Basketball

“We were playing against a much bigger team, so we were in a 2-3 zone. I was playing top right and had my eye between the point guard and the shooting guard on my side. I saw the point guard look at the shooting guard on my side and I knew he was going to pass it that way. I hung back for a second, waited for him to start the chest pass, and then I exploded into the passing lane. I got the steal easily and was off to the races. The opposing point guard moved quickly to defend me. He was coming from my left and trying to get in my way. I stutter-stepped, crossed-over right to left, and blew right by him. I dunked a basketball, in a game. For the record, the dunk had some oomph. It wasn’t a drop-the-ball-in-and-pop-the-rim dunk, and it wasn’t a barely-made-it-over-the-rim dunk. It was an authoritative, keep-your-eyes-on-me-cuz-I’ll-swipe-your-pass-cross-you-over-and-dip-off-one-foot-easily-dunk. I remember coming down. I landed on both feet and crouched in a half squat. I remember the wide eyes of my teammates. I remember running to get back on defense like, no big deal.”

“10 minutes into the game, I realized what terrible mistake have I made here, as I usually do in other places-:) I was running all around, & when I got the ball, I struggled to dribble. My shoots would have scored if there were baskets all around the board-:( I gasped for Breath. I was Pathetic!”

“After we stretched and warmed up, the team started doing a basic drill. The gym was full of energy. It was a drill I’d done hundreds of times before. Right as I got a pass from a teammate, the third defender came rushing into play from the sideline. I went up to softly lay the ball into the net and then: Snap! Crack! Pop! These were the sounds that echoed when I came down and landed right on my teammate’s foot. The uneven surface I landed on caused my ankle to roll and immediately break. As I tried to get up, a sharp pain shot through my whole body. My left foot instantly swelled up and a tennis ball-sized bump grew onto the outside of my foot. I sat there in pain as my teammates began to surround me. Sitting on the cold wood, my thoughts spiraled and I wondered what would become of my basketball career.”