Tribes have been around for over thousands of years. They have been present since the caveman days and even exist today. You are distinguished by your tribe by what you do, the way you dress, the way you act, or the way you carry yourself. A tribe consists of a specific culture. A culture is a socially constructed and maintained through communication, it limits as well as liberates us, differentiates as well as unites us, defines our realities and thereby shapes the way we think, feel, and act. Today we don’t often refer to them as tribes but more rather cliques or groups, such as the video gamers, goths, or even basketball players. Basketball players are often easy to spot as they are often taller than the average person and often wear sports clothing.
Basketball players are often found on the court rocking a pair of Jordan’s, Adidas, Nike, or other named brands of shoes, often sponsored by an NBA player. Stephon Marbury said that “kids today will kill each other for a pair of J’s (Jordan’s).” This is often true as it is quite fashionable to be having a pair of Michael Jordan’s shoes. Every basketball player knows MJ was the best basketball player of all time, and often kids want to wear of a pair of Jordan’s because they hope that way they can play like him one day. On the court they will be all wearing the matching uniforms to, they wear matching uniforms because they can distinguish who is on what team. They will wear numbers on the front and back of their jersey’s to be able to tell who is who easier. Typically a basketball player will wear a number significant to them. NBA superstar Russell Westbrook (OKC Thunder) wear the number 0 because, “You go with the zero when you’ve been through something and you are looking to get a new beginning. It helps you get going again. It helps you get the swag back.” My teammate wore number 12 because of his grandma who has recently passed and that was her number when she played basketball. Off the court the typically basketball player can be spotted rocking a pair of walking J’s. They will often be wearing a sweatsuit in the winter to keep themselves warm. In the summer you will spot them wearing basketball shorts with an athletic t-shirt to keep themselves cool.
The media’s depiction of basketball is usually in a negative view. Usually they are depicted as arrogant, cocky, ghetto people when that's not the truth. When LeBron James announced he was going to Miami and leaving his home, the media had a field day making him seem as if he was the devil. In all honesty he was just trying to win a championship. In the movie Coach Carter one of the basketball players comes from a bad background and gets a girl pregnant, another one of the players get shot and killed. This movie would persuade one to think that all basketball players are like this when it just isn’t true. The movie White Men Can’t Jump is the reason that there is stereotypes inside of the basketball tribe. The black athletes are described as athletic, and have a better game, while the white athletes were portrayed as unathletic and having a higher basketball intelligence as well as more hustle.
Basketball players are often expressive, leaders, and competition because of the skills they are required to have on the court. They are expressive because on and off the court the coaches is constantly pushing them to be expressive and put in what they think. On the court if a player messes up it is often recommended that you say something so they player won’t do it again. For example in the NBA semi-finals Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks were playing up against the Indiana Pacers. It was game 7 and the winner of the game would be proceeding into the NBA finals and the star player of the Knicks was Patrick Ewing. Ewing gets the ball and has a wide open layup, he leaves the court so high that he could dunk it, the ball leaves his hands and he misses. John Starks, teammate, came up to Ewing and yelled in the heat of the moment “WHY DIDN’T YOU DUNK IT! YOU HAD THE CHANCE TO!” Reggie Miller came down to knock down his free throws to end the Knicks season. John Starks was expressing what he felt about Ewing in the moment and for the reason basketball players are often expressive of how they feel.
They are leaders to because a “desired trait wanted by all coaches is leadership,” Coach Phillip would always tell me. Chris Paul, NBA superstar for the Los Angeles Clippers, said “You don't always have to be a leader and be as vocal as I am. I'm sure some people would love it if I didn't talk as much as I did.” Chris Paul is often the face of leadership in today’s basketball because he is often found yelling and screaming to get his point across to his team. He also will let his teammates know if they are in the wrong spot or doing the wrong things. Kevin McHale, former head coach of the Houston Rockets, said that one time “Chris Paul actually told my players were they were supposed to be because they were in the wrong spot.”
Basketball players are also very competitive as all anyone in basketball wants to do is win. Current New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony said “When I step on that basketball court, I'm thinking about basketball, I'm thinking about winning - but there's so much that goes into thought about how I'm going to open this game up to others. It's so much more than just basketball.” When I played for the Deltona Thunder we were in the Championship game and we were down by 5 with 2 minutes left, we came back to send it into over-time. In over-time the opposing player had the ball with 5 seconds left, he drove past 2 of our players and his a floater in one of our player’s mouth to win the game. None of us talked for the rest of the day we were so mad that we came that close to glory just to mess it up and not have it. We all still think about that day that we came so close to winning it all. It haunts us all every day.
A behavior trait we have is that we normally just stick with our teammates. In basketball is more than just a sport but more of a brotherhood. The coach is often looked as the father figure because they are the wise ones that will direct us in the right path. The teammates are often looked as your own brothers. You guys go out with the all for one and one for all attitude. Imagine before a game the nerves are kicking in and you are getting dressed for the game. Normally guys are either talking about the game plan, joking around to calm your nerves, or just listening to music. Then all silence as the coach walks in the locker room to give you your pregame talk. The coach goes over how this game will be executed and the game plan. After he goes over that everyone puts there hand in the middle and they go “ON 3 EVERYONE YELL WIN. 1, 2, 3” then everyone yells as loud as they can win. Then when you are waiting to go out and take your place on the court you look around at all your teammates, you realizes that you and all your brothers are about to go to war together. That is a moment I would never trade in my life. Often you guys are a brotherhood for life, as my best friend is my former teammate and we hang out and talk every day.
At a typical basketball you will start off with stretching. You stretch so your muscles can get lose and you don’t accidentally pull something. Then you will do layup lines, which is everyone gets in two lines and one line goes in and takes a layup while the other line rebounds and then they will trade lines after. After that you will start running and doing drills. In the typically basketball game you will run throughout the whole game. So in order for you to not run out of breath you will have to do suicide lines, wind sprints, running around a track or a circle, or just running with a basketball as fast as you can up and down the court while maintaining the ball. You will also be doing drills that will help you in the games and get better with your skills. Most of the time the drills are in game time speed, so that when you get in the game it is that much easier to do a move or shot. After you are done with that you will either do a scrimmage or cool down drills, depending on the coach. A scrimmage is a game against your team, it is typically starter’s vs bench players. Or you will have to do a cooldown drill, when I played for a Christian basketball team we would end every practice with free-throws. We would do that so we could improve our free-throw percentage and cooldown so that way we would have our muscles quickly tightening up from going from a lot of activities, to doing nothing all of a sudden.
Typically basketball players have been known for doing pre-rituals before a game. Lamar Odom, former L.A. Laker, use to eat candy before every game. He use to do this because it would calm him down and he enjoyed candy. Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors says that almost half the team engages in a service before each game. “It’s a little different than just sitting there, reading some Bible verses by yourself, as opposed to getting the word with others and really studying and praying together,” he said. The Golden State Warriors must be doing something right cause they are currently 23-1 and they had last year’s MVP, and this year currently frontrunner, Stephen Curry.
People also have in game rituals. Like Michael Jordan, NBA Legend, would wear his North Carolina basketball shorts under his Chicago Bulls shorts every game. He would do this because he thought it would bring him good luck in the games. Carmelo Anthony has worn a headband every single game he has played since high school, he doesn’t plan to change it now since he has been a champion in high school and an NCAA champion in 2003 with the Syracuse Orangemen. On my team one of my teammates wore a shooting sleeve with pads on the elbow because he was convinced he would shoot better and play like Dwayne Wade. Nick Youngs pre-game ritual is that if he listens to a song and he gets 30 points, then the next game he will listen to the song before the next game.
The jargon we use in basketball is often found difficult for the average human being. When a player on the court says ball they are wanting their teammate to pass them the ball. When you hear outlet on the court they want you to pass the ball either up the court or to the three point line. If you hear the term set one they want you to set a pick on the defender. When you hear the term shot it usually means that someone has either shot the ball or that your teammate wants you to shoot that ball. If you hear the term 2-3, that is a defensive scheme. That means that 2 players are up on the 3 point line to defend and the other 3 defenders are back at the baseline. The baseline line is the line that is under the basketball goal and is the line that is out by the goal. The term cut is used for a player to go from the three point line to the basketball. If you so happen to be in the game and you see someone checking in and you hear someone calling your name you are coming out of the game.
Basketball players often referred to as by nicknames. They can be made by shortening up the name, using your initials, using your number, or by how you play. Carmelo Anthony’s nickname is Melo because it is a shortened version of Carmelo. Chris Paul’s nickname is CP3 because it is his initials and he wears the number 3. Vince Carter’s nickname to his friends back in highschool was UFO because when he was just 5 feet tall he could already jump up and touch the rim, which is 10 feet. On my team we gave one of the kids a nickname of rabbit. We gave him that nickname because he was very unathletic and very slow. We did this because we thought it was funny to joke around with him about it.
Basketball players are often very distinctive. My teammate and coaches are one I would never trade in my life because they are my family. Basketball is much more than a game it helps you gain a family and helps you with life skills like leadership or self-expressive. If you ever have a chance to play for a basketball team I encourage you to join one as you will make lifelong memories, and friends.
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