Basketball and us...

As the free agency period begins its slow and steady death many of us are left in different bowls of soup... Some begin the ever strong debate of who will win next season? Who will be MVP? What has been altered? Will it ever be the same? The loyalty of one player or the lack of loyalty.. Some of us simply have enough and decide to take a break from ESPN, from Yahoo sports, from NBA.com or god in heaven forbid from SSR itself!! But some of us, myself included do what we were doing when the free agency madness began...

We ball...

Im a 20 year old basketball player in Australia, though not Australian bred i appreciate life as long as i have a basketball in my hands... As a 15 year old i was a professional prospect and many expected big things, life and destiny had it that my body would break down three separate times and shatter my dreams... I fell into depression, i even got suicidal and yet through all this harshness something in me made me push... 

4 years later and finally able to run without pain, i haven't stopped balling for the past 6 months... Everyday I'm out there, running, jumping, perfecting and relearning... Why should i lie to you, i still have hope of one day playing in the NBA, reality are for those who quit, dreams are those truths deep within us... And so i feed off this truth, day in day out... However yesterday, i was playing a pickup game with 9 other people, a 5 on 5, such a sweet 5 on 5... My stroke was getting back, my fade-away was as sharp as ever, three in your face fade-aways from the mid-range and my dream of playing alongside Kobe was starting to take shape again.... I even did my signature move taken from the book of Kobe.....pump fake with a pivot foot 360 and drained the two around my opponent.... Beautiful..... i ran back to play D and through the corner of my eye i saw a teen watching the game, curious, ball in hand, i knew he was watching only me...

After a short while the pickup match stopped for a quick break and drink, instead of sitting down, i walked straight to the young teen... "You want to jump in lil man?" My voice came out like an old battled warrior, ready to pass the torch to someone who could keep it alight... "uhhhh sure" Unsure of himself, not yet tested, he wouldve been no older than 14 but i wanted him to play... Turning around to my teammates and new friends i announced that i would be stepping out and that young...... "Simon" he stuttered, his confidence was growing through mine.... Welcoming as ever my friends embraced him and introduced themselves...I sat on the side bench, hands leaning back on the bench.... Let the game begin....

The game was fast and quite beautiful, i mean on the court you had 2 guys who had played in Europe only to realise basketball wasn't to be their main goal in life, you had another player who had played professionally in Africa and also had spells in low divison Canada and America and you had 1 player who was offered a scholarship to go U.S and most players were currently rostered in well divisioned teams in Australia... Of course my little Simon was struggling, shorter, weaker than the rest, i could tell that for a 14 year old he had serious skill, but amongst men who ranged from the 6ft 1 range to the 6ft 11 range he was being blocked and harassed... Eventually he looked at me with a look of hopelessness and i dont know why i didnt spare him and substitute in for him, instead i gave him a quick wink and thumbs up.... The other team scored on a fast break dunk and the ball was in-bounded into the hands of little Simon, and as he grabbed that ball i don't know what it was that made me say this, maybe he was my memory, maybe i took a likening to the cute kid, i don't know, but i yelled out to him "All the way Simon"...

Simon put his head down and dribbled up the court, there was something strange about this particular play, the movement was so familiar, the style was deadly, he was far far away... He got to the perimeter and called for an iso... No arguments to be made all 8 players cleared out giving them a quick breather and also allowing the kid to finally showcase his one on one skills... he looked his opponent square in the eyes and crossed over from left to right, then all too quickly set his feet and pump faked, the defender scrambled to block it and all of a sudden off his pivot foot he did a 360 around his opponent, he was free....

swish....

Game, set, match...

After the game me and little Simon were talking about the awesomeness of the play and i made sure to never point out that he took the move off me... "Anyway Simon i must be off little man, stay around these courts, next time ill give you a match".... And indicative of the kids integrity he said "No way man, i learned that move off you, i couldn't fool you with it".... The comment was so simple, the comment was so honest, this child here didn't want the glory to himself even though i was trying to give it... I was trying to make him forget where he learned that move, i was trying to make him the man... But it dawned on me all too soon... My actions affect those around me.... And through this story i pose this to you dear readers...

Through this free agency maybe some of us have forgotten, maybe some of us know but see this period as great entertainment... But this isn't what basketball is about... Basketball isn't about a player whinging about a few more or a few less million, basketball isn't about which team gets who, basketball isn't about entertainment... Basketball is expression, it's about 5 on 5, its about the unity of 5 on 5, it's about taking our youth off the streets, it's about teaching each other how to be gracious in defeat and humble in victory.... More importantly, it's about dreaming and let dream... Maybe this free agency has been the most entertaining in history and the most controversial... But this isn't basketball, this is entertainment, basketball is bigger than the NBA, the NBA is the WWE with a sport you love but somewhere down the lines maybe we've all forgotten that basketball is not just a sport, it's a state of emotion, it's the pen to our paper, it's the perception to our vision, the projection of our repressions... So please... As you can see through my experience with little Simon...Basketball is too beautiful..... Don't let the NBA define Basketball...

Let Basketball define the NBA....