The basketball court is our court to own.
The NBA promotes the most popular individuals on the planet, but our court is where David from the bank walks onto the cement court in his new Air Jordans.
The court can earn you respect and tarnish your friendships.
I spent this last year playing basketball at a YMCA in downtown Phoenix.
There, I played with fathers, sons, husbands, grandpas and ex-convicts.
You earn respect and you play. That will never change.
There are hidden rules on this court. Fouls are tackles and not slaps on the wrist. Fast breaks are the key to the game, but cherry-pick, and you get kicked out of the gym.
The court is where people who love sports get to compete like the pros. It is where they get the enjoyment of hitting a game-clinching three-pointer or earning a three-point play in the paint.
It’s the reason the court is so popular.
The NBA will change. Someday, it will revert to the days when big men ruled the court.
But not our court. Not at the park across the street.
That court will forever and always be ours.
