Basketball Used To Be My Girlfriend: Now She's Just a Lady I Know Paperback – Large Print, September 14, 2025

As a young man I was fortunate enough to chase the dream of becoming a professional athlete. I endured the highs and the lows, the joys and the sorrows of chasing a life that very few will ever experience.I grew up in Camden New Jersey, and coming from a poverty stricken environment that did not allow a pathway for success, but instead swallowed up many of the young people I grew up with, through the lure of drugs, murder, and crime ridden streets that killed more than it cuddled.I too was a product of my environment, or victim of my circumstances, whichever way you look at it, I had to find a way of avoiding the traps that constantly confronted me. I had to find the strength and the resolve to go it alone and make the best out of the life that I had been given. I had to make it out, because there was no alternative that had a positive outcome.My journey has allowed me to view life through a lens that is closer to a kaleidoscope and not rose colored glasses as some might attest to. The vast lessons that I had to learn resembled the array of mixed colors compounded by the twist of the lens to reflect chaotic streams of clarification to understand my dream.The fight to continue to chase my dream weighed heavily as the burden of returning to the jungle streets that I was running from forced me to adjust and overcome any and all obstacles, no matter how big or how small. Sometimes fear of what is known weighs more heavily than the fear of not knowing.The resolve of fear can trigger an inner strength capable of elevating your will to succeed above any road block or obstacle be it mental or physical. In my case I was driven by both fear and accomplishment. I wanted to achieve the dream of reaching the professional level of play, with the understanding that failure would lead to a life that I did not want.In life we are all confronted and given a choice at a crucial point and time, and the decision we make will impact our existence and determine where we will end up. When my question of choice came, I didn't hesitate to take the road that I thought was best for me to take, but I had to learn the hard way to understand where I was destined to be.This is my story. This is my dream. This is my life! Read more