How I Started Loving Basketball

I am familiar with all major sports, and among them, I prefer team sports.  And among these team sports, I love basketball most.  I find that among team sports, basketball is the most mental, most complex, most exciting, most fast-paced, and most teamwork-y among them.

So, how I started loving basketball?  It started with the one considered by many as the Greatest Of All Time in basketball…

Now, I don’t think that MJ should be a landslide undisputed choice for G.O.A.T. (even if he is indeed the best).  But though I think that way, it can’t be denied that he’s the biggest basketball icon that ever played the game.  In fact, he was even bigger than basketball (or at least the NBA) itself.  He was more than a basketballer, he was a pop culture icon.  Thus, back then, even if you don’t know anything about basketball, you know about Michael Jordan.  I never saw his games, but I saw plenty of his highlights.  And based on those highlights, he was the god of basketball.  Watching him was a joy.  And Michael Jordan cards are the only basketball cards worth collecting. 

And then he teamed-up with Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes to make the greatest basketball movie ever…

Michael Jordan’s status as a basketball superhero was greatly elevated after receiving the greatest alley-oop pass ever made from Bugs Bunny.

As a kid, I was more of a fan of cartoons than of professional sports (the only sport I really followed back then was the World Wrestling Federation).  And I was a big fan of the Looney Tunes (in fact, I enjoyed Bugs and Friends more than Mickey and Friends during those days), so “Space Jam” was a major reason why I started to like basketball.

The first time I actually watched NBA games was during the 1998 season – MJ’s last championship season.  I never really watched the game with understanding.  But just watched for the sake of seeing MJ in action.  I was into the Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls bandwagon, thus, most of the games I watched were Chicago Bulls games.  And I rooted for that team to win.  And they did. 

But I was still not yet a full NBA or basketball fan.  I just found a sport to like.  I still hadn’t understood yet how the game fully works.  In fact, during those days, I thought that a half court short was worth 5 points (I can’t remember how I got that idea).  I was naïve.  Michael Jordan, the greatest, didn’t have any flaws.  Scoring was all that matters in the game.  Half court shots were worth five points.  Such were my naïve thoughts at that time.

Another major reason why I started to get interested in basketball was an anime called Slam Dunk.

It’s one of the greatest anime series I have ever encountered.  Through its entertaining story and characters, I started to learn more about the game of basketball.  For instance, I learned that there are actually different positions in basketball.  Prior to the anime, I thought all 5 guys in a team just did the same stuff. 

I missed the 1998-1999 NBA season (I don’t know why).  When I started watching again – the 1999-2000 – Michael Jordan was already retired.  Pippen and Rodman were no longer in the Bulls. I needed a new “favorite team”. And I ended up with the Lost Angeles Lakers.  Which would be the biggest reason why I love basketball the way I do now. 

How did I decide to be a Laker fan?  It started with the two major reasons why the Lakers dominated the NBA early in 21^st Century.

Kobe and Shaq were a delight to watch. 

Well, during the days that I was an MJ fan (and believed he was indeed the greatest) solely because he was a major pop culture icon (and the hero of “Space Jam”), the player that probably is second to Jordan as an icon (at least in my eyes) that was not a Bull was Shaquille O’Neal.  By then, he was in the Orlando Magic.

 

When I got to start watching some NBA games (97-98 season), he was already out of the Magic and was now a Laker.  So, I started to watch some Laker games.  Then, eventually the Lakers become my “second favorite team”.  It was because with Shaq were three other stars – Kobe Bryant, Nick Van Exel, and Eddie Jones.  I was like, “Oh, the Bulls have 3 stars (Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman) but the Lakers have 4!”  As a basketball noob, I measured a team’s greatness by the stars they have.  I mean the Lakers had 4 players in the West All-Star squad!!!  

But among them, Kobe stood out in my eyes.  Initially, I liked Kobe because he was being dubbed as the “Next Jordan”.  Later on, Kobe Bryant would eventually become my favorite basketball player.  And not because I have joined a bandwagon like I did with Michael Jordan.  In the case of Kobe, I grew up watching him play, through the eyes of someone who finally understood basketball.  While, in the case of Jordan, I watch him through the eyes of a kid who was a fan of “Space Jam” and thought of a half-court shot as 5 points.  I maintain the opinion that Kobe is in the same page as Michael Jordan – that if they switched eras, Kobe would have been considered as the best.  It was all a matter of circumstance.  I could be wrong in my assessment, but I stand by this opinion. 

So when that 1999-2000 season begun, with no MJ anymore, I became a Laker fan.  Of course, at first, I became a “fan” by just picking out a team because it had prominent stars and it was a popular team, like what I did before when I picked Bulls as my “favorite team”.  But as I gained more knowledge and understanding of basketball, the NBA, and history, I truly saw how great and special the Lakers really are.  So though, at the start, I became a “Laker fan” for the reason of just needing a team to root for, in the end, I actually become a true Laker fan; the Los Angeles Lakers became a real favorite team of mine, and not because for the mere sake of just having a “favorite team”. 

From that point on, I was able to truly – from my heart – declare the slogan: “I love this game.”

Read More

Joy Music Team (at Kwangjo Concert)

The music team of Kwangjo Church from Korea held a powerful concert at Joy Church last August 22.  Both Kwangjo Church and Joy Church were blessed by the event.  After Kwangjo Band performed their sets, the Joy Music Team led a short dynamic praise and worship.  Video quality is poor since this was taken by a smartphone.  Still, below is the video if you care to watch (or, at least, listen) to the praise and worship led by our music team.

 

click here for more videos

Read More

God's Glory Displayed Through Humility

The last time I shared a prepared speech (I usually wing it) for our church's Wednesday night service was two years ago.  Tonight, I was able to deliver another prepared sharing once again.

(RE: Matthew 21:1-11)

Good evening.

In tonight’s passage, we can learn a very valuable lesson in humility.  And that God’s glory is sometimes in display through humble and simple things.     

The passage details Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem.  It was typical Jesus, humble and simple.  Upon a donkey he rode, as a very large crowd spread their cloaks and branches on the road.  He was greeted by cheers of “Hosanna!”  He was welcomed as a king and conqueror.  

Obviously, the crowd was cheering because they have seen or heard about Jesus’ miracles.   They knew that this Jesus healed the sick, cast off demons, and fed thousands.  And they were expecting that Jesus’ would use this power of his to overthrow the Romans and make the nation of Israel glorious and powerful.  Indeed, they were welcoming a king and savior.  Unfortunately, this people had the wrong idea about it.    

The Jews’ expectations were focused on overthrowing Roman rule and the burdens of their people.  But Jesus’ mission was far above that.  Very far above that.  He came not merely to save His people from political oppression, but from sin and death!  

Many times in our lives, we are like the Jews.  We expect, and even sometimes, demand God to work by our own standard and idea.  So since we concentrate on our own expectations, and fail to seek God’s will, we miss it when God works.      

While meditating this passage, I remembered about the time I read this short story in Max Lucado’s book “A Gentle Thunder”.  It goes like this:

Once there was a man who dared God to speak.

Burn the bush like you did for Moses, God. And I will follow. 

Collapse the walls like you did for Joshua, God. And I will fight. 

Still the waves like you did in Galilee, God. And I will listen.

And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea, and waited for God to speak.

And God heard the man, so God answered. He sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church. He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin. He stilled a storm, not of the sea, but of the soul.

And God waited for the man to respond. And he waited. 

And he waited. 

And he waited.

But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts; bricks and not lives, seas and not souls, he decided that God had done nothing. Finally he looked to God and asked, Have you lost your power?

And God looked at him and said, Have you lost your hearing?

God works through things we don’t expect.  When we expect for a mighty conquering king on a great war horse, God’s glory will be displayed through a carpenter riding on a unimpressive donkey.  God sometimes work through simple and humble things to glorify Himself.  In fact, through these simple and humble things, he is actually most glorified.  And His way, simple or humble or ridiculous or weak they seem to be in our physical eyes, is in fact a display of His greatness.  Remember that it is written in the Good Book: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.” (1 Cor 1:25)    

We are limited humans that tend to focus on the small picture.  While God is a Wise Omniscient God that always sees the big picture.  We desire freedom from the Romans.  God desires for us freedom from sin and death.  We desire riches and prosperity.  God desires for us everlasting life.  We desire temporary worldly pleasures.  God desires for us eternal and overwhelming joy in Him.      

We actually want simple and worthless things compared to the great things God want for us.

As we would read later on in Matthew, this same crowd that met Jesus with cheers of “Hossana!” is the same crowd that would cry out for him to be crucified.  We should examine ourselves if we have the same heart as the Jews.  Do we praise God because we love him, or because we want something from Him and when He does not answer with conformity to what we want, we rage against Him?  

Soon, Jesus Christ will come again.  But his return will not be the same as the first time.  Not as babe in a smelly manger. No, he will come in full and explicit display of His glory and power.  Not, on a dull donkey, but on a magnificent horse.  Not to be humiliated and crucified, but to judge mankind.    

Thus, like what Jesus did, we can afford to sacrifice, to be humble, and to seek God’s will and surrender our own. Because our humility and sacrifices will be rewarded with the glory of being alongside Him on His Second Coming.



Amen.

Read More