The Legacy of Ball

Finally, after a decade-long journey, in December of Michael's senior year of high school, when my fingers started pounding the keyboard, something magical happened. They could not stop. I wrote a chapter the first week, two chapters the second week, then three and then four. The stories, lessons and messages poured out of my memory and onto the pages of this memoire. The final thirty-five chapters were written in thirty-five days. I always said to my son that we are defined not by our behavior when things are great, when we won the game or when we made the team. We are defined by who we are and how we act when we are faced with our greatest challenges, when losing falls squarely on our shoulders and when we are rejected. In between the covers of this book, in between the laughs, he and anyone who reads about our time together, will understand how the Legacy of Ball shapes and defines each of us.

All Episodes

The Legacy of Ball

Walk Before You Run

May 06, 2021 • David J. Sussman • Season 1 • Episode 8

When it is time to build your game, how do you start? Where do you start? What plan do you put in place? Everyone does that when they decide to take it to the next level. Michael begins his transformation from a boy who loves basketball too...... (the rest is up to him!). Listen in and see how it goes.

One word changed everything between Michael and me. One word out of his mouth was the impetus for one of the most dynamic reinventions unknown to mankind. Over the course of five years, Michael would have to transform himself completely from a great kid who liked basketball into a basketball player and athlete if he were to have a chance to play at all at the high school level or even have a long-shot chance in hell to make the varsity team. Michael had 1,825 days to get it done. And I would help him, if he wanted the help. I would put a plan in place to literally build a player, from scratch. For Michael to become a baller, he would rely on whatever talent he had at the outset, which was minimal. He would infuse that talent with relentless, grueling hard work with more than blood, sweat, and tears. This was not about creating an all-star, an NBA player, or even a top-level college recruit. I was asking Michael if he wanted to defy the odds and create an identity around a game that separates the men from the boys. This is a game that would teach all the life lessons he would need to succeed well after the ball stops bouncing.

“Michael, do you want to go for it? It will not be easy if you do. I am ready if you are, and I will not let you down. But if you want to play organized ball here in Highridge, you need to develop the skills and work on them starting now. It is up to you.”

Michael looked at me with the smile that would be challenged to leave his face and said:

“YES!”

I envisioned a one-year plan, knowing that if he made it through this, I would have to ultimately expand it four more times. Let us work from September through June. That is ten months of development. The plan for the first year made sense:

FALL (September–November)

Find a trainer and begin working on his game

Build the foundation of basketball fundamentals

WINTER (December–February)

Goal #1: Be selected for a Highridge travel team

Play JV hoops at Longview Country Day School

Play rec basketball for Highridge

SPRING (March–June)

Goal #2: Make an AAU team

Train with a hoops trainer

SUMMER (July–August)

Rest at summer camp

The first phone call I made was to Coach Mike Owens. He and I had a great relationship, and I wanted to know if he would either work with Michael or help me find someone who would work with him. Mike was immediately on board. He liked coaching Michael and had built a small business training local kids and working with them on developing their basketball skills. We put a plan in place to train Michael two times a week and find time for about ten to fifteen sessions during the fall, after school, or on the weekends. We had a hoop in our driveway. It was classic. It was perfect. And since this was the first time that Michael had even played or practiced basketball outside of games and team practices, it was a safe place for him to try something new. It was new for me, too.

As I watched Michael struggle through simple drills, I realized what we were working with. This young man was as raw as one could get. His footwork on layups was awkward and wrong. His footwork on shooting was wrong. His arm and hand position when shooting was wrong, and his innate jumping ability was pretty much nonexistent. He really could not dribble the basketball, and his hand positioning when passing was a bit off. The most serious question I had was where Mike was going to start.

As far as I was concerned, Michael was perfect. He was my son, and he was going to be a basketball player. He had the most important qualification, and that was a desire to get better. I did not realize yet how intense that desire was. But it was certainly there at the outset. There was no way that he would fail if he were to put in the time on the court during the off season. He would close the gap between himself and the others when he worked out behind the scenes during the season, all while getting playing time on various teams throughout the year. He would develop into a real ball player. I knew this because I did it when I was in high school.

I had relied on talent alone for most of my high school career. I was tall and athletic. As a result, I played as a power forward while attending Monroe Hall Country Day School, where I played until I was a junior. As a starter that last year, we won the Longchester League Championship. I averaged about seven to ten points a game and grabbed a bunch of rebounds. I was a solid player, but I was definitely not an all-star. I loved hoops back then and loved our head basketball coach, Bill Smart. He was my favorite coach throughout my entire playing career. He was definitely NOT an asshole. I worked my ass off for him and loved the type of team he demanded and created. He was a positive force on and off the court, pushed us hard, and got the most out of each player in the program.

I worked out at the park in Rockford, Ohio, by playing pickup ball. My cousin Paul and I played one-on-one all the time too. But I didn’t really work on my game. That is, until I decided to repeat my junior year at The Kanwyn School, a prep school in Coastville, Ohio. There, I needed to transform my game from being considered a big man who worked close to the basket or with my back to the basket into a small forward who faced the basket, put the ball on the floor, and shot from the outside.

For five short months, I worked on my game like an animal. I dribbled constantly and put myself through incessant shooting drills. I worked on my running speed and jumping too. I had these ridiculous jumping shoes and did all kinds of drills around my neighborhood. I did it all spring and summer long. When I got to Kanwyn in the fall, I continued. I did not hang out with anyone. I was focused. I spent all my extra time in this tiny, abandoned remote gym on the top floor of the athletic center. It was the original gym from fifty years earlier. I loved it. I felt like Mr. T in Rocky III. I was training to become a scorer in a hardcore gym by transforming my game while no one was watching. It worked, and the results spoke for themselves, as I ended the year averaging twenty-one points per game and was the second leading scorer in the league, behind future MLB great Mo Spratt.

While I was standing there on the steps of my home, watching Coach Mike show Michael the proper footwork to shoot a layup and the correct foot position to shoot a midrange shot, I realized how proud I was of Michael. I realized how brave he was to be starting his journey to get it right and to grow as a real basketball player. He had a long way to go. I knew that. But he was on his way. I realized, for the first time, he was actually “walking” on the basketball court and could only imagine what he was going to look like when he was able to “run.”