The Road to 40 Day 309/365: Why Basketball Stays With Me

I got into basketball out of circumstance, but it has been in my life in so many ways that I think it will always be a part of me in some way or another.

Our helpers were big fans of Alvin Patrimonio and Coney Island, and since we only had one TV, I was “forced” to watch those games. Later, I would get to know Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and I got to play with neighbors and classmates.

My mom got me to join a basketball camp, which helped me learn how to dribble and pass a bit. Those were skills that helped me get to meet new friends when I moved to a different school in high school.

My interest only grew from there. I got to meet a lot of people through playing and discussing games, trades, and thoughts about it.

Later, I even had the chance to write for major online publications because of all this accumulated knowledge. It was both rewarding and frustrating – while I got to do something I liked, sharing opinions about a popular sport will get the attention of online “experts” all over the country.

My basketball deep-dives also led me to play fantasy basketball, which, again, was another avenue to connect with like-minded individuals.

When I moved to Singapore, I built my own community independent from the friends I already knew by playing basketball on nearby courts.

A lot of the friends I made have moved to different places already, but I met a lot more just by playing with them regularly. Now, I don’t know half the names of the players I play with, but I know their faces and how they play.

To be perfectly transparent, I’m not that good of a player. I’m not athletic, but I’m kinda long and bulky, so I get to play as a shooting guard, small forward, or power forward. I’d say I play good defense, mostly because of my timing. I can’t jump high or move too fast, but I can block low shots as a help defender, and I can strip the ball once I understand how my opponent moves.

Over the years, though, I’ve lost a bit of whatever little athleticism I have, and my timing has been off. Sometimes, I know where the ball or the opponent is going, but my body can’t respond in time.

Still, I enjoy playing, win or lose. Of course, it feels good to win, but if I get to enjoy playing, it doesn’t really matter what the outcome is.

On this day, I went to the court super early. I was out of the house by 6:30am for the 7:30am game time, but once I arrived at 7am, there were at least 23 people ahead of me. That meant I would have to wait for two games before I got to play.

The first two games featured players I already knew. It was fun watching them trash talk each other and the audience chirping in some of their own.

The second game was a bit more competitive, as they were selecting players before they even began. It had a lot of the top players in our area, and even if you could tell that they’re not going a full 100%, you could see that they were all trying to win.

When it was my time to play, I was grouped with players I don’t normally play with. I didn’t even know how we could split the teams evenly. One group got me, and we were off. It was a bit more quiet than the previous two games, as it’s not the usual guys on the court.

Since my team didn’t know each other, it took a bit of time to understand how we all moved. On defense, I tried to box out the big guys to leave the rebounds for my teammates. On offense, I found my spot around the elbow and tried to hit some mid-range shots apart from my usual three-point attempts.

I found my range at some point and got the three-pointer to the halfway point of the game. My teammates ran and found their shots on their own, and I didn’t really get too many touches on offense except to start the halfcourt sets. I didn’t have a problem with that – never had, never will.

We got ahead first and had a lot of chances to close the game, but we kept missing and the opponents caught up from a 10-point lead. For the final play of the game, we passed the ball around and one of my teammates drew a defender to him and made it look like he was setting the shot for his friend. Once the defense collapsed, I got myself some space, just enough to get a clean shot from three.

Game winner.

It was a good win, and I really appreciated it. However, I was happy because the guys gave me that opportunity to shoot it despite not hitting a shot that whole second half of our game. My teammate explained that he knew I needed a bit of space, so he lured a defender before giving it to me.

I loved that game because it was just a great example of how basketball brings people together. We were practically strangers, but we worked well together for that stretch of time. We didn’t blame anyone for mistakes, and we could laugh and encourage each other if those things happened.

It was just basketball for the sake of playing. Just people brought together by a common interest.

I’ve always said that I’d be sad when the day comes that I won’t be able to play anymore. With my knees hurting and my cardio not holding out much, I think that day is closer than ever.

However, I think basketball will still find a way to stay in my life even long after I’m done playing, as it has done so all these years.