CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Russell Westbrook sat at the end of Team WhyNot’s bench next to the final reserve, his legs extended courtward and his eyes tracking the ball.
“Good D! Let’s go, let’s go!” the N.B.A. star shouted, fulfilling his role as patron saint of the youth basketball team named after his personal mantra. He seemed to live and die with every call, standing and cheering as his players did and scowling when things went against them. His eyes always followed the ball; he hardly seemed to blink.
It was still well over 90 degrees outside at 6 p.m. as the sun beat down here on Friday, May 11, but inside the windowless Lakepoint Champions Center the air conditioning was cranked and the 12 basketball courts were lined with hundreds of spectators, a few of whom took pictures of Westbrook as he cheered on the teenagers.
At one court, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade watched his son, Zaire, compete for E1T1 United, a youth basketball team from Florida. At another, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards cheered on the St. Louis-area team now named Brad Beal Elite. The games featured a ton of talent and slightly sloppy but also frequently impressive play. The referees tended to swallow their whistles.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
No comments:
Post a Comment