. I can see why they do it,'' Russell said.
The Garlands scored the first Nuggets game in 1990 and have been on the scoring bench ever since.
Rae said it was sad to see the team not playing at the moment.
"But we have been here before. I think this is about the third time. We'll come again.''
There had been mismanagement by staff and others and that had come back to haunt the organisation.
Vicki now lives in Christchurch where she works as a graphic designer and Tracey is a lawyer in Dubai.
Russell and Rae said the life membership was not a sign of hanging up the whistle.
"I'll still referee, anyway. I don't wear my hearing aids so I can't hear what they are saying about me,'' Russell said.
