by Jr., San Mateo
My life is very crazy and many things have happened in my life that might not have happened to other people. For example, one time I was at my basketball game and we had to play a rival team. I knew people that played for the team so I was talking smack to them just to get in their head.
Once it was game time, I got my team pumped up because I was the team captain. I tucked my jersey in because we have to, then waited for the tip off. I made the first three pointer and pointed to the other team’s bench to taunt them and then karma hit me because when they inbounded the ball I got a reaching foul. I was mad but told myself that I wouldn’t get into any more foul trouble. I tried to stay true to that but it was hard.
It was starting to become a close game 37 to 33. We were winning and my teammate was shooting free throws and after the second one I jumped for the rebound and got grabbed by one of the people from the rival team. I got mad and pushed him so we both got fouls called on us. I now had two fouls in the first quarter. I knew it was going to be a rough game so I prepared myself for a fight if one happened.
Once we entered the second quarter, I knew the game was going to be a bad one when I went up for a layup and got pushed by the other team. I didn’t fall but I was still heated and wanted revenge.
The game was still close with 44 to 40, we were winning and I didn’t think we would lose. I made both of my shots and got back on defense. I went for a charge to get the ball back but they called foul on me which made me even more mad because I picked up my third foul. I got taken out because if you get five fouls before (you foul out) and you get taken out of the game.
In the third quarter, I picked up another foul for reaching again and my coach risked it by keeping me in on my fourth foul. I wish he didn’t though. There was a fast-break which puts the lead to 56 to 54 and about to go in the fourth quarter. The guy on the fast-break made the layup and taunted me after making it which lit a fuse inside me. I plotted out that my next move would be to foul hard and trust that my team would win the game or just play and still pick up a foul and trust them. So I went with the first choice because I felt like we would win either way even though I dropped 20 points.
I waited for my opportunity and once I had it, it was go time. The guy who taunted me was on another fast-break after stealing the ball from me so I chased him down and as he went for the layup I jumped with him and pushed him hard. We both fell opposite and he was holding his back because that’s where he fell. I didn’t feel any pain at
that moment because I had an adrenaline rush even though I couldn’t play in the game anymore.
My coach was mad at me, my mom was, so was my dad, but they all understand why I did it. My team won, but once my adrenaline went down and I started getting signs from my body I noticed I couldn’t bend my arm, my ankle was hurting, and I had a light headache. I told my mom about it and she shrugged it off. I told my dad and he said that’s what I get, but I should get it checked out. My grandma told my mom that I should go to the doctors and they all agreed, but my mom thought I was faking.
We got to the doctors and they gave me x-rays on my elbow and ankle. They came back with the results and told me I almost broke my elbow but it was fractured. I looked at my x-ray for my elbow and noticed a crack that almost went through my whole elbow. Then we looked at my ankle x-ray and they said I fractured it as well and it was a smaller crack than the elbow. I had to put my arm in a sling and be on crutches so I would just stay home.
The doctors told me to stretch my ankle everyday so it wouldn’t stiff up as well as my elbow. Since I couldn’t play and was out for two months, I missed our Los Angeles tournament but my team won and brought the trophy home. They also brought me the championship shirt because no matter what I was still on the team.
Once I looked back on the situation I noticed that it wasn’t worth it and that I should’ve just played the game through so no one would have got hurt. Also, I would have been able to finish my season and go to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I was bummed that I couldn’t go, but I made the best of my time trying to heal and get ready for football season in high school.
I also felt bad because my coach wouldn’t move up to the high school level with us and that he would only coach the eighth graders and under. My coach watched me grow up from when I was about ten years old all the way until I turned 14 years old. My coach would still come to my games in high school because he cared about me and always liked to help me improve my skill overall.
I still wished I didn’t let my anger get the best of me because I would have had a ball on all the trips and it would’ve been a good experience.