This might be my favorite segment from a pickleball podcast ever.

On the most recent episode of Pickleballers, Roscoe Bellamy and The Kitchen founder Jared Paul had guests Federico Staksrud and Dylan Frazier discuss their respective careers and the changing pro landscape, while also responding to some burning questions as well.

My favorite segment question from Bellamy was: “If the PPA Tour turned into The Hunger Games, who do you think would win it all and who do you think would get eliminated within the first five minutes?” 

Pro pickleball has a pretty diverse lineup of athletes, which made for entertaining replies.

“You have to take everything into account: Smarts, speed, strength, stature, maybe friends since people team up in The Hunger Games. Alliances are huge,” added Bellamy.

Staksrud chimed in, “The one that’s going to die first for sure is Matt Wright.”

I think Staksrud may have started with Wright because Wright is one of the older players on tour - but Bellamy disagreed. 

“[Wright] is too smart,” he said. 

Frazier theorized that Gabe Tardio would be one of the players killed off first.

“Gabe and JW [Johnson] came to mind, sorry,” said Frazier with a chuckle.

Personally, I wonder how Yates and Hunter Johnson would do. They have a lot of friends on tour, so they’d have great alliances, and I also think they’d be fan favorites who’d receive lots of gifts from sponsors. 

“You know who’s a sneaky one? Connor Garnett. I feel like he would find a way to start hiding in the trees and start killing people from up there,” noted Staksrud. 

“I think Gabe Joseph would be another sneaky one. The guy is so fast, I think he would just outrun people,” mentioned Bellamy. 

I think another pro who’d dominate is Anna Bright. Her intensity on the court could easily translate to The Hunger Games and make her an absolute beast out there. 

But funnily enough, the clear consensus on the podcast was that Ben Johns would win the whole thing.

“Ben Johns is super cerebral,” said Paul. “Ben is strong. I bet if Ben snapped, he’s taken a lot of heat over the years, and if he’s mad, he would rip someone’s face off. I would not want to fight Ben.” 

When a clip of the segment was posted on Instagram, Johns commented, “Glad we all can agree here.”

As an avid sci-fi reader, I think Johns’ chances of winning the whole thing are pretty high. 

The conversation also continued in the comments section.

Bellamy added, “Pablo Tellez would also die early.”

“Pablo would take the first bait and die instantly,” he said. 

Lucy Kovalova chimed in, “Watch your back guys!”

We also can’t leave out Anna Leigh Waters. Her competitive prowess in The Hunger Games would be absolutely lethal. 

I guess we can only assume that the top pickleball pros are also going to be pretty fierce in this competition, too. May the odds be ever in your favor. 

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