The Journey Begins...

I opened my eyes after about 10 seconds. I wanted to take in the moment and just listen to my surroundings. It's between games at the Maccabi Haifa tryout in Davies, Florida on June 14th, 2011. I'm sitting legs spread on the floor, leaning back on my palms, trying to catch my breath after the most competitive basketball I've played in 6 years. There are 60 players trying out for 2 spots on their top-level Israeli professional team. Luckily, I am not competing with the monsters and I am only fighting for a spot against the 12 other Jewish Americans. The competition is fierce and the tryout has a stern ton of business.

With his arms almost dragging on the floor, the most coveted player at the tryout slowly walks my way. His shiny bald head is steaming from the humidity and he puts out his hand and gives me a nod. "White boy, you're better than you look," he says to me. I respond by saying, "that's funny, I thought you'd be much better" and smile. He smiles back and heads to the other gym for the final game of the day.

Sitting there on the floor drenched in sweat I had a moment of realization that blew my mind. I was actually doing it... I was attempting to play professional basketball. My once forgotten childhood dream was hopefully becoming a reality. Plus, I had just received the nod of approval from former NBA first-round draft pick Julius Hodge. My confidence was quickly growing...

After the final game, in which I scored 16 points and really showed off my array of old school skills, I approached the owner of the team to thank him for the opportunity. He smiled and said, "It looks like I will be seeing you again shortly." I almost broke down right in front of him.

This brings us to the present moment... anxiously waiting and anticipating the future. Before I move on and explain the current situation, allow me to elaborate a bit and give a brief timeline of my hoop dream.

On December 10th, 2010 I was broken down both mentally and emotionally by my friend Aaron Steinburg, who had recently become a Life Coach. At the time I was very confused about which direction I wanted my life to go and I needed someone to help me through my mental roadblocks. He creatively navigated the sturdy emotional wall that I had proudly built up over the years. Actually, with his unique abilities, he somehow tricked me into breaking down my own wall and present him with my deepest personal issues. It was beyond obvious that I had one specific blockage holding me back... I had never given up on my basketball dream.

So there I was, sitting in Honda for an hour... thinking about my life's direction, purpose, and what was really important to me. The peanut M&M sized raindrops crushed my car and slowly put me in a trance. I looked back on my recent years and realized quickly that while I was playing basketball I was the happiest. I had dabbled in coaching but was quickly bored. I had dabbled in business but was quickly overworked. I needed to pursue my basketball dream in order to move on with my life... So that night, at 26 years old, I had finally decided to try and play professional basketball.