Dear Basketball..
I was given my first basketball when I was 3 years old by my dad. I watched him dribble under his leg once, and in that moment, I was instantly inspired. From then on, over the last 27 years of playing and watching basketball, it's had a bigger impact of my life than I would've ever known. When he passed when I was 10, I received another basketball from my cousins, and looking back at it now, when I push myself to the limit and practice the fundamentals and drills nowadays, I feel like basketball and the lessons I've learned through the game will always be connected to my dad and some of the life lessons that he would've has taught me.. and in basketball, I find solace.
Some of the most important things I've learned from basketball is insane work ethic and will power, especially when you're just about out of energy and continue to power through it - which is where you tap into exponential growth and #Beastmode. How to handle stress with poise in clutch moments, perfect practice makes perfect, the true meaning of team work, and much more.
Growing up in LA, I've always been a Lakers fan, will forever be one, and have learned so much from Kobe Bryant's work ethic and drive. I was fortunate to have been watching NBA basketball since the 90s, witnessed the Jordan+Pippen era, learned from the Lakers dominance, and from everyone in between. I had mini basketball courts everywhere in the house, always playing basketball and practicing my clutch 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 shots which I'm sure has helped me with my clutchness today in all situations..
We couldn't afford a real basketball court when I was younger so I was stoked with a rim cut from the top of a bucket, attached to a wooden board as my court, until years later when I was given different courts from family. As a 4th grader, I'd be playing with the 6th graders, learning the killer crossover from TIm Hardaway and Allen Iverson.. Then, I started playing in city leagues, middle school teams, my high school teams, different Asian basketball leagues and adult leagues, and to this day, I still practice fundamental drills and play at the gym (which I'll show). I haven't played in a league in a while since life has gotten VERY busy, and I'm so competitive that I'm the type to spend hours in the gym refining my game and analyzing my previous game's performance to better myself, which I feel like I don't have time for, but I've missed that feeling of "official" game-time competitiveness.. At the end of this month, my company has entered ourselves into an adult city league, which they wanted me to captain, so this should be interesting, and a chance for me to feel some of those nostalgic feelings again.. It's a co-ed team, and some of my colleagues on the team don't play basketball, but nonetheless, I'm looking forward to it, and will continue on this later..
[2013] Been a while since I've successfully dunked, and I get older, it's getting tougher, BUT I challenge myself to defy age and gravity, and to one-day dunk again.
[2004] #TBT I was a pure shooter in high-school. I was fast but wasn't the fastest, so I perfected the 3.