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A Bunch of Your Favorite Comedians Honored Garry Shandling In the Coolest Way

By Vivian Kane | Celebrity | March 28, 2016 |

By Vivian Kane | Celebrity | March 28, 2016 |



After the tragic death of Garry Shandling last week, the comedy world was left with a bit of a hole in its heart. As Petr noted in his beautiful write-up of Shandling’s life and influence, “It’s a rare thing indeed when you can point to one person and identify them as the epicentre of a cultural quake, but Garry Shandling… was exactly that.” Shandling’s friends, mentees, peers, and admirers were innumerable, and this past Sunday, a group of them gathered together at Shandling’s home to honor him in a pretty damn cool way: with one last weekly basketball pick-up game. The tradition was a long-standing one. As GQ wrote back in 2010,

Every Sunday he’s in Los Angeles, Shandling calls the game for noon. The invitation-only crowd gathers in his kitchen to drink coffee, and at twelve thirty everyone heads out the patio doors, past the pool, and down a series of steps into the lower yard. As is the custom, the first person to reach the half-court grabs a leaf blower and sweeps it clean. Then they play: three-on-three to seven points, win by two. When only the regulars show—they include Sarah Silverman, Kevin Nealon, David Duchovny, and Friday Night Lights creator Peter Berg—no one sits out for long. Other times, you’re lucky to get on the court. Sacha Baron Cohen and Adam Sandler have played, as have Ben Stiller and Billy Crystal. Judd Apatow plays infrequently, but only, he says, because “Sarah’s better than me, and it’s shameful for me, as a man, to accept that.”

This week, his friends gathered for one last game as tribute and probably some closure. Judd Apatow posted this picture to Instagram of the whole group.

One last game of basketball at Garry's house to say goodbye.

A photo posted by Judd Apatow (@juddapatow) on

That’s a damn impressive turnout. I haven’t found a whole roster yet, but I see an Apatow, a Pryor, a Jeffrey Tambor and Kevin Nealon… A Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin. Is that Jesse Bradford from Bring It On? And Breckin Meyer? And a Ben Schwartz behind him?

Who else do you see in there?