Basketball Bullets

I might as well go ahead and admit on here that I love basketball. I love playing basketball, watching basketball, watching playoff basketball, reading about basketball, talking about basketball, and coaching basketball. I love Jesus so much more than basketball, but, from reading this blog, you already know that. So this post is dedicated to basketball - the sweet sport of b-ball.

Here are a few bullets that I have found interesting and/or funny (obviously, if you don't love basketball, don't bother reading these):

• Bill Simmons' columns on the NBA and other stuff. Some of it is entertaining, some just interesting, much of it is PG-13.
• ESPN.com's NBA site (vast and organized)
• The NBA's (unofficial) No-Defense Team. Hilarious.
  
• Heard on my neighborhood's cul-de-sac court, "Are you in high school? You play defense like you're in high school!" (Interpretation for those of you who do not play pick-up basketball: this means that the defender was eligible for my No-Defense Team.)
• Larry Bird videos on YouTube. My favorite is probably this one, but there are tons of good ones.
• Golden State Warriors: running and gunning on YouTube
  
• Old Pete Maravich videos on YouTube
• Sample YouTube searches on best dunks, best blocks, best passes, etc.
• A great Jason Williams video, mostly from his Sacramento Kings days
• The late, great Sacramento Kings, from 1999-2004
  

Another Bonus to Being a Christian

ESPN.com's resident funny blogger Bill Simmons says that being a Christian can make an NBA player's career more productive. He even uses the term, "Christian years," in describing how Dwight Howard's faith is an added "bonus."

This is certainly an interesting way to calculate the athletic worth of knowing Jesus.

(Heads up: Bill's funny, but he's probably not a believer. Just trust me on this one - I've read a lot of his columns and accidentally come across some pretty inappropriate stuff. As far as I remember, though, this one's clean.)

Am I an Other-Centered Teammate?

ESPN.com's NBA blogger, Henry Abbott, wrote this line about former college basketball standout, one of tonight's lottery picks, two-time national champion at the University of Florida, Joakim Noah:

David has been using Joakim Noah, in conversations over the last two or so years, as the prime example of a great teammate. His biggest point is look: every time the TV cameras are on, there's Joakim talking up someone besides himself. And it's true. It's always: look how great Corey Brewer is. Look how great Al Horford is. Let me tell you how hard my dad worked. Stuff like that.

David is of the opinion, and I'm inclined to agree, that it's a rare player indeed who makes it his primary mission to lift up his teammates. And players like that are catalysts for teams that are teams.

I read this and realized two things very quickly:

1. I am not this kind of teammate.
I'm not often "talking up someone besides myself" or making it my "primary mission to lift up my teammates." I love basketball, and I love my summer league teammates. They are great guys. They really are. I genuinely enjoy being around them. But when someone asks me about last week's game, I say something like, "We lost. I didn't play well." I have almost nothing good to say about any specific teammates. This is terrible, and a terrible witness for Jesus.

2. This particular "great teammate" is most likely not a Christian.
I don't know Joakim Noah personally, but, from everything I've ever heard him say about his off-the-court time at UF, his life certainly doesn't show an overwhelming love for Jesus. I won't go into details, but anybody who's watched the last two NCAA men's basketball tourneys knows what I mean. Joakim is simply concerned about other things.

So I was forced to ask myself some hard questions:

• Since I love Jesus, why am I not a more loving teammate?
• Why am I not more thankful when I play basketball?
• Why don't I point out God's graces in others more often than I talk about myself?
• How have I failed to apply the word of the cross to my own life?

Lord Jesus, please apply Your Gospel to my heart by Your Spirit and make me a thankful, encouraging, loving, unifying, and humble Christian and teammate.