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 the decades-old, beachside basketball courts with pickleball courts, part of a deal with developers for a massive condo and hotel project.

Local basketball players have generated a groundswell of support online, but city officials and developers have said the changes are part of larger improvement plan for the park that now includes building new basketball courts several hundred yards away.

Unpleasant surprise

Ozzie McRea said most people who use the basketball courts only found out about the changes to Fort Lauderdale Beach Park in April. He helped organize a group called Fort Lauderdale Beac

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