The Game Plays Me

I guess I got a bit cocky over my last post since it had managed to get a handful of reads, likes and comments. I still don’t know why I wrote that article? Why I criticized the game I love the most?

Wait, did I say ‘the most’? Yes ‘the most’, and also the ‘only’ game I love. And I betrayed my love. Take it as my immaturity. I was callow then. But now, over the night, I have grown.

So enough of the criticism, lets talk of something different here. Lets talk of love. Not the love today’s generation brags of but the love we have for our game – Basketball.

So what have you sacrificed for your love? I know nobody has ‘nothing’ as an answer. Every player, coach or anyone attached with the game has their bit. No matter that be waking early morning for practice or spending money on some pricey shoes.

I fell in love with the game four years ago and since then the love has been increasing. Now it’s like I don’t play the game but the game plays me. I have become a part of it. I never say I’m a great player but yes, I am surely a great lover.

Had you seen me four years back, I was a lanky, stooping guy with nothing to play. Enter basketball and it all changed. I didn’t become Superman or something but I did change and in a better way.

At first when I started playing, it was a kind of fad. Soon, I got obsessed and then, became a part of it. I even bunked many classes(!) only to play basketball. We would run off to the court, pick the ball and a one-on-one would be on the go. Even injuries couldn’t build a wall between me and my love.

Many a times I would have been slammed down, injured but the next day I am again found on the court, be it for being an audience only. As my love for the game increased, so did my game play. As a team, I got to learn a lot. Acceptance, compassion, punctuality, and obviously unity. I remember when we won the district tournaments last year, how we started jumping on the court and hugged each other. That was a moment I would never forget.

And I am no less a fan, being nuts about Kobe Bryant and his purple-gold Lakers.

Isn’t basketball amazing? The dribbling, the shooting, and everything, it’s all just so amazing. One step, two steps and a lay-up! A jab step, step back, and a jumper! Not to forget, thanks go out to the graves of James Naismith. After all, he only brought up such an amazing game. He was indeed our ‘father-in-law’.

All in all, I do fear one thing: How well will this love story go in a country so-messed? (Ugh, the pessimist me is showing up. Got to control myself.)

Doesn’t great love stories have hurdles. They do have. So don’t worry, our love story stands amidst those great ones only.

You might also want to read:

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/12/how-lakers-can-advance-deeper-into-the-playoffs/

https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/12/indian-basketball-fouls-not-counted/