It is there that they are mentored, coached and practice for hours to be the best. For most, that is where the dreams also end. As NCAA television commercials remind us, most college athletes will become professional in something other than sports. Many youth begin dreaming and playing sports at a very early age. Parents are willing
He was once one of the most reviled athletes in the entire country. Accused of rape and severely criticized by former teammates, especially Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant faced obstacles and challenges that would have forced many to give in and give up. However, the perseverance that Bryant has shown by rebuilding his image and his team, the Los Angeles Lakers, has transformed him into a champion on the court and in life as well. The Lakers recently captured their 16th NBA championship and fifth with Kobe Bryant as its star shooting guard. “It’s so tough to win a championship, to have to start over from scratch,” said Bryant.
His electrifying senior season earned him accolades such as McDonald's All-American and North Carolina's Mr. Basketball to name a couple (JockBio). In the McDonald's All-American game, Paul was teammates with the teenage phenomenon LeBron James. Chris Paul showed the world what type of player he was going to be, collecting ten assists and playing to get his teammates in position to score (Wake Forest: Men's Basketball). His pass-first approach to the game was special in itself, but what separated him as a superstar was his ability to score, as well as see the floor as arguably the best passer on the floor at all times. CP3 is notorious for manufacturing baskets when there seems to be no holes in the defense.
Knowing that the bulls were not a very great team, in the matter of winning, Jordan said this after being drafted, “I hate to lose, my number one goal this year is to help make this team into a winner. And I want have fun.” (Rupp 60) Going into his rookie year, Jordan was already an Olympic athlete (Buzzle.com). Jordan’s appearance was very different and significant. (Rupp 7-10) For example Jordan was bald and was always bald; he would shave every Tuesday and every Friday. Also, Jordan had
In 1991, the Fab Five of Michigan University men’s basketball team impacted America’s traditions and morals. These five young, outspoken, rash African Americans not only stormed the court, but the media too. Making Americans question all that they knew, the Fab Five’s “us against the world” attitude and controversial decisions revolutionized basketball, for better or for worse, all while leaving behind a legacy of family and love. Coming off a championship season in 1989, the Michigan Wolverines acquired what is coined to be the best recruiting class in college history. In 1991, Michigan signed five of the nation’s top fifty high school recruits, and thus began the Fab Five era.
Hours of practice with his step-brother and his father turned him into a greater player. As the years went by and Dwayne started high school, he was looking forward to play football and basketball. Dwayne was a standout cornerback and wide receiver. The basketball
Some similarities are they both play professional basketball, both drafted out of high school into the NBA, and both have won Olympic gold medals in 2008. The differences are Kobe has been in the league for 15 years and LeBron for 9 years. Since in the NBA, LeBron has played for two teams and Kobe only one. Nevertheless if these two great athletes played a game against each other, the stats at the end of the game would determine who might be the better player for just that game. People may say LeBron was better because he has more power, better vision, bigger, faster, stronger, and he over powers people.
Basketball fans know him as MJ, the champion shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls, and others know him for his Air Jordan brand or role in Space Jam, but Michael Jordan wasn’t always a success. He once said, “I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying” (Smith 162). Starting at a young age he faced many obstacles on his path to greatness, but never caved. Michael Jordan’s superior desire to win throughout his life led him to nineteen magnificent seasons for the Chicago Bulls, becoming the best basketball player in the history of the National Basketball Association. Michael Jeffrey Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in a Brooklyn, NY hospital.
The system seems clear if a student is non-minority, the student will have to work extremely hard to make of for the bonus points that are given to minorities. What if a student is a minority and excels in sports? Should an athletic minority student receive double the bonus and who should decide to take a minority student who applies for admission with 1300 points receives a bonus of up to 230 points against a non-minority student with a score of 1500 points? When the top law schools were asked if the number of racial and gender backgrounds during first year admissions and then later told if they had not been told or were unable to find out what the incoming students backgrounds were the admission of these students would have fell by up to 82 percent in some cases (Espenshade & Chung,
When I got there, the coach took time to talk to every player on the team and taught us that there was more to life than basketball and that basketball is a game of life. As a sophomore, he brought me up to play Varsity and I took pride in it, while other players and parents of the team disapproved of the situation and the decision that he made. But he took me under his wing and told me that he was doing what was best for the team. As a player, I realized that he took time with all the players on the team whether they played or not and it wasn’t always about basketball but about life in general. He taught me how to handle pressure in clutch situations of a game.