As my friends and family know, I can relate almost anything in life to a basketball game. One basketball game in particular reminds me that nothing is impossible with a positive mindset. It was a game my son, TJ, and I participated in a few years ago. I’m proud to say TJ dares to dream big like I do. My kids are the best part of me.
Life as Basketball
I coached TJ’s team to six victories in three years. Not stellar, but the opportunity I had to shape his skills and sportsmanship was more important than wins and losses. The father and son time was invaluable.
We actually qualified for the season-ending tournament that year, my last year of coaching. TJ was ten years old. Needless to say we qualified last as the eighth seed and had to play the number one seed in the first game—the same team that beat us by forty points in our regular season matchup.
The Plan
TJ had a brainstorm. His plan was this: play the song “Let’s Get it Started” by the Black Eyed Peas as loud as we could during our warm ups. Then, circle the court like the Harlem Globetrotters while the song was playing, and dive into the center court circle when it was done.
Brilliant. I love the boy’s style. If we were going down, then we would have fun doing it.
What happened next was a miracle the Hoosiers would have been proud of.
An Upset in the Making?
The opposing team watched us in awe as we put our pregame plan into action. They totally stopped their warm-ups to gawk at us. They must have lost their focus because of it because we jumped out to a 10-2 first quarter lead.
Then they got tough and instituted a full court press to get back into the game. TJ was one of two players on my squad that could break the press, and sometimes he was triple teamed as he dribbled up court. We held a narrow 12-10 halftime lead.
We held our ground well into the fourth quarter; the energy in the gym was crazy in our favor, as the fans were pulling for the upset. But, it looked like the game would ultimately get away from us until TJ made a layup, stole the ensuing inbound pass, and made another layup.
Stay Calm!
After a time out, our opponents scored to take a one point lead. Then we called time out with thirty seconds to go. TJ and I were both fired up, but he was near to hyperventilating; I tried my best to calm him down.
An Unselfish Act
When action resumed, I desperately wanted TJ to take the final, game-winning shot. I screamed myself hoarse begging him to shoot. Instead, TJ made a beautiful cross-court pass to a teammate who had only made one basket all year.
He scored.
The Result
The other team still had a chance to win, but missed not one, not two…but three last second shot attempts. We won! The gym went crazy as I piled up with my team in the center of the court. That was a proud moment never to be forgotten. Thanks, TJ!
Lose with style, win with grace, dream big, and have fun trying. —Kip
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