Victor Kiamzon asked me that today.
Posed thusly, that question caused my mind to think of so many different aspects of basketball and why I love it so much. There's the physical aspect of it where you give your whole body and your abilities in order to win. There's the mental part of it where you have to out-think your opponent just like chess. There's the teamwork, the camaraderie, the competitiveness. So many different things, somehow connected to the game of basketball. Too many different things, really. Basketball is much simpler than that.
And then it hit me.
Basketball is Honesty. Complete and utter honesty. You cannot lie in basketball. You cannot hide. You can cheat, and it doesn't matter if you get caught or not -- you hold yourself accountable to everything you do on the court. Basketball is Karma's barometer. Play hard, and play right, and you win. You always win.
Basketball will Never Let You Down. Basketball won't steal your pin number and clean out your bank account, or forget to take out the garbage. Basketball will never neglect you. You can neglect basketball, and you will be punished. Your skills will rust and you will be humiliated. You'll never find out that your basketball spent a holiday weekend in Las Vegas with another guy.
There will be good days, and there will be bad days. But no matter what, Basketball stays the same. It will always be there, even when you are not. That's the reason why they nicknamed a basketball "the rock."
No wonder my boy Robbie calls basketball my security blanket. Ain't that the truth. Basketball is more than just my security blanket, though. Basketball is my prayer time, my meditation period. It's no surprise that I feel the same elation, and uplifting of spirit when I play basketball as when I am praising and worshipping God. God has given me basketball and the ability to play to show me how to believe all things, even miracles, are possible.
Even miracles? Yeah. I played college basketball. That's a freakin' miracle.
Basketball is what I run to when my mind needs to be clear. Hell, it's better than smoking, right? I think Shao Lin monks had the idea. Great physical effort (i.e., kung fu) allows one to reach a heightened level of enlightenment. Only with complete exhaustion from a worthy excursion can the unity of mind and body be complete.
Man, I wish I was 6'8".
Posted by glenn at April 21, 2005 07:01 PM