Basketball - Life - Worried! Not just about Basketball!

Basketball – Life

I’m not sure when or why I fell in love with basketball but I know I was very young. These writings, thoughts, have nothing to do with basketball but everything to do with life! The key word of the first sentence is the word “why.” There is a lot of information out there on “why.” I am going to give you some uncommon thoughts that may have been common thoughts at one time.

I started with a basketball and an old basketball goal that had a wooden backboard behind my family’s grocery store. Yes, it had a dirt floor with very little grass or weeds. We played so much that the grass and weeds couldn’t grow. I spent hours playing by myself, making up plays, situations, and dreams. I can’t tell you how many game winning shots I made, but if I missed, I got the rebound and put it back in with seconds remaining. Sometimes I needed two to three rebounds and put backs. At times, I would watch a game on TV and go out and practice moves I saw from the big guys.

Later, others would come by and shoot with me. Sometimes we played one on one, or divided up to teams of all sizes. Yes, we called our own fouls, travels, etc., and if we disagreed we always worked it out. We played as a team against another team and it was super competitive. Once the game was over we would go to the drug store and have a coke together!

If things didn’t turn out the way you wanted in the game, you spent time practicing and getting better. No one advertised how many points they scored or how many offers they had for college. For sure we didn’t blame a coach, other players or make excuses. We played as a team and thought as a team.

Later in life, I played basketball in middle school, high school and college. I’ve been so blessed that I got to coach many young people. It has been a great joy to watch my own kids and grandkids enjoy the game that I love. I think the most important thing I have received from the game of basketball is relationships! It created opportunities to do something together as a team and figure things out together! At times, I had to step up and lead and be the one who made the play. Other times it was someone else’s turn to step up and the rest of us had a role to play. Sure, I made plenty of mistakes and I tried to learn from them. I learned that it was up to me if I wanted to get better! This game helped to create my “why” in life! I feel it helped to make me who I am today!

Joe