my life as a disabled athlete

I get a lot of questions thrown at me. How do you play basketball with only one arm? Did you win the game? How’s your team doing? There was one question that someone asked me the other day that threw me off. What’s the endgame? What do you want to accomplish by playing basketball. At first it sounded like a simple question, but then I thought about it and figured out it’s a really deep question. I had to think about it really hard. At first I was going to say win a championship, but I didn’t.         When I decide to hang up my jersey I don’t want to be known as the guy who won a championship. When I die I want people to talk about what kind of player I was.. I think the biggest thing you can earn from someone is respect. I want to earn the respect of my coaches, teammates, opponents, family, friends, and my fans. When it’s all said and done at your funeral people won’t talk about all the buckets you scored or how many people you stuffed on defense. They...

In everything we do we want to be the best. We want to be the best at work, school, parenting, and being a great friend. What if you want to become a great wheelchair basketball player? What does it take to win a championship? If you master these skills your name will be forever known in the hall of fame (yes there is a hall of fame for the NWBA).    Wheelchair basketball is a tough sport. Many try and fail. The first step to becoming a great player in any sport is to fix your mind set. A lot of people say they want to be the best, but later settle to be average. If you want to be the best you have got to work hard everyday for it, not go a couple weeks and quit. If you want to be the best, you have to work like the best. That means getting up early, putting the work in the weight room, and go 110% in practice no matter how boring or hard some days may seem.        Everyone wants to score a basket and be the hero, but to be a good wheelchair ...

My topic on these past blogs have been about my life on playing wheelchair basketball. I forgot to really explain what wheelchair basketball was though. I just expected you to google it or something, but I think it will be easier if I explained.      Wheelchair basketball was founded in 1946 after World War 2. It was originally created for rehabilitation for the wounded veterans coming back home. In 1948 the NWBA (National Wheelchair Basketball Associate) was created by the now hall of famer Tim Nugent. This eventually lead to the creation of tParalympics. The game has changed over the course of time. At first the athletes played in hospital chairs and played against doctors. Now we play with sleek and fast basketball chairs that are specifically designed for you. In the beginning athletes only traveled around locally. Today we play nationwide or worldwide. Today there are more than 200 teams in the NWBA. Just like the chairs and the teams, the rules have evol...

My day to day routine.        During the season wheelchair basketball players have a lot on their plate. We have to balance being an athlete and our daily lives. Some are fathers who have to find to drive their kids to school and make it to practice. Others have part time jobs they have to schedule time for in between training. Personally I know the struggle of juggling a lot of things. It can be hard and exhausting. Im a wheelchair basketball player, youtuber, college student, worker, and a social guy that likes to hang out with friends. I heard a quote once “dreams take sacrifice” i never knew the meaning of that until I started playing ball. I get up early and go to bed late. Today I will tell you my day to day schedule and how I manage my crazy life Most days I wake up at 4:20 am. I love getting up early and hate it at the same time. I feel super productive at the end of the day, but also very tiring. In the morning I get up and work out (if it’s game d...

     Why is wheelchair basketball so hard? As a player I think it's harder then regular basketball. I may sound biased when I say this, but after you read this you might agree with me. Wheelchair basketball has the same rules as regular basketball. Same court, same, basket height and same size ball. The only difference is for every two pushes we dribble and the wheelchair is part of our body when it applies to contact. For instance if your going down the court and slam into a defender that's called a charge. Those two rules are basically the only rules that are different from regular basketball. So why do I think it's harder. I think the main reason is because wheelchair basketball players focus more on teamwork.      In regular basketball, players can do a lot more moves than we can. They can jump, side step, and run faster. We have to rely on our teammates to help block for us to get a shot off. We do more picks and screens then regular basketball. Don't...

this is me with Becky Hammon                                                                                        This is me with the Spurs hype squad In my last blog I talked about the struggles of juggling my life between school and basketball. Yes it’s hard, but aren't all dreams hard to accomplish? That’s why it’s so satisfying to achieve your goals in the end. If you get something without work it means nothing. After I finished my last blog I thought that I should probably explain why I do what I do. Why do I play basketball if it’s dangerous and time consuming? I play basketball because it completes my life. I can’t imagine not doing it. I love the thrill of making a shot. The screams of the crowd. The excitement and nerves of game day. I’m supe...