33 better than 21? (and why it’s ok to just have fun)

Can I be a better basketball player at 33 than I was at 21?

I’ve had that question going through my mind lately.  It’s interesting because looking back, I definitely see things I could have worked on more to become a more complete player.  Like all goals, the first step is to quantify and answer what does being a better basketball player look like to me?

At 21 that was an easy question to answer.  Be dominate on the court.

At 33, to be fair, I suppose I will hold to that same criteria.

Dominate defined as offensively being a consistently large contributor to my team’s success; Defensively being able to match up with the opposing team’s best offensive player on most nights.

Just thinking about what I just typed, wore me out.

When I was younger the outcome of a pick up game could totally affect my day/night.  If I played well, things were well.  If someone got the best of me or I didn’t perform to my capabilities, I couldn’t wait to get back on the court, work on my game and prove myself again.

I guess that is commonly known as drive.  The drive to be dominant was there.

As I have aged over the years, that drive has diminished for basketball, as I have poured my energy into other avenues of life.  It took awhile for this to happen though.

In the beginning, meaning through the ages of 23-27 I would still find myself up at the local courts alone hoisting shot after shot.  I’d get there right after work before everyone else showed up to play at night.  Sometimes, I would do that daily for weeks until I felt my legs and shot come back.  I would then ease into games and before I knew it I was playing well again.  It was fun.  It was also empty.

After I achieved the goal, which was to be dominate in my own way, I would think…what now?  It became something I would do over and over again.  Work would pull more time from me, taking me away from the game and then I would go through the process of getting back into it. The process was fun.  The fulfillment of showing up at the court and playing well against younger players and being known at the court was fun.

Fun, just wasn’t a big enough reason for me to stick with it.

Perhaps I was having the internal struggle of where I should be focusing my time and energy.  I remember thinking when I was 26 that if I take the energy I put into basketball, and place it into work, I would see my income rise substantially.  I did and it did.  Basketball took a back seat.

I’m sure most of us face that dilemma at some point in our lives.  The realization that what you are doing will never be more than a hobby/activity and how much time should really be dedicated to that activity.  That can only be answered by each individual, as we all have different life/growth goals.

Truthfully, I have played basketball longer than I have done anything in my life.  I always wondered when I was 16 years old running up and down the court, if I would be the old guy still trying to make the dream happen.  I used to tell myself no and most of me still believes that.  What I do appreciate more today is that maybe it was more about just having an enjoyable time, than it was about a dream for those guys.

What I’ve come to realize is that it’s ok for fun to be the end goal.

It’s ok to not have a financial benefit beyond the equals sign.

Life is so fleeting. I’d rather fill what remains with as many enjoyable experiences as possible. I’d rather do something…just because it’s fun.

The question I began with still remains.

Can I be better at 33 than I was at 21?

Time will tell.

There will be a big difference this year as I am using the goal of matching up with MJ as my fuel.  If I get that chance, I want to be at my best. Even though I know it won’t matter how good I am when we play (gotta believe it will happen), deep down I don’t want Mike to think I’m a chump:-)

me vs. MJ…hopefully coming soon.

Ok, time to go work on my game and have fun:-)  See ya at the courts!