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“You have to make your bones”, by Tim Shea 

Tim Shea

I was told my mother delivered me, with some difficulty, in Brooklyn Jewish Hospital on a cold March night. It was the same year the NBA was officially created

My childhood was spent in a too crowded, nine humans, three bedroom, one bathroom, third floor flat. It gradually dawned on me that we were not wealthy. 

Except for my six daily hours at school, I bided the time waiting to get outside to the open spaces and be with friends. That however had to be preceded by bravely bounding down the light bulb stolen, scary, pitch black, oppressive narrow walled-in staircases to get out, unfettered and alive, to the privilege of where the heart was; the sun, freedom and to be yourself. To be where you grew up and played out your days… the streets. 

And they were tough New York streets. Tough on your feet, on your knees and your ankles. They cut you, they clawed and drew blood if you fell. The memories and the scars still here. They froze your shoes and you slipped and fell in the winter, ice covered, cold pavement.  

In the summer the heat supplied my soaked, over-cooked, Converse canvas covered feet with a slushing, swimming surprise. I couldn’t believe they could sweat so much. 

We played roller hockey with a flattened tin COKE can. Stickball (street baseball) where the sidewalk lamp post was our first base and where dodging the heavy traffic was part of the game. Where our only teachers and our only coaches were ourselves. On our summer weekends there was the organized, “Little League” baseball and our escape from the hard, year-long pavement pounding.  

Green grass 3 inches high?  

AKA: Paradise. 

“You Have to Make Your Bones” 

Basketball comes along when you’re 12 years old. There are no mini-basket schools and no coaches. Your instructors are your buddies. You played 3×3 on the hard-court or you practiced alone. You enter a new world of friends in The Projects. To be “Somebody” in that world you had to earn it on the cement playground half-court, on the “half-moon” backboards. You relied on yourself and friends Oscar, ‘Raymus’ or “Stretch” and they always reminded, “You got to make your bones!” and “You got to have an ID”. I did that. They were good teachers. 

Now it’s 1961, life is simple and The Beatles are coming. One everlasting memory and highlight is the black and white televised John F. Kennedy Presidential acceptance speech challenging a growing nation. “Ask not what your country can do for you but ask what you can do for your country”. It rang real; it rang true.  

My other reality was the now growing NBA and especially my New York Knicks. 

The Individual at the Service of the Team 

It is the 70’s and TV is becoming more popular. The Knicks become NYC idols and national champions in 1970 and ’73. Believe me when I say here that to this boy they were poetry in motion. Ball movement, cuts, blocks, group instincts; all of it. Near perfect basketball teamwork, no nonsense defense and sharing at the orders of Hall of Fame coach, Red Holtzman. Sweet, synchronized equilibrium between NBA stars, Walt Frazier- Willis Reed- Earl the Pearl Monroe and Co. all sacrificing self that spelled SUCCESS. It was, “the individual at the service of the team”. Basketball teamwork converted to CLOCKWORK. Just as when, for the first time, you see a total eclipse of the sun – you never forget it and where anything less becomes second rate. 

The Team at the Service of the Individual 

Second rate seems to be what many NBA clubs are slip-sliding into. The Front Office salary structure as a pyramid creates a team based on economic criteria. It produces a “team” at the service of the individual; the individual that makes the most money. Unfortunately, similar to what Donald Trump is doing in the USA: The country at the service of the individual. 

Please understand! I love the play of the superstars. Who doesn’t? MJ, LBJ, Curry etc. But the economic criterion is unsound and askew. Club Salary structures that translate to an on-court PECKING ORDER reduces team-play poetry to a derivative. A limerick. 

The Proof is in the Pudding 

The NBA has experienced a significant decline in television viewership in 2024. Ratings for the league’s games have dropped notably, with ESPN reporting a 28% decrease compared to the previous year. TNT has also faced considerable reductions, with some matchups seeing declines as steep as 50% when compared to similar games from the last season. 

Several factors are driving this decline. Increased political messaging within the NBA, the frequent absence of star players, and a perceived lack of emerging talent as veterans like LeBron James and Stephen Curry age are all contributing elements. Additionally, the regular season is often seen as lacking importance, and there are growing concerns about the uniformity in gameplay strategies, particularly the heavy focus on three-point shooting, which has led to fan disengagement. 

The NBA has shifted away from its core team values, becoming a platform for a select few high-profile individuals.  

(I’ll leave it up to the reader to reflect on the reasons behind this growing disinterest in the NBA and consider potential solutions). 

*Whereas the Euro league, playing more team-like basketball, is experiencing an ever-growing popularity with fans and media. There are stars but the collective play and product dominates in the overseas market.  

Nothing is perfect 

In the meantime, it’s neither a perfect world nor is basketball a perfect sport. But the pleasure of witnessing basketball teamwork is not something to be discarded. Promoting the professional stars and basketball is one thing… making team play less than the focal point is not. Those “Evolutionists of the Game” salesmen insist that the sport is moving forward, they argue the absurd argument. The term “Evolution’ is downright inappropriate when it is clearly marketers that decided to make the changes. More apt is the word Stagnation. 

Going forward we can only hope that, even though the game is now being marketed specifically to the younger generations, there is enough respect and yes, love and understanding of the game, its past and future, from the directors of these powerful institutions, the #NBA, #FIBA, #EuroLeague and all the National Leagues like the #ACB for the sake of this, a great game and a team sport. 

I LOVE THIS GAME. 

  

The Jump Ball Dept.: 

That a teams’ “Sixth Man” are the fans – It’s NOT true!  

Teamwork is the Sixth man.  

The knowledgeable ingrained consciousness of the five players working as one gives rise to that Sixth Man, creating an on court, in-game advantage.  

No, the Fans are not the, “Sixth Man” 

The fans are the, “First Man”. 

Recently, Paris Basketball demonstrated a keen understanding of how to counter Olympiacos in Greece by using their aggressiveness against them. Paris approaches each game with contagious confidence and enthusiasm and their exceptional but never superfluous ball movement distinguishes them from the rest of the league’s teams.  

With the outstanding TJ Shorts at point guard, they play cohesively and as a truly unified team and I hereby declare them to be one of the best transition teams in recent Euro League history. They are truly the proof that the “Sixth Man” principle is teamwork. Their defense is tenacious, demonstrated as they managed to secure a victory on Olympiacos’s home court, where the near hysterical crowd atmosphere can often lead to leniency from the officials. Will they “Win It All” is the question. That is hard to say (they are missing interior muscle) but hands down they get my vote as the most entertaining and the most refreshing team in the competition. 

* This team also features some of the most unexpected player names, starting with;  

#0-   Shorts, followed by  

#2-   Hifi (not to be confused with Wi-Fi), and then to counter-balance we have  

#12- Lo,  

#34- Hommes, and then  

#5-   Sy. 

And, of course, bringing all these young men together as one team, the Head Coach’s name has to be Splitter! In the end it’s a fantastic team with fantastic names indeed! 

& One more thing: O’TACOS is the newest sponsor and appears on the back of their jerseys! 

Appreciation is one of life’s(teams)greatest motivators, so when we take the time to let people (players) know that we value them, it inspires them to continue to do even more. That is precisely why gratitude is the ultimate gift(tool) that keeps on giving.  

“A person(player) who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”