Tucked away in a basement gym in the heart of Paris, one of the world's oldest surviving basketball courts could use some work - and officials are hoping fans around the world are ready to help. The hardwood court on the Rue de Trevise was inaugurated in 1893 and hosted the first basketball game played in Europe, just a few years after its invention in the US by James Naismith.
But years of water damage have left the floor barely useable for games. Strips of black tape cover the most vulnerable sections, some boards are missing entirely and players must also dodge two pillars propping up the roof. "The humidity is warping the floor so it's no longer level," Sylvie Manac'h of the French YMCA, which owns the site, told AFP.