Basketball
...e than thirty minutes talking with us and answering our questions. I thought it was nice to meet a professional basketball player, but I still didn’t care much for the game. A few weeks after our visit from Jerry West, our science teacher informed the class that we would be required to create a science project and turn it in for a major part of our grade in the class. What she didn’t tell us was that Jerry West had given her eight tickets to an upcoming game and she planed on taking the students who had created the best science projects. On the day all our projects were due, we all had to do a short presentation of our projects, afterward all our projects were placed at the rear of the class on display. Basketball 3 The next day there were ribbons of various colors placed on seven of the projects, my project had a red ribbon on it signifying second place. Our teacher informed the class that all the students who had received a ribbon on their projects had not only received A’s for them, but had also won a trip to see a Lakers game. The game was at the Forum in Inglewood, it was the first time I had ever been to a professional Basketball game. Before the game we all had a chance to talk with Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. Watching the game with my fellow students was truly a wonderful experience. After that I was a basketball fan for life. I started playing basketball every afternoon, I would play with my friends at the local park court and without any formal coaching I became quite good. When I reached high school I joined the school basketball team. One of my best friends during high school was Reggie Theus. We attended many basketball camps together during our time in high school. Reggie went on to play college basketball and eventually was drafted to the NBA as a Chicago Bull. Over a thirteen year NBA career that spanned three decades, Theus finished runner-up in the Rookie of the Year voting and earned two All-Star Game invitations (http://www.reggietheus.net/bio/index.html). I didn’t get a scholarship to play at the college level, which meant that I would not be going to college. I am still in contact with Reggie, he is a sports analyst with TNT Sports, when he is doing a Lakers home game he will still leave tickets for my two boys and me. My wife who knew nothing about basketball is now a...