Florida beach basketball courts pickleball.

Gonzalo de Leon plays basketball at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, the site of proposed pickleball courts as part of a new luxury development, Oct. 8, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Community fights pickleball replacing basketball courts at South Florida beachside park

Basketball players who frequent a South Florida park feel like they’re being run off in favor of wealthy residents of a new luxury development. The city of Fort Lauderdale is planning to replace decades-old, beachside basketball courts with pickleball courts. It’s part of a deal with developers for a massive condo and hotel project. Local basketball players have generated a groundswell of support online, both locally and around the world, but city officials and developers have said the changes are part of larger improvement plan for the park that includes building new basketball courts several hundred yards away.

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