At what point in your playing career do you realize you love the game? Is it supposed to be during your best moments? You could imagine it would be during the times you're cutting down nets after a championship game surrounded by thousands of fans.Or maybe it should be when you sign your first professional contract and can finally make enough money to provide for yourself. Well, it was none of those moments for me. For me, it was at the most challenging point of my career at age 24 that I realized I loved the game of basketball. Before I even get to that point, let me explain why it took so long to realize this.
As long as i've been playing basketball, the game has been in my favor majority of the time. I've had small obstacles of adversity growing up, but more times than not everything has been all good. I've been on winning teams, gotten countless amounts of free gear, broken records, and most importantly went to a 4 year university for free. Before being a Pro, I believed I loved the game. But didn't realize it was because the game had always been good to me. There was no reason for me to wonder if I really loved basketball or not. Like in most relationships, the love is never questioned until it is challenged. You may love your partner because of all the good things they do, but how do you react when there is an argument and things aren't going your way? As I became a pro, I was beginning to put my love to the test.
After a good rookie year, I would go on to spend 8 1/2 months without a new job. From there I spent the season sitting on the bench in the G- League. After that underwhelming season, I signed to play in Venezuela for the summer where I would play inconsistent minutes and end up getting cut while at home visiting my newborn son. You would think I would question my love by this point but I didn't. I just kept working and moved on to the next opportunity. Fast-forward to December 2018, I had been playing in Romania but left the team to play in Turkey. The move was sudden, too sudden for my Romanian team in fact and they blocked my transfer which caused the Turkish team to cancel my contract. From Turkey I went to Serbia to train with a team while I got my situation sorted out. It was Christmas day back home and I was sitting on the steps in the hallway outside my room because thats the only place that the wifi worked. I was Facetiming my family, watching as my son experienced his first Christmas. When I got off the phone, I just sat there on the steps and cried. Here I am, in between teams somewhere in Serbia missing major milestones in my sons life. It was at this exact moment I asked myself " Why am I doing this?". My response was simple, " 'cause I love this shit!". I knew I was meant for greatness. I knew I was on the brink of changing my life for the better. I knew these sacrifices were going to pay off eventually. I was a natural competitor and wanted to play and win no matter what the situation was. Nothing was going to stop that and I knew I could overcome anything.
Al lot of people think they love the game but they really just enjoy the perks the game brings. They love the attention and the lifestyle. They love it as long as they're comfortable playing it.
This is where playing overseas can make players think twice about that love. It's easy to compete when everything is going well, but can you compete when you're under the pressure of being cut for having a bad game? Can you compete when you haven't been paid in a month? How about when no one on your team speaks your language or relates to you? How much will you love the game when you realize you aren't reaping the benefits as quickly as you thought you would? These are things to ask yourself when you feel like this is what you really love. These are all things I have experienced, and in my darkest times it has brought me even closer to the game. So yes, I DO love the game. Do you?
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