I am sorry that this essay is partially written in English. If you cannot understand English, probably a shame to you...
I was in the basketball court that day, like usual, nobody is coming in the morning. I just took my ball and shoot around, get sweaty. At the time I was sitting on a bench, a guy walked in with a shirt. “Nobody is here, Ha~.”He said.“People don‘t come in the morning.”I replied.“Have you ever been to the one at Fremont or the one on Main St?”I asked.“Yeah. I went there yesterday, played with them.”“Many people there, Ha~ this one, nobody is here.”I explained. He walked around, took few shots while I was remaining on the seat.“You want play H-O-R-S-E?” I said fine, and I can clearly see that he was not a good shooter. He was looking straight at me.“You want me start first?”I asked. “Sure. Go ahead.”He answered without hesitating. As long as I find my feeling for making shots, he just kept saying: “Damn.” I definitely won the game easily, but got really tired. I went out the court to drink some water, after I came back, he said: “You want play one on one?”“You gotta be kidding me, one on one is just running, nothing else. I don’t want get sweaty!” “Yeah.”seems he became more excited.“You want played one on one full court?”In fact I was trying to test him, I can run faster than him, he would obviously answer“NO”, I guessed.“OK, then let‘s play one on one full court.”He answered without hesitating again! I was actually shocked by his answer. Nobody had ever answered the way he just did.“You are so funny. You are crazy.”I kept saying that...“Up to seven.”He stated seriously. “You want win or lose?”I asked him.“Doesn’t matter, just want get sweat.”The score start like 3-0, then I start give up on defense, don‘t want to put him on a shame spot, and I never do that. Every time I catch a defense rebound, as long as I tend to run, drive all the way down to the hoop, he runs crazily as he can. I appreciate his play because he took seriously, but absolutely not mean. The score finally ends at 7:5.“Good game!”he felt happy a lot. Although I won the game, but I ran out of my energy. After drinking a little bit water, came back to the court, I was ready to take a long rest on the bench.
We had a conversation for a while at outside the basketball court. I said: “I am gonna find someone else to replace me, so I can leave...”
“No. You are good. I like you.” (GEE...)
“You want play again?” He asked...
“One on one again?”
“Yeah. Up to five this time.”
“Do you really want to kill me?”
“OK, half court this time.”
“You want lose again?”
“Doesn’t matter, just want get sweat.”
“All right, I will play with you. You are gonna kill me. Which one you prefer? Half court or full court?”
“Full court, then...”
Just before we get started, another two guys came in to the court.
Our eyes both aimed them simultaneously: “Want play two and two?”
Their answer was Yes, but they need to warm up first. So we came to the other side. I looked at him, he said: “just shoot around.”
“Oh my god, they saved my life!”
I would definitely take their warm up time as a rest. He sat down beside me and we talked to each other. He told me he is from Italy, works as a fireman at Monterey Park, works three days a week, 24 hours……
The two on two game started, in fact, I hate two on two game the most because you only have one person to pass the ball, and you always need to concern about it.
Those two guys were not easy to beat, but I know my partner is going to play as hard as he can, so that encourages me to win the game anyway. Plus he doesn‘t make shots, which means I have to take more chances in order to win the game. The game was up to 13. The score was once at 9:12, their lead. We caught up straight by 4, won the game finally. The final shot was my Three-Point. Just after I finished the shot, I laid down on the floor, couldn’t stand up anymore. And I suddenly recalled: I didn‘t eat this morning.
He was absolutely excited, obviously likes me much more than a few minutes before……
篮球,真的能够教会人们很多。篮球真正玩得好并不是水平,而是人的意志。当你站在球场上,看见强大的对手,你不畏惧,在心里告诉自己会赢,无论如何都会尽自己的努力取得胜利,那你距离胜利也就只有一步之遥了。在球场上往往会看到有些水平并不是很高,身体协调度并不是很好的朋友,但是他们很认真地对待篮球,在他人跌倒时,他们会面带笑容将对方拉起,在落后的时候尽自己的努力将比分追平。“胜不骄,败不馁。”我相信这就是篮球的宗旨,也是男人应有的一种气度。篮球,是一项男人的运动。当你双手将球举起准备投篮时,你要想到一旦此球不中,对方就有机会摘下篮板,取得翻盘的可能。然而我认为,这是一个抉择,是一种责任。我曾经参加过一个网络测验,问题是当你掌控着球权,你的球队落后时,比赛即将结束时,这最后一次的进攻就会决定比赛的胜负时,你是投,还是传?My answer is“I will definitely take the shot, and I am pretty sure I will make that shot. That is what basketball really is.
The reason I write this essay is I am about to quit from basketball. I am leaving from LA Fitness, which is the place I usually play basketball right now. Since I am going to another college on Fall, which is far from those ones have basketball courts, I got another membership from a much better Fitness Center. They have much better environment and atmosphere for workout. I am ready to build some muscles. I know it is gonna be super harder than basketball for me, but at least keep a good health. I love basketballs, enjoy it too much. I know if I keep away from basketball for a long time, then I probably won’t be able to play anymore. However, I didn‘t choose the professional path to become a basketball player, and it couldn’t follow me in my whole life. Leaving basketball court is a miserable thing for me, and I know basketball is not just more cultural sport than Yoga or Pilate or something like that.
I will still be wearing Jordan‘s shoes and appreciating NBA games. 球场上,我就是最好的。有我,则胜;无我,则败。