“Even losing games, kids need to learn things. How little things can make a difference in life, like in basketball games. How to react from losing and don’t quit and how they handled situations,” a quote by Jim Pettis. When playing basketball through the years, I have seen these obstacles along with many more in the great game of basketball. I realized that it can translate to countless life lessons. This sport has instructed me to be unselfish, accept both winning and losing, and most importantly to never give up. 

A great deal with winning games is to be a team player. Whenever I get the basketball I can’t just shoot or drive to the rim. Not only will my team not pass to me, but the coach will probably bench me. Also, I need to give the ball to my team when they are open. I like to say, “Pass up a good one for a great one.” Being unselfish in a basketball game has a lot to do with life. In order to succeed off the court, I need to share. If I do that I will make many friends and I can thrive in life. Even if I do everything right and do it well, there is no guarantee I will win. That is why you need to accept the loss.

If my team and I give 100 percent, we can still end up losing the game. I need to realize  that there is someone out there that works even harder, so I need to put forth my greatest effort towards everything. This correlates with life because not everything will go your way. There is always a winner and a loser with every single thing in life. There might be a disappointment in some situation.  I might not be on top or score the most points, but if I tried my hardest I did come out the true winner. As long as I learn and grow from the loss, I did succeed and I'm the real champion.

Another way I can succeed without winning the game is if I never give up. Last basketball season, we played a team called the Minnesota Chill. They were so good we lost to them by about 20 points. After that, we went back to work at practice, doing anything from conditioning to layups trying to get ready for the next game. When we arrived at the tournament I saw that we take them on again and we gave them a run for their money. The whole game we would exchange baskets along with the lead until they pulled away. But if we played them one more time, I guarantee we would beat them. With that said, if I never give up and work extremely hard I will get better and I am bound to accomplish anything.

I have played basketball for many years of my life and I have learned that many things in the game can correlate with life. There are many lessons to be seen in the spectacular game of basketball but just a few that I talked about is being a team player, accept winning and losing, and never ever give up. I hope I will be able to play basketball for a very long time so I can learn many life lessons along the way..