Basketball-playing friends dedicated a gym to a leader of ‘Dadball,’ Greg Anderson
On Saturday, a pickup basketball group who call themselves the Dadballers renamed the Germantown court they play at after a beloved member who died during a game last year.
“In loving memory of Greg Anderson — Amazing husband, father and teammate,” read gold letters etched into a plaque on the wall of the basketball court at the Germantown Life Enrichment Center.
What the plaque, notably, does not reference is Anderson’s athletic prowess.
“His shot was, to be honest, blockable,” said Doron Taussig, who played basketball with Anderson. “We developed a running joke that it was a sin to block Greg.”
Nevertheless, “you wanted Greg on your side,” Taussig added, for his good humor, down-to-earth nature, and selflessness.
The plaque honoring Anderson was unveiled Saturday. It was a little more than a year after he suffered a cardiac arrest and died at age 50 playing pickup basketball on that very court with a group of men dubbed the Dadballers. The name was due to the players, mostly young dads, often bringing their kids to Sunday morning games.
Saturday’s event celebrated not only Anderson’s life but his and the other Dadballers’ efforts to help keep the Germantown Life Enrichment Center financially afloat after several tight years.
Anderson’s wife, Melanie, stood under a basketball net and addressed about 200 people in folding chairs at the gym.
“When we think about legacy it always seems to be about big things, but true legacy, the legacy which echoes on, is in the tiny sacred ways we show up for each other in life,” she said. “His engagement and dedication to GLEC was a piece of that.”
The group, including Anderson, started out playing 2-on-2 at Allens Lane Park in West Mount Airy in 2013, but quickly decided to seek refuge from the elements and began searching for an indoor court.
Soon, Germantown Life Enrichment Center became their new home. The center allowed them to play on Sunday mornings in exchange for $5 a player and some signed paperwork, much less cumbersome of an ask than many other similar indoor courts require.
A few Dadballers, including Anderson, joined the GLEC board, which helps the center maintain its recreational offerings, like a pool, boxing area, services for seniors, and childcare, as well as its shelter for homeless men housed on the top few floors across 128 units.
The GLEC was barely surviving financially heading into 2020, said Lyn Kuebler, executive director and CEO of the center. But the pandemic worsened its financial positioning and it never recovered. By the spring of 2025, when Anderson died, the facility was underwater on utility bills and the shutoff warnings were starting to pile up, she said.
“For years I couldn’t get help. For years,” Kuebler said, tears starting to well in her eyes.
But things changed over the course of the past year after the Dadballers helped bring in about $100,000 — a desperately needed injection that helped the GLEC stay on top of utility bills and hire a fundraising consultant to help strategize the best ways to court philanthropic dollars and government grants.
“Finally people are noticing this place is valuable and needs to be saved,” Kuebler said.
Last year, the GLEC received $1.5 million from Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh to spend on the shelter part of the facility. About a week ago Kuebler got word the center had been awarded a $5 million appropriation from the city to also spend on the residential part of the building. That money will go toward improvements to HVAC, elevators and bathrooms, she said.
“I can sleep better at night,” Kuebler said. “I’m not worried the doors are closing any day now. ... My heart tells me we’re going to make it.”
After having such an impact on the GLEC, it seemed only fitting to dedicate the gym to Anderson, said Taussig, who thought of the idea along with the other Dadballers about a week after Anderson’s death.
“It seemed like the right thing to do,” Taussig said. “This should be his gym.”
As a black curtain fell to the floor revealing the glistening plaque amidst cheers from the crowd, Taussig christened the gym with a new name.
“Welcome to The Greg!” he said.
