Personal Narrative: The Game Of Basketball

Basketball is a big part of my life, one year ago in tournament final game two of our best players were hurt and the team was relying on me. With the time winding down on the clock we were down 8 points. Somehow I got our deficit down to two points with 30 seconds left, after an intense defensive stop 10 seconds remained on the clock; our coach called a timeout. A play was drawn up for me to take the shot. Mitchell inbounded the ball to me as I came off of a screen, I had an some-what wide open shot, I took the shot, you could hear the crowd go silent as the ball left my hand and headed towards the basketball. It felt like everything was going slow motion, the ball was getting closer and closer to the hoop and I…….missed it. The buzzer sounded

and we lost, I fell to the floor. I let down my coaches, teammates, my parents and other fans and most importantly myself. The season was over and we did not win the league. I spent two weeks after that game, devastated and I didn’t do much. After watching film and seeing the great things I did in the game I was determined to come back the next year and do better. I spent all spring, summer and fall lifting, conditioning and getting private lessons for all skills of the basketball game. I worked harder than I ever have before. As the 2015 season started I came out hot and a much better player; I was stronger, faster and a lot more consistent. The season ended this past March, I won regular season MVP, and we were a #1 seed in the huge league tournament only having lost 1 game. The tournament came around, and again we won the necessary games and had made it to the finals yet again. Coincidentally I was tested yet again, having to lead my team down by only 5 this time. My team and I came back and had tied the game with under a minute to go; after back to back defensive stops by both teams things started to get intense. The opposing team with 30 seconds left had missed a wide open three, I had gotten the rebound, crossed half court and my coach called a timeout. “Here we go again” I thought. The coach again had called a play up for me again, but this time there was a fire in me, and I was confident I was going to make the shot. The same situation as last year, Mitchell inbounded the ball to me coming off a screen, I drove to the lane hard, stepped back and drilled the shot, and everyone went crazy jumping out of their seats. Not only did I make the shot, on the defensive side they still had a chance to score, I also came up with the game winning block and we won the championship; one of the best moments of my life holding up the trophy. This experience taught me to work hard, because hard work will pay off in the end and I truly learned that. Without me missing the shot last year, I would not be the player I am today. I’m very fortunate that I have gone through this experience and I know that it will help me in the long run, not only with basketball; but with life itself.