Dear Basketball,

I started liking you at 6 years old watching Kemba Walker.

I kept watching again and again learning about you each time.
I wanted to be like him.
I wanted you to give me the drive to play.

I studied you and all of its amazing players past or present.

James Harden, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson.
All of them influenced me to keep playing the game with all my heart.
Trying to repeat their moves made me feel like I was there on the court.

I worked my hardest through elementary to get better.

I tried and tried.
But the points weren’t coming.
The stats weren’t coming.

But I never gave up.

I got to middle school and had a slow start.

Still not putting up points.
You were wearing me down and getting me discouraged,
But then I got to eighth grade.

I put my mind and body all on the court.

I’m scoring.
I’m stealing.
I’m passing.

All these things gave me the opportunity to be a starting point guard.

I took the chance.
I’ll take my all my chances good or bad for you.
I want to never give up on you.

You asked me for my heart and soul.

I gave you hustle and determination.
Kemba showed me to you.
And now I’m lead by you.

Love you always. -T,

My craft move in the poem is repeating the beginning. How I repeat that kemba lead me to
basketball at the beginning and end of the poem. In Kobe’s poem he repeats how he used
rolled up socks to represent a basketball. I wanted to repeat how I found basketball.