on the paint

By Jairus E

Basketball player Jason Kim is on a journey to discover his inner strength. Despite the thought of defeat, these past years, he believed and proved to himself that anything is possible as long as you put in the effort and always try to learn something new every day.

Jason Kim, your regular six-year-old kid, was brought to the basketball world by his dad. As he was focused and intrigued by playing games, his attention was caught by the basketball that his dad brought home.

“I started playing basketball back when my dad bought me a Spalding basketball when I was 6 years old. My dad brought me into the basketball world because he bought me a basketball and encouraged me to play sports instead of just playing on my IPad.”

Jason and his dad often go to a park near their house to play basketball together. With the time they have played basketball, they created a strong bond with one another and inspired Jason to keep going and pursue his goal and passion.

Ever since he started playing basketball, Jason tuned in to the well-known basketball league and watched the National Basketball Association.

“When I was little, I turned on my TV and saw my first NBA game. The game that I saw was the New York Knicks v.s. Cleveland Cavaliers, and that made me interested in playing basketball.”

Starting to play basketball with other kids, Jason seems to struggle with his self-confidence and focusing on the sport, which affects his self-trust and mental health.

“I can be good if I actually try because naturally I overthink a lot and that just throws down my confidence when playing, because I’m playing against others, and sometimes I compare myself to other people that I’m not better than them, and it gets into my head.”

Wanting to improve, Jason watched many Youtube videos about how to play basketball and listened to his idols in the basketball league. Watching basketball players on how they were in Jason’s shoes back then and how he can relate to what the players say about self-belief.

“I watched several players on how they had little to no confidence at all, and after a while, they didn’t care what other people thought and focused on their game talk and not let others define you and who they are as a player.”

Motivated and excited, he learned how to better himself on dribbling, shooting, and passing. He was inspired by the Most Valuable Player of the Golden State Warriors, Stephen Curry.

Despite all of the inspiration and motivation that Jason gets, there are still struggles and challenges that he faces in his way to improving himself.

“I struggled to bring the ball up the court; when you are a small kid, you’re going to get bodied (pause) by bigger kids, and back then, I wasn’t that fast because I was not really into sports and I had to condition myself into running faster.”

Jason’s experience in school playing with other kids was not the best. He was not as athletic in contrast to the other kids, Jason’s body was not as big and strong, therefore he always got bodied and fell down. But the help of his Physical Education teacher gave Jason the confidence to keep going and push through regardless of the opinion of others.

“My P.E teacher Coach Brown encouraged me and helped me improve my basketball skills.”

Whenever Jason’s teacher had free time, he played with him and his friends and told Jason to believe in himself and not let others get into his head, and as of now, Jason is a way better player compared to back then.

Uplifted by his teacher and peers, he joined his middle school’s basketball team.

Many tiring but rewarding practices had passed, and it was time for Jason to prove to everyone that he is one of the best basketball players that his school has witnessed. With constant support from his teammates, Jason pushed through and won many games with his team.

“We won 3rd place in our league at our middle school.”

After the basketball season, Jason found his inner strength and passion in his life with the help of other people and him believing in himself.

He played like there’s no tomorrow and let loose, which told Jason that it’s okay to make some mistakes then and there, and to remember that he is playing basketball for fun at the end of the day. That’s how Jason and his friends connected well together: they play competitively but don’t take anything to heart because it’s just a game.

He finally gained confidence and learned many lessons and skills about basketball and life in general.

“Connecting with other people and getting to know how they got into basketball like me and what their stories were and how they gained confidence helped me a lot too.”

Now, Jason is living happily and confidently. He is planning to join the Yerba Buena High School Team and hopes to excel on his basketball skills to lead the Yerba Buena Team to the championship.