NBA veteran Dirk Nowitzki, former NBA player John Amaechi and TV analyst Kristen Ledlow shared their unique points of view on how they fell in love with the game of basketball and how their journey to the NBA began as part of the #MyNBAstory competition, which officially closes tomorrow.
38 year-old German star Nowitzki said basketball has always been a family business for him, “My mum and sister played basketball, so I was spending most of my time at the sports hall. I always ran after the ball, but I didn’t start playing basketball until I was 12, 13 years old, and I fell in love with the game. I started playing as a kid and then I got stuck.” The 13-time NBA All-Star, who is currently playing his 19thseason in the league with the Dallas Mavericks, then shared the secret to remain competitive in the NBA, “You really have to love the competition if you want to play in the NBA for so long and to assert yourself against younger players. My love for the game and for the competition is the reason why I’ve been in the league for so many years now.”
British basketball legend Amaechi also looked back at how his path to the NBA started and confessed to still be incredulous he made it to the league, “I originally played the game by accident. A man came up to me on the street and told me I could be great at it. I thought it was intoxicating the idea that I could be great at something. And so great that my entire country would have to pay attention. And I leapt into that full bore from the beginning. There were lots of moments where I thought it just couldn’t happen. The first time I realised how big America was, how everybody in the country wanted to play in the NBA in my head, how it seemed ridiculous for a fat kid from Stockport in England to make it in the States.”
Finally, NBA Inside Stuff host Kristen Ledlow explained her passion for basketball defining the game as her“first love”. The American TV analyst went on to say that these are exciting times to be a woman in sports, “For the very first time a generation of girls get the chance to look up at women like Doris Burke, like Becky Hammond, like Nancy Lieberman. For the very first time a life after basketball seems possible. A career in the game of basketball seems possible. And so, a chance to get to be part of that is the reason why I play.”
The #MyNBAstory competition was launched at the beginning of November and allows fans to tell their stories of what inspires them about the NBA. Fans using the #MyNBAstory and #Contest hashtags can express their passion for the game through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The top three UK fan stories will be made into NBA-produced original short films shown on the NBA’s UK digital and social channels. Fans will then vote for the most inspiring story, with the fan who submits the winning story receiving a trip to NBA All-Star 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fans in the UK can participate in the #MyNBAstory contest atGivemesport.com/my-nba-story. The competition runs until Thursday Nov. 24, while voting for the top entry will run from late Dec. to early Jan. 2017
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