The Dream Team Era Essay

The book “Last Shot” shows what a basketball game is really about. It doesn't just show you the game and who wins; It shows you how all the competitors need to prepare immensely to attempt to win. It shows you how the players could throw everything away with their grades or selling team merchandise for a maximum profit. During the read of this book, you are Stevie Thomas, teen writing contest winner. You get to experience the time of your life (at least from his perspective), which is going and reporting at the Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Final Four. You discover what the reporters have to go through and maybe what the players are told to do. Basketball is much more than just the game, it’s life.

Basketball is one of the most popular which is beloved sports that is played today. Michael Jordan, who played for the Washington Wizards and the Chicago Bulls once said, “Just play, have fun, and enjoy the game” (BrainyQuote 2016). Whether playing with friends for fun or by professionals for entertainment or simply watching from home, basketball is very enjoyed all over the world. Beginning with a unique history, basketball has evolved over time from a simple idea into a professional career choice for those with the unique skill set.

Hoop Dreams, directed by Steve James, is an outstanding documentary that gives the viewer a perspective on several different elements on the life of a teen basketball player. The film follows Arthur Agee and William Gates, two basketball stars, who live in the rough Chicago area. The inner-city boys get noticed for their skills, and they are recruited to play for dominant team. The audience follows the boy’s journey with basketball, school, and general life matters. The film dives into the reality of living in the hood and chasing a dream of playing professional basketball. The corruption of the school system and sports are examined throughout the film. The audience follows Agee and Gates through their triumphs and failures in their chase to the top. The director, Steve James, uses the film genre of documentary for the story of Arther Agee and William Gates because it highlights the raw moments of their lives.

Michael Jordan helped bring basketball to the international audiences, the 1992 USA Olympic basketballs team went undefeated and swept the Olympics and became the dream team.

There a many stereotypes that are explored in the film Hoop Dreams. Both William Gates and Arthur Agee fit into the stereotype of great basketball players who aren’t very successful academically. Over time as they advanced in High School this stereotype manifested to where they were unable to play at the professional level they all dreamed about when they were kids. As most parents would want to believe about their children, they want them to be successful academically and athletically. This stereotype was exploded as the documentary progressed.

Collegiately, Jordan’s legacy was established as a freshman when he nailed the game winning shot in the National Championship versus Patrick Ewing’s Hoyas. Even though, the Tar Heels didn’t hoist the trophy in the following years with Jordan, one thing was constant, Jordan himself. Win or lose, no matter the players around him or the level of competition, he would always put on a show. This would hold true as Jordan’s rise to prominence conveyed an analysis of sport’s emergence on the global stage.

Agee, both from Chicago became a professional basketball player to escape the life of poverty. Hoop Dream is a great example of how sports can get you out of poverty. In the movie it showed how the two inner-city boys had all odd against them, and how the system kept knocking them down. At a young age, thy both had the same dream, and were willing to work harder than anyone else to give their family a better lifestyle. Both young men lived on the north side of Chicago, in housing projects. They were limited to where, when and who they can hang with or around, because it was so easy to get caught up in all different gangs, violence and drugs that was in the community. The time that they did spend outside they were playing basketball, playing little pickup games. Scout from St. Joseph High School seen how talented they were and wanted them, and that he did. Even though the boys’ families wanted, the best for them they could not afford to move closer to the high school; so the boys had to wake up at five in the morning and make that hour and forty minutes commute to school every day.

The Chicago Bulls joined the NBA for the 1966-67 season. The franchise struggled for the better part of a quarter century, occasionally putting excellent teams on the court, such as the tough units of the mid-1970s that featured Bob Love, Norm Van Lier, Jerry Sloan, and Tom Boerwinkle. More often, however, the Bulls worked hard for mediocre results. That all changed in the mid-1980s with the drafting of Michael Jordan, the dominant player of his era and possibly the greatest player of all time. Jordan won seven straight scoring titles with a combination of breathtaking slam dunks and a bag of thrilling tricks. He put up some of the biggest numbers in NBA history and wrote some of the most memorable chapters of the league. The addition of Scottie

Once upon a time in Chino Hills, California there was a family full of ballers coincedently owning the last name Ball. The three kids, Lonzo, Liangelo, and Lamelo were each magical on the court, and when you got them on the court together it was like poetry in motion. The way the brothers dished the ball amongst themselves, almost appearing as if they knew each other's very next move, was truly a pleasure to the eyes. As the boys continued to tear up their competition in a high scoring and fast-paced manner, their notoriety and fame continued to grow. It was very clear that the Ball boys were on a path of stardom.

It’s often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it’s easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the essence of teamwork.”

I was 12 year old when I started playing basketball. My dream was to be similar to Michael Jordan. However, my GBL team has lost every game since I’ve started playing basketball. I was also playing with my older brother Jeremiah for the first time, but we were always fighting about whose better. I knew this season would bring us together. With a lot of hard work we finally won. It took me and my brother to work together to win.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan and Shaquille Rashaun O’neal were two great basketball stars that changed the name of the game forever. Jordan came from a large city in upstate New York where his parents “fared well financially with incomes from their jobs and James’s Air Force pension” (Porter 2). O’neal came from the largest New Jersey city where his mother gave birth to him at the age of eighteen and went on welfare (Nelson 2). Both of these young men left a legacy in the basketball world but from two very different aspects.

With his parents support, he made the team next year of tryouts. Though he never did win a state championship in high school, he did win an NCAA National Championship at North Carolina. He received a full-scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He did very well during his college career. Michael numerous awards while playing college ball such as being nominated as the ACC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year during the years of 1983 and 1984. That was one of his many accomplishments he had done. Dean Smith, Michael’s head coach, decided that Michael should go pro during his junior year of college. Michael later agreed and was picked in the Draft of 1984. He was drafted in the first round, but was picked the number three overall pick. He was picked by the Bulls, which are a team based out in Chicago. This is where people began to realize who Michael Jordan was. During his first year, he won the Rookie of the Year award. That award does not top being named Most Valuable Player six times or winning six NBA Championships. Michael also won Olympic gold medals and he was a member of the “Dream Team.” One of the greatest Olympic team or any other team period to step on the court with them. They were

A team player can be associated to any type of profession a person participates. The dictionary defines team players as a number of people associated together in work or activity. Team players are the type of people with a tremendous personality who contribute and motivate themselves in many areas. They include the military, sports, work, and families. However, there are a few things team players are not. Let us explore these aspects closer.

Coaches and teams put a lot of hours on and off of the court to prepare for a game. After you dedicate that much time and will into the game, winning becomes the only option for not only the coach, but the team