Bigger Than Basketball Essay

“Come on guys,” I yelled. I heard the screech of the referee’s whistle. Rushing to the bench, I heard the referee call out “Timeout, Heat.” Everything was on the line and our team’s championship hopes, being foremost on our team’s minds, was all coach could scream about. “I’m not going to tell you how to play basketball,” he yelled out. “That’s your job. I’m just going to say that right now, to us, this is a championship game. If we win this, we move on to the championship. If not, at least let us fall valiantly.” That got the whole team riled up as we rushed back onto the court. The crowd, encouraging as always, yelled out their approval on the fact that we were giving it our all. With just sixteen seconds left in the game and our team down by four, something special had to happen or we were done for the season.

Learning the game of basketball has changed my life for the better. As a little girl, my father believed that I would be an incredible athlete. As soon as I could shoot a basketball, my dad took me to a park to develop my skills. Practicing constantly led me to fall in love with the sport. Basketball became more than just a game, it became a passion. Pursuing this passion has been rewarding, inspiring, and empowering.

Yelling “KOBE” while throwing a crumpled paper ball into the trashcan is something every sports fan in the world have done at one point of their life. After winning five time NBA championships, voted two time NBA Final MVP, two time scoring champion, his accomplishments speaks for his greatness, and that is Kobe Bryant. Bryant is now a retired professional basketball player who played in Los Angeles Lakers for 20 years. Throughout his remarkable career, Bryant developed a heroic figure as he pursued Michael Jordan’s footsteps and overcoming him toward the end of his career. He is considered a hero because he has the trait of being determined, fearless, and inspirational.

“Are you interested in this?” , my dad asks multiple times about multiple sports. I as a four year old just learning about sports, and watching them with my family decide that basketball is for me. So I go on to rec league… I learn how to dribble, pass, and shoot. Time passes and by middle school I can shoot left-handed layups, cross-over behind my back and in between my legs. High school is here.. and I become even more advanced not just with fundamentals, but mentally, and even more aggressively, and physical. I have a purpose, I love the game, and I want to play it as long as I can.

For example, he puts the effort in to speak Italian to just Sasha Vujačić, in order to make the game easier for him and his team. Kobe Bryant, known as one of the cockiest players of all time, says "I can make that play because all my teammates are threats" (1:08). In his overly-humble quote, Kobe connects to the average viewer by almost making them forget he's a superstar and instead just a normal guy reacting to the game as many fans would. At about 1:24 mark, Kobe shows his family side, explaining that despite all the success and publicity, family is most important to him. Spike Lee plays upbeat music as his car drives away while he's smiling with his family, allowing viewers to feel a genuine connection to Kobe. Just like ordinary citizens, Kobe holds his family as the most important aspect of his

From an early age Jordan Rudd, now a high school senior at Brownsville Veteran’s Memorial High School, demonstrated the athletic talent and the necessary dedication to excel. Jordan’s father, Brownsville CBP Officer Michael Rudd, was able to recognize that raw talent and competitiveness which is unusual for a six year old. Officer Rudd worked with his daughter molding her and providing her with the skills and technique she would need to make it on the basketball court. When Jordan got to high school, she already had a reputation as a sports prodigy, but what made her stand out was her commitment to the team and her good sportsmanship.

One of the things that inspired him was how much he loved the sport. Kobe Bryant said, "It's the enjoyment of the game and the love of it. Then it's the low hanging fruit of responding to this challenge. I mean it's right there, it's very easy to get me going" ("Kobe Bryant Best Motivational Speech"). Another factor of what inspired him was his willingness to become the greatest which encouraged him to do better each time. "That's how I would think everyone would go into it. You want to be the man, you know, not the best of the moment, but the best who ever set foot on a basketball court," said Kobe Bryant (Biography Today 54). Kobe brought out the best in people and he wanted to have a positive affect to the people around him and supported him in his life. His goal was to be one of the greatest, but he also wanted to influence people. One of the motivational things that he said was, " We realize the most important thing in life is how your career moves and touches those around you and how it carries forward to the next generation. You realize that's what makes true greatness" ("Kobe Bryant Interview"). These are the things that kept him from giving up through the obstacles that he

Well I wake and I know we have a game. I wake up and eat a decent breakfast you don't want to eat to much so your stomach does not hurt when you start running. But the game is at 1:50 and i have a lot of time to get ready. Me and my dad go to the gym before games so I can warm up. But when we get back home it's about time to get ready for the game. After I get ready we got to the game and we are normally pretty early so i have time to warm up there to. But normally I am a starter so i'm on the court for jump ball. In the first quarter we went up by two but i did not play so well. After a couple minutes went through I told coach to take me out i was not playing good. Well know we are in the second quarter and I did not play this quarter now

“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” That quote from Kobe Bryant, a 5 time NBA champion, illustrates a huge part of this story. I want to impart to you somebody in my life who has affected me enormously, my role model, Kobe Bryant. My role model is a hard working human being, who thrives on being the best person he can be and the greatest basketball player ever to play the game. The reason behind my hard work and success is all due to him showing me how hard he has worked throughout the years and the success he has achieved on and off the court.

I failed over and over and over again consistently, I’d try then fail, “ oh wait I get this… Oh nevermind” this phrase was consistently in a future of mine that I was not yet aware of. I’m a basketball, football player, cheerleader, track star, and I failed at everyone of those. I spent a lot of time being criticized about the basic aspects of the sport. In basketball was by far the toughest of them. It all started my started in 7th grade.

Basketball has been the passion of my life since I was 4 years old. I've always had a competitiveness or desire to not lose. That's why my sophomore year of high school was the worst, but best year of my life. As a freshman I was on JV and had tremendous success. The next year I anticipated a starting varsity role. I couldn't wait, expecting a year even better than the last. All the success I had as a freshman didn't translate as smoothly.

Basketball time. Halfway through the season. It was game night. I was nervous. I always got nervous for basketball games. So after school I’m getting all my stuff ready and I’m putting on my basketball uniform. I had to get fired up. So I listened to some Kanye West. Ok. I was ready. My mom drove me to my game. I put my bag in the locker room. I go out on the court and warm up with the other girls. I’m getting even more nervous. BUUZZZ. That’s the buzzer. Time to go bring it in. Our coach talks to us and tells us the play to run first. I wasn’t a starter or anything. So I sat on the bench waiting to go in. The jump ball had started. Our team got the ball. During half of the first quarter, Coach told me to go in. I went in. I did my part and I played ok.

When I was younger, I wanted to be one of the most extraordinary basketball players in the world. An example of my ambitiousness was revealed one day when I was twelve years old. I was shooting hoops at my house one day and I was getting frustrated. My mother taught me three things to get over my frustration. She told me: don’t overdo things, the pros mess up too, and basketball isn’t the most important thing.

Rushing to the bench, I heard the referee call out “Timeout, Heat.” Everything was on the line with our team’s championship hopes foremost on our minds. As soon as we were all huddled up, Coach Drew began to lay out his expectations. “I’m not going to tell you how to play basketball,” he told us. “That’s your job. I’m just going to say that right now, to us, this is a championship game. If we win this, we move on to the championship. If not, at least let us fall valiantly.” We rushed back onto the court, riled up at the thought of our coach’s inspiring speech. The crowd, encouraging as always, chanted our names. With just sixteen seconds left in the game and our team down by four, we had no choice but to do something special.

My basketball career was one to remember, I had a lot of coaches I liked and a handful I didn’t like. But one coach in particular, stuck with me because of one terrible game I had. I remember the day like it was yesterday, we were playing West aka the rich snobs of Billings. I didn’t play much in the first half but when I did play, it wasn’t up to his standards I guess. After making a great read on the defence I ended up turning the ball over. Imagine this, I had the ball at the top of the key, the defence in a 2-3 zone, I had a teammate on each side of me, spread out to perfection, and one man in front of me at the free throw line. I passfaked to my right and the defence jumped at it trying to steal the pass as this was happening, I tried to make a no look pass to the guy at the free throw line