High school basketball player passes the ball to mentally challenged player on the other team

Rigged. I had Franklin high school (-16) against the t birds. That last shot screwed me.

Spoiler

Jk. That is what sportsmanship is all about. Props to the kid and all the kids involved.

 

Our beloved sport making people happy. Not even a championship can top that.

 

almost made me misty eyed


i said almost

 

ditto. lump in throat.

 

Great moment and great story. These are the sports stories that I love to hear about.

When I was coaching city rec league basketball we had a similar to a lesser degree story. We were in 11 and 12 year olds league and I had a team with nothing but 11 year olds boys and we won the City Championship on a buzzer beater against a team of all 12 year olds. We had 10 players on our team. The following year 8 of the boys returned to play. We had one younger brother of the returning boys (who had played with our team the year previously) and a new kid Alejandro.

With the exception of Alejandro, our entire team had above average basketball skills. Alejandro was a kid with learning disabilities and he was not athletic at all. My worry was that on a team full of good athletes who were used to running multiple offensive plays and working as collaboratively on defense, would Alejandro stick out like sore thumb. Well, he did.

My next worry was how would these 12 year old boys treat Alejandro. 12 year olds can be pretty cruel. I had a talk with the boys early on (when Alejandro missed practice). I told them that I didn't want Alejandro to be picked on because he wasn't at the same level of play they were at and I wanted them to accept him as a person then go from there.

In practice, the 2 kids who were leaders on the team, were firm with Alejandro ( as was I). If Alejandro wasn't in the right place on offense or defense, he heard about it in a nice way. I really enjoyed watching the 2 leaders and eventually several of the other boys teach Alejandro basketball.

As you would expect, we were a very strong team that second year. Alejandro made a basket or two every practice but as hard as the boys would try to get him the ball it seemed he would never score in a game. It became obvious to the other teams that our team loved Alejandro. As soon as we got a big lead it became operation Alejandro. On an inbounds play during the next to last game, the ball was passed to Alejandro and he scored. The kids on the floor mobbed him and I called time out to let the kids on the bench, myself and assistant join in. The opposing team joined in too. The parents from both teams stood up and clapped. Alejandro stood there afterward and soaked it all in. It was his moment in the spotlight and he knew it.

We went on to win the City Championship again that year. But nothing along the way stood out like when Alejandro made that shot. As a Coach, my worry going in was that with our team being as strong as it was going to be how would I get the most out of them. Alejandro did it for me. The most I could have hoped for was for them to learn a life lesson while playing basketball. Thank you Alejandro for doing that.

 

Damn you. Warn a brother about the Kleenex.

 

Manly tears are being shed....

 

Perfect ending. In situations like these it worries me that the other party isn't aware of what's going on. Good thing in this case, that didn't happen.

 

man...what is this clear substance thats trickling down my eye...great story...

 

you guys are soft! momma there goes that man would never allow this to happen! old school baby! you foul him every time down the court and you foul him hard!


(great emotional and inspiring story from el paso)

 

Awesome story. The school is lucky to have a coach like that. Props to the opposing player for a genuine humanitarian gesture.

 

Props for admitting fapping to that video.

I myself got misty eyed, but whatever works for you.

 

Man I came in thinking I would make some messed up jokes and now I leave with a tear in my eye. Damn. That was a great video...

 

Standing ovation.

 

That kid is a wonderful person for such a small gesture.

I am fairly certain that if any of the other teams on their schedule would of been the one they played that night, this wouldn't of happened. It's amazing that they got to play the team with a kid that has a heart as big as this kid. You can even see his teammate asking for the ball, showing that others wouldn't have even considered this as an option.

 

awesome ending.

 

That's what SwoLy said.

And yes, great video.

 

took me back to the days of having to carry the load on my pickup teams because one guy sucked.

cool story.

 

That's what Swoly's said.