加载中…
A love letter to basketball from MJ
(2006-09-09 17:48:32)| 分类： Sports |
Dear Basketball,
It's been almost 28 years since
the first day we met.
28 years since I saw you in the
back of our garage.
28 years since my parents
introduced us.
If someone would have told me
then,
what would become of
us,
I'm not sure I would have
believed them.
I barely remembered your
name.
Then I started seeing you
around the
neighborhood and watching you
on television.
I used to see you with guys
down at the playground.
But when my older brother
started
paying more attention to
you,
I started to
wonder.
Maybe you were
different.
We hung out a few
times.
The more I got to know
you,
the more I liked
you.
And as life would have
it,
when I finally got really
interested in you,
when I was finally ready to get
serious,
you left me off the
varsity.
You told me I wasn't good
enough.
I was crushed. I was
hurt.
I think I even
cried.
Then I wanted you more than
ever.
So I practiced. I
hustled.
I worked on my
game.
Passing. Dribbling. Shooting.
Thinking. I ran.
I did sit-ups. I did push-ups.
I did pull-ups.
I lifted weights. I studied
you.
I began to fall in love and you
noticed.
At least that's what Coach
Smith said.
At the time, I wasn't sure
exactly what was going on.
But now I know.
Coach Smith was teaching me how
to love you,
how to listen to
you,
how to understand
you,
how to respect you and how to
appreciate you.
Then it happened.
That night,
at the Louisiana Superdome in
the final seconds of the championship game against
Georgetown,
you found me in the corner and
we danced.
Since then,
you've become much more than
just a ball to me.
You've become more than just a
court.
More than just a
hoop.
More than just a pair of
sneakers.
More than just a
game.
In some respects,
you've become my
life.
My passion. My motivation. My
inspiration.
You've my biggest fan and my
harshest critic.
You're my dearest friend and my
strongest ally.
You're my most challenging
teacher and my most endearing student.
You're my ultimate teammate and
my toughest competitor. You're my passport around the world and my
visa into
the hearts of
millions.
So much has changed since the
first day we met,
and to a large
degree,
I have you to
thank.
So if you haven't heard me say
it before,
let me say it now for the world
to hear.
Thank you. Thank you,
Basketball.
Thank you for
everything.
Thank you for all the players
who came before me.
Thank you for all the players
who went into battle with me.
Thank you for the championships
and the rings.
Thank you for the All-Star
Games and the Playoffs.
Thank you for the last
shots,
the
buzzer-beaters,
the hard fouls,
the victories and the
defeats.
Thank you for making me earn my
keep.
Thank you for #23.
Thank you for North Carolina
and Chicago.
Thank you for the air and the
nickname.
Thank you for the moves and the
hang time.
Thank you for the Slam-Dunk
Contest.
Thank you for the will and the
determination,
the heart and the soul, the
pride and the courage.
Thank you for the competitive
spirits and the competition to challenge it.
Thank you for the failures and
the setbacks,
the blessings and the
applause.
Thank you for the
triangle.
Thank you for baseball and the
Barons.
Thank you for forgiving
me.
Thank you for the assistant
coaches,
the trainers, and the physical
therapists.
Thank you for the
announcers,
the refs, the writers, the
reporters,
the broadcasters and the radio
stations.
Thank you for the Pistons and
the Lakers,
the Cavs and the
Knicks,
the Sixers and the
Celtics.
Thank you for Phoenix,
Portland, Seattle and Utah.
Thank you for the
Wizards.
Thank you for the believers and
the doubters.
Thank you for Coach
Smith,
Coach Loughery, Coach
Albeck,
Coach Collins and Coach
Jackson.
Thank you for the education and
the experience.
Thank you for teaching me the
game behind,
beneath, within,
above and around the game
...... the game game.
Thank you for every fan who has
ever called my name,
put their hands together for me
and my teammates,
slapped me five or patted me on
the back.
Thank you for everything you've
given my family.
Thank you for the moon and the
stars,
and last but not least, thank
you for Bugs and Mars.
I know I'm not the only one who
loves you.
I know you have loved many
before me and will love many after me.
But, I also know what we had
was unique.
It was special.
So as our relationship changes
yet again,
as all relationships do, one
thing is for sure.
I love you,
Basketball.
I love everything about you and
I always will.
My playing days in the NBA are
definitely over,
but our relationship will never
end.