Dropping a quick 16 on ya lunch break...

So today I go to the gym on my lunch break. I get my free throws in and go around the world once. Then this kid comes on the court and shoots around with me for a minute. He couldn't be more than 18 years old or so. So after shooting around and chit-chatting with this dude, he challenges me to a game of one-on-one.

WHAT?

Now I had already gathered from his warm-up shots that he wasn't a very good basketball player. So I knew I could probably beat this kid. But did I really want to play him? Nah, I was good just shooting around.

...So after I told him "sure.", we went to 16 by ones. I figured I'd go easy on him and just shoot jumpers since I'd been dropping them regularly before he came on the court. So I drop a couple J's to start this game and then I do my lazy-defense routine till the kid runs up 6 to 2 on me. At this point, a man does one of two things, decides he's gonna let this kid boost his self-confidence, or he's gonna let his pride get the best of him and head straight to point 16 just b/c he knows he can.

So what did I do...I quickly tied the game up on a few drives. I felt a lil comfortable at this point. Then the kid drops two more consecutive points on me. LOL. So at this point I am ready to get the game overwith and stop messing around, but I still want to work on my jump shot. LOL. So I drop 4 straight 3's on the kid (musta got lucky) to get to 12-8...Okay, I'm safe. From there, I talk to the kid through the last four points to find out he's one of Hampden (Baltimore neighborhood) finest. He's actually going to Towson State University in the fall and plans on majoring in sports medicine. On my way to ending the game, I couldn't help but feel good for this kid b/c he is coming from a neighborhood like the one I grew up in...lower-middle-class...You know, one of those neighborhoods that are the result of gentrification. I was in a lot of ways proud of this kid for being able to go to college and pursue his dreams. At the same time, I felt bad for this kid b/c I definitely gave him the one-on-one match he probably wasn't looking for!