Hoop dreams? Nah, hoop realities

"Because the streets is a short stop/ Either you're slingin crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot"

Notorious B.I.G.

Where I grew up (Ivory Coast, West Africa), basketball is a sport that is usually played by kids who are ‘middle class’ or ‘comfortable’. The reason is that, to play basketball you actually need a pair of sports shoes, a basketball, a t-shirt, shorts and socks that you can afford to let get dirty and a rim. The rim is actually the toughest one because rims tend to experience wear and tear due to weather conditions and too many people trying to imitate Michael Jordan.

Off topic -Don’t you hate that dude who doesn’t score a single basket in the game but as soon as the game is over or there is a little time out, he’s out there jumping trying to show off to everybody that he can dunk with two hands or something silly like that? Dude if you can’t even get a simple lay up in the game, you should be ashamed to be dunking when the game is over. Work on your game instead of on dunking! I don’t care what reverse dunk you can do when you’re the only person on the court. If you can’t dunk in the game, YOU CAN’T DUNK. Bunch of mascots! - had to get that rant off my chest, anyway back to the program

So to play basketball in Africa not only does one need the equipment, but one also needs to have a situation where the basketball rim is maintained. Whereas to play soccer for example, all you need is a ball (sometimes even just a can), and land. Anything can serve as goal posts and you can basically play barefoot. That’s why I’m not expecting an African Tiger Woods anytime soon or even an African Andre Agassi. In general, Africans are just too poor to play these kinds of sports. Ballin’ is a sport that is played by Ballerz. A sign for me that the Ivory Coast is now slowly getting back on track is that the friends I grew up with have started playing basketball recreationally again.

But in America or Canada, the ballerz actually play Lacrosse, Hockey or Golf. Basketball is a sport that is usually played by the ‘not so comfortable.’ Barack Obama touched on it in his book “Dreams from my father”. Basketball is The Great Equalizer, it doesn’t matter how much money you make, what family you come from, how nice your shoes and jerseys are on the court the only thing that matters is: can you put the ball in the net? And on the court, that’s the only thing that will give you status. The game of basketball only respects the amount of work you put into it. Athleticism and height sure help but the best player is usually the one that works on his game the most. (Larry Bird anyone?) Even Michael Jordan as athletic as he was, had a well rounded game, there was nothing on the basketball court that he couldn’t do. He worked hard on ALL aspects of his game. But he himself didn’t escape this ‘work on your game’ rule, so many people in the league were better shooters than Michael Jordan (Steve Kerr anyone?)

These days I’m lucky enough to play in a gym where there are pretty decent basketball players, former high school ‘stars’, former college ball players, and in general a whole bunch of gym rats. The ‘best’ player at this gym, is 6’1 athletic enough that he can dunk, but not that athletic or quick, he can consistently shoot the Nba three, the college three and the mid range shot. He shoots with his right hand, but he is left handed so he finishes well at the rim with his left. So basically he is ambidextrous, there is no point trying to force him left or right. He’s a beast in the post where his fade away jumper is almost automatic. He can pass the ball really well. And oh yeah, he can play pretty good defense.
Today, I found out what he does for a living:

Construction.

I love this game…