I was walking down the road, and had a dejected look on my face. I was very unhappy because we had just lost a huge game against the best team (besides us) in the league. I had my hood pulled up over my head and some expensive sunglasses on. It probably is weird to see a professional basketball player, just walking along on the side of the road. I did this after every home loss even though I had only lost one game in the pros I did this in college too. Even though I had a great game, and we had still lost which made me very unhappy. I knew I had done my job, (with 33 points 10 assists and 11 rebounds) but I felt like the rest of the team had lost the game. What I didn’t know at that time was that the reason we were 59-1 was not because …show more content…
It came to a section about me and everything that had happened in the past week or so. I snapped the tv off because I didn’t want to see that again. Luckily coach made sure there was no reporters or anything at the banquet so there was no trouble there. I was dreading the thought of another game in a couple days because I was probably not starting and barely played in the last three games. There was no doubt that I had started to become a better team player in the last few practices. I was always in with the team, I quit ignoring everyone, I was encouraging everyone, I was hustling all the time and there was a completely different, much better feel on the court. Even though I was pretty sure Colin and all them were still mad at me. I was trying to make things right with him, but he’d always go the other way. That was okay though because I still didn’t want to have to talk to him that much. Game day, I was feeling fresh today. My pergame warm ups were better, and everyone on the team was feeling good other than Colin. I think, but whatever I had shown Colin that I did care about the team in the last few days and that made me feel
Dreams come and go every night, but some dreams tend to stay for a lifetime. I have always dreamt to become a professional athlete in some way or another. Growing up I have always looked up to many different athletes. Whether it was Ladanian Tomlinson on the football field or Kobe Bryant on the basketball court I have always had some athlete that I wanted to be like someday.
The first day we got there we had started off so wrong by arguing. We weren’t doing well and we argued most of the time. Us as a team, we honestly made ourselves look bad in front of the coordinators and other teams that were watching us. The coaches had given us a real big pep talking about sticking together as a team to make us better. Although we didn’t think we needed it, it actually
Basketball is a big part of my life, one year ago in tournament final game two of our best players were hurt and the team was relying on me. With the time winding down on the clock we were down 8 points. Somehow I got our deficit down to two points with 30 seconds left, after an intense defensive stop 10 seconds remained on the clock; our coach called a timeout. A play was drawn up for me to take the shot. Mitchell inbounded the ball to me as I came off of a screen, I had an some-what wide open shot, I took the shot, you could hear the crowd go silent as the ball left my hand and headed towards the basketball. It felt like everything was going slow motion, the ball was getting closer and closer to the hoop and I…….missed it. The buzzer sounded
We were playing against the McAllen High School. I was a starter post on the team we were losing by 10 the first half of the game. We had 5 minutes of halftime the team and I were so upset that we were losing so we decided to pray to gain our confidence back. Once halftime was over starting five went back in we started well with defense once again, we stole some passes, but didn’t make all baskets to catch up to. Until last quarter I made 12 points and I was so happy to make 12 points for the to catch up against our opponent. Our team was still a few behind at the end of the game we didn’t win but I was proud of myself for making those 12 points for the team even if we did not win. My teammates and coaches were so proud of all of us not just me but of each one us for working together not to lose by a lot and not making ourselves look like fools. It was the first since tournaments that I realized that we had a great team that would support each other during a game. Success comes from people who believe in you and support you through things you go through. Success is nor found nor is it a miracle, success is created by you own self from being prepared of how to succeed in life and how you are going to get there because you cannot find success you have to make success find you in. Success is not miracle to be success is something thst
The core values of respect and dignity are the elements that held us together as a team and I was not giving up because we worked too hard to win games and to move forward and because of that I stood up and went above and beyond for the team. The difference is not everyone might have done that if they got injured, however, because I considered all of my teammates equals I believe that it was the just and right thing to do because otherwise we would probably have lost the game. In addition, I was not thinking about myself it was about the team as a whole and the effort it took to get where we were at was not an easy task and it met everyone’s needs because we were not
That next day at practice I immediately sensed a difference. Instead of quietness on the court I began to talk to my teammates and encourage them. Once I did this others quickly joined in. This showed us how important communication is. Instead of getting mad at one another when a mistake was made, we began to encourage each other to just do better on the next play. The team started to feel less like just a team and more like a family. I began to truly know my teammates on and off the court.
Cocky and rude I tended to be after a game like that. I guess that got to me. Coming out of the locker room I was greeting by twice as many reporters and cameras as before. They were asking me questions about the game, the future of my life, and that word again, "Heisman". I answered all their questions in the most unhumble way possible. I thought I was the king at that point. Just as the last reporter and camera was out of my face a very sketchy and weird man came inching towards me. He approached me and whispered in my ear "You wanna make money fast and easy?" At first I was confus...
It 's the day before my last high school varsity basketball game as a senior… Wow four years went by this fast who would have imagined this day would have came. All day I was thinking about the season ending. This game meant everything to me, it wasn 't any ordinary game. It 's a section game! Win or go home.. With it being my last high school game I wanted to close the chapter knowing I gave it my all. Practice was probably the most intense it 's ever been for me. Emotions were flaring and we were all on the grind.
Sports fanatics tend to have one dream and it is to meet their favorite player. My dream came true on November 08, 2000, when for the first time I meet Kobe Bryant. I was so ecstatic about it that I could not speak. That day he gave me the greatest gift: he autographed my basketball and shoes, which is to this day my greatest treasure.
I was going to look my coach in the eyes and explain why I would no longer be continuing my football career. When it came time, I was pacing outside his office waiting for him to return after practice. He invited me into his office and to take a seat, which I did graciously as to appear more calm than the hurricane of emotions going on inside me. I was always an emotional player, something I believed that made me an effective player, but now it was being utilized against me because I could barely get the words out, all I could think was how I was letting my brothers down. Ultimately, the message became clear; he was very understanding that football was no longer what I was interested in and he appreciated that I respected the team enough to talk to him in
Unlike fairy tales, this was not a happy beginning. Unfortunately, my name was not called… At this certain point in time is when my emotions were getting the best of me. I did not understand why I wasn’t fit for varsity if I clearly showed it in practice. Maybe I did not stand out to coach.
Ever since I was a little boy, about eight years old or so, I had an extreme passion for the sport of basketball. On weekends, I would wake up in the morning, eat a bowl of frosted flakes or cheerios, put on basketball shorts and then go in my driveway to shoot around. I would be out there for hours just shooting around or playing with some random kids that I would occasionally see walking around my neighborhood. This was satisfaction to me, but even better was playing on multiple public teams and not just playing in my driveway every day. In elementary school, I played in a recreational league, just like almost every other kid who tries out basketball when they were younger. This was fun and all but it was nothing too serious. There were never any practices, it was just one or two unorganized games per week. I never took
We had a strong team bond and worked well with each other, which showed during this game. I never once told them something that I would not do, and my teammates listened to what I had to say. When I was coaching my teammates, I do not think I ever directed them what to do, but suggested plays and my team listened to my ideas. As the odds were stacked against us, it was important to remain positive throughout the game. We all wanted to win, therefore, it was important that we were emotionally and mentally focused.
A new coach was announced and the morale of my team was at an all-time low. At this point I decided to step up as a leader and help my team make the most out of this season. I made the decision to arrive an hour before practice and stay an hour late as an attempt to help my teammates who were new to the sport. The new coach observed how the team reacted to me, and did not understand why the team had a greater response to when I spoke to them before practice, than when the captains spoke to them during practice. He
I had an amazing game and hit the game winning shot and my season only got better from there.