There is a certain metallic ring that can only result from a basketball hitting against the hard concrete ground. The sound is one of a kind, unmistakable. To someone who knows the game, this unique sound can say a lot. By simply listening to the dribbling patterns of anyone on the court, you can guess what they are up to. Hard and fast metallic rings indicate that the person with the ball is trying to make a fast break. When the sound fades and becomes slower, you can bet that the ball carrier is searching for an opening, some sort of hole or weakness in the defense. Finally, when the sound stops, a crucial moment has arrived. The absence of the metallic ringing means the player has picked up their dribble. Picking up their dribble has given the player two options: pass or shoot. Of course, none of this would be possible without the actual basketball. The basketball is the object that controls any basketball game.
Literally, a basketball is a round piece of rubber or leather that bounces. It is typically between 28 and 30 inches in circumference and comes in just about any color you can imagine. However, this is just the physical appearance of a basketball. What it actually means is much more than that definition. Perhaps in the hands of someone who is 6’4” a basketball means a slam dunk. Maybe in the hands of a little kid at the park a basketball would mean a granny shot. To many others, a basketball may symbolize an important part of their lives. The wonderful thing about a basketball is that in the hands of different people it can mean many different things.
When you pick up a basketball, you can feel the grips. These grips make the basketball feel as if it were designed for your hands. I believe that anyone who loves basketball enough will eventually feel as if a basketball is an extension of them. They will feel as if something is missing when the ball is absent from their hands. Dribbling, passing, and shooting, it is my opinion that when a basketball is in the hands of someone who knows the game, all of this surpasses second nature. Rather, I believe that it becomes first nature, a habit so ingrained in the player that it no longer requires their conscious thought.
When I was in elementary school, I didn’t really have any friends. This led me to spend my recess times alone with a basketball and a hoop. Oddly enough, my love of basketball is how I made my first friends. Like many activities, basketball brings people together. Take a look at the way the stands fill up at a Jazz vs. Lakers game. You don’t even have to go that far, just look at the crowds that come to the local high school basketball games to see the town’s rivals face off. All these people are being brought together by the game of basketball. In the center of all of it is that simple round piece of rubber called a basketball.
I said before that a basketball controls the game, and it does. However, a basketball can never control an individual. Each player decides how they will play the game. Each individual is unique and when a basketball is placed in their hands, they are free to choose their own style. While basketball can be a major part of someone’s life, it can’t define them. Rather, a player is what gives definition to the basketball because they decide how they will play the game. So, although the ball controls the game, it is the player that controls the tempo.
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