How I fell in love with basketball
I fell in love with basketball at age 13. I learned the game by playing street basketball. I played a lot. I worked on my skills alone, on a bent basketball rim outside in the cold, practising ball-handling, passing, blocking, dribbling and of course, shooting from outside.
I have been six feet seven inches tall since age 19, giving me a biological advantage for basketball: I looked the part. Equally important, I had the skills, both on and off the court, as well the tenacity to launch my first career as a professional basketball player.
In the 2012-13 NBA season, the star players were LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant. Their talent got fans excited. The Toronto Raptors basketball team was launched in 1995; basketball fever was catching on in Canada, too.
My first setback, however, was being cut from my high school basketball team. My high school coach didn’t think I was good enough.
I persisted. I was resilient.
Now, I’m at Massey LLP, where I can create my “second act” while helping professional retired athletes create theirs. But this time, the Massey partners are cheering me on. My unique journey has fused my sports knowledge with my legal knowledge to help address the problems many professional athletes face after retirement.
Doubling down after setbacks
I applied to Humber College, enrolling in a business marketing diploma in 2011. I competed with 125 other tryout candidates. I was the only player selected to join the Humber Hawks basketball team. Like my high school coach, my Humber basketball coach doubted my potential, too. I didn’t play much during games and was not given opportunities to showcase my basketball talent on the court.
I handled that setback by transferring to York University in 2013, where I had a banner first year with the York Lions basketball team, dominating the court as a power forward/centre while maintaining a high academic average. This qualified me for an academic scholarship. It was my breakout year. I was flying high!
I moved out of my parent’s house and signed a lease on my own apartment. Turned out that the lustre was short-lived. The York Lions basketball coach, after initially promising me an athletic scholarship, withdrew it without explanation. There was no appeal process.
Disappointed and frustrated, I soldiered on.
I transferred universities yet again, this time to the number one university basketball program in Canada at Carleton University in Ottawa, in 2015. I played for the Carleton Ravens. I won two national championships; I was named a two-time Academic All-Canadian. One award that meant a lot to me was being named an OUA All-Star. This award, given to the top Ontario players, cemented my rank as one of the top players in the province.