It's got that early-'00s digicam look to it. My pictures from the end of high school have a similar vibe, despite having no basketball.
As for the "look", I'm not a photographer but this was likely taken on either a low-end handheld film camera or disposable jobbie, which were absolutely ubiquitous around this time frame because they were so cheap (practically free, until you went to develop them). The picture was taken on an overcast day at dusk, later in the evening. Just dark enough to auto-trigger the insufficient flash which lights up the middle of the image and puts everything in the periphery in a dark shadow.
I do like that the kid with the beer isn't looking at the camera and seems to have missed the point that everyone was supposed to be holding the ball.