Wellball's Brooklyn Flagship: Reviving Flatbush Avenue

The Toys “R” Us era on Flatbush Avenue is long gone. The shell of that big-box store has sat silent since 2018, a reminder of a retail boom that flickered out. Now it’s about to become something very different: a playground built for grown‑up jumpers and weekend warriors, led by one of Brooklyn’s own.

Stephon Marbury, the former New York Knicks point guard and Coney Island native, is teaming up with Wellball to transform the vacant Brooklyn storefront into a sprawling indoor sports complex. The plan is ambitious. The cavernous space will be carved into courts for pickleball and other paddle sports, plus flag football and dedicated Wellball courts—a permanent home for a new, shooting‑obsessed twist on basketball.

It’s set to be Wellball’s Brooklyn flagship, a statement venue for a sport still carving out its identity. There’s no official opening date yet, but the intent is clear: revive a dead retail giant and turn it into a buzzing hub for southern Brooklyn’s indoor recreation scene.

At the heart of the project is Wellball itself, a game already being billed as “the pickleball of basketball.” Strip away the dribbling. Erase the defense. Forget the full‑court sprints. What’s left is pure shooting, reimagined as a series of head‑to‑head duels.

Players square off and fire over “The Well,” a device mounted on the rim that shapes the flow of each possession. No ballhandling. No bodying up your opponent. Just repetition, rhythm and nerve. Every shot becomes the whole story.

That simplicity is the point. The rules are built to welcome players of different ages, sizes and skill levels. Height doesn’t dominate. Speed doesn’t rule. Accuracy does. Quick rounds keep people rotating on and off the court, turning games into fast, competitive bursts instead of long, grinding runs.

“Everybody wants to shoot,” Marbury said in an interview with Scoop B, summing up the appeal. “Wellball, I believe will be the next… the next wave of how people are able to compete and still do something that they love to do.”

The man behind the concept is Omar Wellington, a former Division I guard at Sacred Heart University. After college, he shifted into training, working with players across the spectrum—from youth hopefuls to NBA names like Rick and Jalen Brunson. Out of that training background came Wellball, a game tailored to repetition, mechanics and pressure, all funneled into one simple act: putting the ball through the hoop.

Marbury didn’t just sign on as a face of the brand. He has captained in Wellball’s VIP league and emerged as one of its loudest advocates, lending the sport both credibility and a direct link to New York basketball culture.

For him, the Flatbush project doubles as a homecoming. The two‑time NBA All‑Star grew up in Coney Island, starred at Abraham Lincoln High School and carried the weight of the city when he joined the Knicks from 2004 to 2009. “Starbury” became a symbol of New York hoops—brilliant, complicated, unmistakably local.

Now he’s bringing that story back to Brooklyn in brick and mortar form. Where kids once begged for toys, they’ll soon be calling next on a court. The aisles that used to hold action figures and board games are on track to echo with jumpers, shouts and the rattle of rims.

For a borough that lives and breathes basketball, Marbury isn’t just reopening an old building. He’s reopening a lane for the next generation to step in, square up and start shooting.