Basketball Dentist

November 17, 2024

Taking advantage of temporary residency in Houston by chauffeuring my daughter to tennis lessons. At home the only option is over an hour away, during summer break. So for one month she is getting group lessons for 90 minutes, twice a week. There is a basketball court right next to where they practice. Now I have something to do as well.

Shooting hoops is one of my favorite activities. Sweating profusely in a gym with a group of friends while running up and down the court, that’s heaven. Walking outside for the last trickles of warmth and sunlight to practice free throws, that’s my way of unwinding the tangled troubles of the day.

So now every Tuesday and Thursday I grab a basketball, my daughter gets her racket, and we set out for fun in the sun. And wow is that sun hot. It’s been in the 90’s most days, heat blasting out of the sky. An outdoor sauna. I actually have an old plastic bag that I put on my driver’s seat so that it doesn’t get soaking wet from my sweaty legs on the ride home. I’m a ridiculous person.

For today's exercise session I am interrupted by a young man on a skateboard. No problem, it’s a public court. He skates on the outside lanes, giving me space. But after ten minutes, I start to wonder what his deal is. It’s a full size court. He has over 1,000 square feet of open space on the other side, so why is he inconveniencing himself by constantly ducking my haywire shots? I can tell he’s not doing it to be a punk, because he takes a lot of care to stay out of the way, even picking up his skateboard to move away quickly when the ball clanks off the back of the rim and into his path.

Then he stops, and just stands at the side of the court for a while. He’s looking at his phone, but I can tell he’s actually preoccupied with me playing basketball. The bottom of his eyelids give it away, the way they keep peeking up. I’m confused.

So I wait to catch his gaze, and ask a simple question. “You wanna shoot with me?” I immediately know that is what he was after, because he jumps at the chance. And somehow he could hear me even though his ears were full of AirPods. Of course that is what he wanted. Why did it take me so long to figure it out?

I pass him the ball and watch him take his first shot. Awful, just awful. No form whatsoever. His arms have about three different hitches before the release. No fluidity, just a long Gumby-like spray of the arms. Air ball.

Now I’m really perplexed. You want to play basketball, but you clearly don’t play? No problem though, I keep passing the ball back. He keeps shooting. Mostly missing, but I notice something. His focus is intense. More impressive, his lack of shame. He wants to play, not because he’s great at it, but just because he just wants to. So that other part of my brain kicks in. The part that spent two decades working with students. First as a youth pastor, then as a camp director. I volunteered, I led outdoor adventures, and spoke at campfires. I climbed trees, organized ultimate frisbee, and occasionally pulled out the acoustic guitar. So many students over so many years. And the best part was seeing them grow in real time. Watching them overcome fear and try new things. I liked being a support to the larger goal their parents had of making them good people.

Yes I came here to drop off my daughter, put in headphones and practice my jump shot. Yes I was thoroughly enjoying listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind like I was in high school again. Yes, I really wanted these 90 minutes to myself, because homeschooling my daughter during this time has been low key hellish.

But the second I saw his focus, I couldn’t help it. All those selfish feelings melted away, and the opportunity to help a student get better at something became the goal. So he shoots, I retrieve the ball. Back and forth we go.

Here’s some cool things about this kid. He immigrated from Nicaragua with his mother and uncle just over a year ago. He started to learn English before coming, but he says being in the states has helped tremendously. Ninth grade is his current profession, but in the future he wants to be a dentist. He imagines opening his own office one day.

He knows college will be important, but isn’t sure he will be able to afford it. I assure him that his commitment will get him there. I tell him about all the different ways to get education after high school. Universities, community college, online school, trade school, internships, the library, etc. I tell him about scholarships, and how my mom found me every one under the sun so that I could afford to go.

He’s young, but he already has determination. He’s new in town, but hasn’t hesitated to immerse himself in the culture. He has a dream, and I can tell he will succeed if it’s what he really wants. This kid is great.

Now for a true surprise. He asks what type of music I like. I tell him that I DJ my life for whatever is happening. The morning is more or less acoustic. When I get going at work, it’s rock and hip hop, or anything that keeps me motivated. In the evening I might turn on electronic or classical music when I’m working on the computer. No words to distract, just background sounds.

Then he says the craziest thing. He loves 90’s rock. The first band he mentions is Nirvana. Are you kidding? He doesn’t even know I live a couple hours away from Seattle, or grunge mecca. Audioslave, Linkin Park and P.O.D. are some of his favorites. These are all the bands I consumed endlessly as I became an adult.

What a small world it really is. A 14 year old kid from Nicaragua, recently immigrated, living in Texas, who wants to be a dentist - he listens to the same music that I do. This is why I love people. Learning our differences is cool because it shows the breadth of the human experience. But finding our similarities is even better because it dispels the myth that our differences are what define us. When we realize that underneath the outward appearance is a human being, equal in value as any other human, we take another step into a better world than yesterday. Today was a great reminder of this simple truth.

And if you are looking for a good dentist around Houston in about ten years, I know a guy.