In The Know w/ Finke & Hill

It is almost as if my story is writing itself up to this point. With the Hawks, I had the opportunity to play against my home state team with my mom and friends in the stands. Now, here I am with the opportunity to dress up and play for the home team less than 2 weeks after that. I believe that in my last blog post I said that miracles are something that each one of us can come across. Welp lol

Let us rewind to the point where in my last blog post I was playing with the Hawks. In my first 2 games with them, I didn’t even get the chance to play. Well, I got in the last 2 minutes of the game against New York which actually is a pretty cool and unique experience in itself, but my old self would’ve probably let my ego overtake me in the situation, and/or I would have given up early on myself. Not this time though. 

So we get to the point where we’re playing the Bulls in Atlanta and in the heat of the game, I get in the game in the middle of the third quarter. Immediately, my first assignment was to guard Demar Derozan, who is an All-star/ MVP caliber type player. So, how was I able to be locked in for such a big moment? Especially when it was my first time checking into the game. Like Finke talked about in his last post, I was able to control the controllables. I made sure I was understanding the game plan, studying the scouting report, and really locking in on the points of emphasis that Coach McMillan and the rest of the staff were talking about before this game and the games before. 

I promise all of this is way easier said than done. We ended up losing, but I did enough things well enough in the game defensively to give myself an opportunity to play significant minutes against the Bulls in Chicago our next game. I ended up playing even better the game in Chicago. I had 13 points and once again, I had the assignment of guarding Demar. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play in the last game of my 10-day contract with the Hawks because I had entered Covis-19 protocols, but with those 2 games on my resume, I was able to get an opportunity to get picked up by the Bulls for a new 10-day contract. 

Joining the Bulls, I had the opportunity to play against the Celtics in my first outing with them. What is crazy in that situation alone is that I got to play against Jayson Tatum. Growing up in the Metro East area, we were always familiar with each other and my pops and his mom worked together at the same high school in St. Louis. In my head, I’m really thinking “what are the chances that I’m able to play against the home state team, get picked up by the home state team, and now I’m playing against one of the best players to ever come out of the same area in the Metro East”. Would that be called a miracle in some people’s book? For me, it’s still an adjustment, but I believe miracles can be just a normal occurrence if you believe and allow the universe to work in your favor in that manner. 

I’m currently on a 2-way contract with the Chicago Bulls after playing well against the Celtics and Memphis. This journey so far has been going by really fast and my experiences have been truly amazing.

Being in the NBA has its perks. You get situated in the really nice hotels when you arrive in the city and you have the opportunity to travel across the country going from city to city. It’s a unique experience. It almost reminds me of a more up to speed version of AAU basketball for those that played in the circuit growing up. 

There are also things about being in the NBA that is an adjustment. The travel can be a monster during some stretches. Getting in around 3 in the morning to having to get ready for a game later that same evening. And that’s only if things are running smoothly! 

The first adjustment I had come across was finding out how I was going to get my things from the old team I was on. I never thought of having to get my things all together from Birmingham and having it get brought over to Chicago, including my car. I’ve been living basically out of a suitcase for the past 2 weeks. On top of that, it’s having the time to find a place to stay at in the city, but there is barely enough time in the schedule to get that all figured out because we’re in the middle of the NBA season. 

To be able to live this lifestyle and truly enjoy it, I must say that you have to really love the job that you’re doing. Just like with any other job that anyone has to work in their lives. If you’re working your job or doing anything out of your time for the benefits of the situation and not for the love of it, you will find yourself not enjoying that actual job you’re working because it requires real work! 

I always encourage my close friends that I talk to to always find happiness in the job or opportunity that they’re doing because you don’t ever want to be unhappy with the things going on in your life. It can be easy to fall into the trap of looking at the negatives that are going on in one’s life because life is not easy. The older you get, the more challenging that can become. That’s why we should all take some time to put some perspective in what we have going in our daily lives. Whether that’s sitting down and taking the time to meditate on how far you’ve come or even doing something as simple as writing down the things that you’re grateful for to start or end your day. 

Not to be repetitive, but we can all be miracle workers in our lives with the events that can happen. This is something that I first had to learn and then experience. It’s a blessing to be able to sign a contract with the Bulls, but this is still only the beginning for me. It can be easy to get caught up and satisfied with the lifestyle, but it’s all understanding that I do this for the love of the game. Everything else that comes with it is just extra. 

My guy Jose Alvarado said in an interview when he played in Madison Square Garden with the Pels that anything is possible if he can achieve what he did. He was undersized coming out of college and had the opportunity to play well in his hometown. This is just another example of someone working a miracle. I’m only giving examples of basketball miracles at the moment, but miracles are going on every day for people out there in the world. Everyday. It might seem random for some, but I promise, you can be that person to make a miracle happen. There are things you can add to your daily routine that will help manifest those miracles. I’ll go into more details in future blog posts, but for now, I’m about to get ready to head out for this game! 

If you enjoyed this post, like and share it with friends and family. Make sure to check out the other blog posts if you haven’t and if you have any ideas or topics you’d like me or Finke to talk about next, leave a comment under the post. 

For now, ya boy Hillboy is checking out.