hard in the paint

phrase

basketball

: with intense and aggressive effort within the paint (see paint entry 2 sense 5) area of the court

Note: The paint, also called the free throw lane or key, is one of the two sections of the basketball court in which the most intense play typically takes place.

players working hard in the paint

The team drove hard in the paint causing Luther to foul time and again, as they finished with 34 personal fouls on the game.

—Seth Hale

—often used in non-basketball contexts to communicate intense effort

… going to upset his base, who have been really hard in the paint for him [=intensely/aggressively supportive of him] because of his position around policing.

—Chicago Tribune

As a writer of opinion pieces, sometimes you go hard in the paint and the result isn't precisely what you expected.

—Dark Helmet

So when you are going hard in the paint at the gym, you won't end up feeling soggy and swampy.

—Tom Lorenzo

Word History

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above