Have You Forgotten Why You Play?

Million dollar contracts in a down economy, misunderstood gun possession, gambling debts, recruiting fiascos, etc. line the news wire but what does that stuff have to do with basketball? We used to go over to my sister’s grandfather’s house in Gardena, CA and watch Mike Tyson pay per view fights that lasted 60 seconds. That was cool and all but even more inviting than that was the quarter mile walk, or so, to Rowley Park around the corner from my sister’s grandfather’s home.

I had a rubber basketball that was junior sized meaning that by age 11 I had outgrown it. It was one of those balls with the stamp autograph on it, in this case “Dr. J’s”. And it was funny to me because Dr. J was wrapping his career up by the time I developed an affinity for basketball. I don’t even like the Sixers. In fact, I was in a Laker town man, raised on Showtime hoop a la “Cap” and “Magic”. But I was just glad to have a basketball of my own and the freedom to shoot around at a park . The best scenario was getting to the park, having the court empty and nobody watching. Then I could disappear into my own basketball world and pretend I was in the League, on my favorite team with the ball in my hands at game’s end. With only seconds to spare, I beat 1, 2, 3 defenders spin left and step back for a jumper that goes up and…if it clanked off the rim I was fouled.

I wasn’t playing to be known yet. I wasn’t thinking about Daddy Warbucks-like cash. I mean, every poor kid dreams of having money but I don’t think I ever played a game of hoop as a kid without a smile on my face. And by the time I was a college basketball player, I’d lost most of the youthful exuberance. I was a cold and desperate young man, mad at the world for not giving me what I thought it owed me. I’ve learned since though or at least recalled why I play. I play for fun because most days, now, I do it for free. And no one does drudgery for free. Maybe sports is so business, so bottom line, so Mark Cuban that we’ve forgotten why we play at all.