The story of 7th-grade stand-out Allonzo Trier has been dissected in the days since Michael Sokolove of the New York Times published something between an exposé on failed American morality and a heartrending narrative on one family's tight clutch on a dream. (In my humble view, Straight Bangin' has it dead center.)
But in the background -- behind the bills Brandon Roy pays and the breathless scouting reports of this 12-year-old's ball-handling skills -- there's this long-lasting truth: for so many kids, the NBA represents hope. Trier's story might get messy, due to the suits and dollar signs involved. That's not the case in a visit youth players from Kyrgyzstan made to a Wizards game this week.
Last August, a plane carrying a Kyrgyzstani youth basketball team to Iran for a game crashed shortly after take-off. Ten of the players died. The NBA already had a relationship with Kyrgyzstan, with Sam Perkins holding a clinic there. This month, the federal State Department worked with the NBA and NCAA to arrange a visit for the Kyrgyzstani surviviors. On Monday, the players took in the Wizards-Bulls game in D.C.
Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog has a fantastic nuanced account of the visit, which includes some great quotes from the Kyrgyzstani players.
[W]hen Gilbert [Arenas] unexpectedly entered that practice court and was mobbed by a half-dozen Kyrgystan under-16 players, wearing matching Arenas jerseys and asking for photos and handshakes....well, more head-shaking. He's apparently huge in Central Asia. "I'm so glad," [Ivan] Zhdanov said through a translator after meeting Gilbert. "My dream has come true."
"It's just something unbelievable," added Marat Lokenov, another player. "Something I will never forget."
For the six survivors who visited D.C., coach Bakhtiar Kadyrov (who was also injured in the crash, suffering burns in his attempts to rescue trapped victims) said the visit meant the world.
Sports
"This is really the height of humanity for the United States because these are people that have suffered through a great catastrophe, so they invited us here as some compensation for what we went through. For the fellas this is really the pinnacle of their life. Their dream was to see an NBA basketball game."
Too often folks take advantage of the hope the NBA -- and sports in general -- provides. Allonzo Trier isn't too different from Marat Lokenov. To them both, the NBA represents a dream, a hope, something amazing and almost unreal. But Trier has men in suits (three-piece or sweat- alike) gaming that hope into personal monetary gain. That's a damn shame.
(Many thanks to Amanda Thorn of the NBA, as well as Wizards PR for the photo and quotes. And thanks to Dan Steinberg for being the best sportswriter in the world.)
Two Stories Speak to What NBA Means to Kids Worldwide originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:40:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
