The NBA and basketball meant so much to me as a young black kid

As a young black kid growing up in Twinsburg, Ohio, following the NBA and its players were a huge part of my life.

I figured I probably wasn’t going to the NBA when I was about 10 years old. I had a jumper, but other than that, the athleticism simply wasn’t there.

I was slow, and I wasn’t very agile. I could find ways to get myself open, as I saw how I could use opponents overplaying me to my advantage. But other than my solid jump shot, I didn’t really have any other valuable skill.

With the help of a growth spurt heading into my freshman year of high school, my skills started to become more recognizable and impactful. My shot kept improving, and by the time my junior year came along, I was scoring relatively well. I didn’t make my high school team until my senior year, and even then, I didn’t play much.

But as a young black kid growing up in Twinsburg, Ohio — about 35 minutes south of downtown Cleveland — basketball and the NBA was what I regularly leaned on.

I vaguely remember the 2006 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks, and I can vividly remember moments of watching hoops from 2007 onward.

Basketball has always been a constant in my life, and when I grew up watching LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and the late Kobe Bryant, I knew I wanted to be as good as them in whatever field I chose.

My first time covering an NBA game in December 2018 was one of the most surreal moments I’ve ever had in my life. It was between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers.

I’m hard on myself and don’t take pride in my accomplishments often, but that moment was one of the few times where I said, ‘Hey, I did this. I made it.’ And when I started covering the Cavs this season, that first game was even more surreal.

As a Northeast Ohio native, I grew up adoring the Cavs. They were my team. Now, as a journalist, I feel incredibly blessed to be writing about hoops in my hometown.

As I watch players like James speak out against racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s unfortunate death, I keep seeing the special bond black men have with one another. I know that despite being millionaires, the NBA’s young black players remain close in spirit with “regular” guys like me — we’re still close because of how we share similar experiences.

For me, a part of that connection stems from me still considering myself a hooper.

Before the world’s shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I was regularly playing pickup basketball with my friends. Hooping is about all I really do in my spare time aside from reading, watching movies and playing video games.

I love writing about how NBA players use their skills because I grew up wanting to master those skills. Those types of articles are honestly my favorite to write because, in a way, I can connect with a player who I’ve watched dissect defenses with his passing or scoring over and over again.

The system in America has been broken for far too long, and black people have not been treated with the respect and dignity we deserve. It’s time for change, and the NBA is doing its part to help, with current and former players such as Steph Curry, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Okogie, Stephen Jackson and Trae Young speaking out.

Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the National Basketball Coaches Association is also creating a Committee on Racial Injustice and Reform to help NBA cities fight against racism, police brutality and racial profiling.

I’m now a 23-year-old man, and I’m older than some of the players in the league. And as a journalist, I’m not supposed to be a fan. But writing about hoops has long been my dream, just as playing basketball has been for NBA players.

I just hope that as the country works to improve and push forward, more people can realize that black people like myself — whether they’re athletes, store managers, business owners, secretaries, doctors, lawyers, scientists or authors — have dreams of being great.

We’ve looked up to the people before us in our respective professions, and we just want to leave a legacy for our loved ones. Although, in general, Americans probably most commonly associate things like winning, glory and legacy with sports, those are things that the average black American dreams about in everyday life. And sadly, as we witnessed yet again in the case of George Floyd, his opportunity was taken away.

Our lives matter.

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