Remember how surreal it was in Chicago in the 90s when Michael Jordan – the GOAT – and the Bulls racked up 6 championship rings. I don’t know how popular basketball was in the decades before, but that Bulls Dynasty of Jordan, Pippen and Rodman is the reason Chicago is arguably the best basketball city in the world today.
While it was an incredible decade to Bulls fans, it was hard for some of us kids to try to Be Like Mike. As the Bulls won rings 4-6, I was a student in grades 4-6 at a modest elementary school on the northside where we didn’t have the priviledge to regularly play ball.
Gym teachers assumed basketball was too difficult, too dangerous and too much of a timewaste for us kids, so it wasn’t part of gym class. Besides, most kids just wanted to play weaker games and sports like kickball, dodgeball, softball, etc. These were fun as hell, don’t get me wrong, but every now and then, when the basketball racks came out during open gym, I used to get crazy butterflies. Nothing else came close to being that exciting. But these were teasing and short-lived moments.
Some of us wanted to play more, play daily but we didn’t know how. All after-school basketball programs were only for 6th-8th graders. The school would never let trust us with open gym. The park district basketball programs were too expensive to enroll in. The outdoor park courts were always busy and the older kids and adults never shared the court.
In everyone’s eyes, we were too young, too little. It sucked. But we were 90s kids and we were Bulls fans. One way or another, if we wanted to ball, we’d find a way.
We didn’t have Google to guide us and yet we still discovered new ways to play. We made baskets out of cut-out plastic milk crates and nailed them to telephone poles. We shot around on basketball hoops that had only a white backboard, no rims.
It was literally just a backboard.
The worst – but still fun as hell – was when we shot at a 5 foot steel pole.
Fortunately, the older I got, the easier it became to play more. On real rims. Against good competition. After all, the only way to improve and get better is to play as much as you can and to play with people better than you.
I think it’s important that we encourage kids to start playing early. It’s important to give them a shot at basketball while they’re young, they’ll discover for themselves whether it’s a sport they enjoy investing in. Their window of opportunity is from ages 3-18.
These years will not only shape young players to be better, stronger athletes but also smarter and more confident human beings. I don’t know much about youth development, but I know that I am a better person today – both at work and at home – because of my passion of the NBA and basketball.
See, when you get older, it becomes harder and harder to play as often just like it’s harder to remain as close with friends after college. So start playing earlier. It’s not just about becoming better and playing at professional levels. It’s about appreciating the beautiful game of basketball which could have a significant impact on your career and life. There are countless benefits of learning, playing and understanding basketball.
If not basketball, then help them find and commit to some sport/physical activity. The last thing you want them to devote their childhood years to is a stupid piece of technology like an ipad, ‘smart’ phone, tv or laptop.
Here are some tips on improving jump shooting that your kid might find helpful.