UNC Basketball: Stature

I was often last picked in pick-up basketball games. I was never tall, nor did I ever really show any potential to eventually become tall. Even now I can’t blame my peers for choosing height over someone who would float around the perimeter and try to set up pick-and-pop situations with guys who only really wanted to run iso after iso. I’ve written before about trying out for my high school basketball team as a freshman, as well as the subsequent four years spent on the wrestling team. I’ve laid out the reason I still adore a good mid-range game to this day—because it was a way a short, slow kid like me could make some space to steal a bucket or two from the tall folks. Basketball was never my sport, but I held on longer than I should have done, because I was a Tar Heel fan, and that gave me an inordinate amount of hope.

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