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I had to come up with a paper to read at my basketball teams kickoff game, since it will be our last season playing as the team we are, which we've been the saem team for almost 6 years. It was supposed to be about what makes you a basketball player, can you give me some critique please? Here it is...


Basketball.

What is a basketball player? Sure...you can say you're a basketball player because you play. And you are. But what makes a basketball player stand out from any old athlete? Anybody could go play a sport, say...soccer, tomorrow, and be a soccer player. Or pick up a bat and be a softball player. But what makes you who you are on the court? Is it the hours of sweat you dish out every day? Is it all the physcial therapy you've been enduring for that broken ankle a few seasons ago? Is it all the trophies you have lined up in your room? I don't think so. I think that what defines you as a basketball player is as follows:

Basketball is part of your earliest memories.
-You remember being in the gym when you were little for hours at a time. Or heading from one game to your practice, or from one brothers game to another.
You remember the memorble quotes from people older than you that are engraved into your head.
-You can remember being defeated every time you played one on one with someone older than you, only to be looked down on, and then told you'd be a better player next time.
You've learned not to talk back to anyone and respect everyone.
-You never know who's going to be on your team next year so you treat everyone with respect, regardless of your feelings towards them. You know that people older than you, espically older basketball players, are only going to look down on you to help you. So you take the advice with respect and pride, instead of as an insult.
You give everything you have in any given situation.
-You don't know what your obsticale is going to be in the future, but you also know that chances are its going to be worse than the one your facing now, so you just suck it up and deal with it. It'll make the next one that much easier.
You think sweat is one of Gods greatest creations.
-You know that until you sweat, water isnt coming any time soon. So you work as hard as you can on the blistering hot summer days with no air conditioning, because the more sweat, the more water!
You know what pain is, and you know not to fear it.
-You don't hold back because you're scared of how hurt you'll get. You'll dive on your knees to get a ball with no knee pads on, and then play the rest of the game as if you didnt have strawberries covering your knees. You go to physcial thearpy and endure the pain of the broken ankle regaining strength with pride, because you know that not everyone has the oppertunity to regain their muscles and play again.

Being a basketball player, to me, is more than just picking up and ball and playing. It's about dedication and determanition. It's about having everything in your sucked out of you but still sprinting down the court with everything you have left in the last 3 seconds of the game, only to get the winning shot. It's about knowing that whats best for the team, is whats best for you, and when something is decided that you dont like you keep your personal opinions to yourself. It's about the passion to get out on the court and run as hard as you can, go up strong, and play for your team, your community and your peers. It's about being that person to walk away from the argument, and take it as an adult. It's about helping everyone around you whenever you can. It's about wanting to make a difference in the life of others through the sport. It's about finding that fire deep down inside that drives you to keep going and be at practice, to give it your all at games, to help the opponient up when they fall and to accept help and coaching when you need it. It's about wanting to become a bigger and better player. It's about dreaming big.

It's about falling in love with the sport.
And I believe that is what makes you a basketball player, Not just someone who plays basketball.

Answer 1

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Awesome :D

Answer 2

its good but i think you shouldnt read the part about your experiences to make it relate to other people better. id keep the first paragraph and the last one. good job very nice.