“It’s always the Right Time to do the Right Thing.” ~ Jim Jackson
Wassup Basketball Spotlight World,
It’s DJay, and I’m back with another banger for this week. This is my 4th submission of Diary of a Baller. I had my first lacrosse game and a very good week overall. I hope you dig this week’s submission!!
Sunday ~ Today I had a visit from my aunts and my cousin, Neveah. They were coming back from a basketball tournament and they stopped by. We talked about basketball, mainly about college basketball since my big cousin is a sophomore and she’s looking at colleges. This is one of my cousins that loves the game of basketball just as much as I do. We play ball together a lot when it's nice outside, or we go to the gym and get some pickup games. By the time they left, I had to leave for workouts. I worked on conditioning, shooting on the move, and my layup package. This session had my legs dead like I played 4 games straight. I stretched once I was home to try and make my legs feel better. I didn’t want them cramping up. I started watching the livestream games of the Hoop Group Pittsburgh Jam Fest 2021 for the rest of the day. There were many big games played for 15u, 16u, and 17u which included some of my old teammates, and my teammates at my school. I saw teams in the 17u Steel division play against each other, and my favorite game was watching the NJ Scholars EYBL play against Team Rio U UAA. I was hype to see DJ Wagner play against my guys, Jayden Pierre, and Ben Roy. It was a well hard fought game on both ends of the floor. Team Rio came on top with a 7 point victory against the Scholars.
Monday ~ Good morning everyone! I woke up to some motivational words by Dr Eric Thomas also known as “ET The Hip-Hop Preacher.” What I listened to was not being apart of the herd mentality, and being a LEADER in life. I usually wake up to his words of wisdom so I can start the day off right. Next, I turned on Wins & Losses by Meek Mill and went to go work on my handles for about 45 minutes. Have you ever noticed how music motivates you to workout!? Songs that have upbeat tempos, always makes me want to workout. I was working with my weighted gloves and ball sleeve. These two items have helped my handles improve over the past two years. After working out, I made breakfast. Hey guys, what did you have for breakfast? Hmm you see, I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on toast for breakfast. I finished my sandwich then headed off to school. After practice and workouts, I stayed to put some shots up on the gun and work on my handles again. I put up 200 shots from the perimeter, and I shot 72% by making 145/200. When I got home, I watched the Lakers play against the Magic. Once I finished watching the Lakers beat the Magic, I finished my night by playing 2k, and watching Demon Slayers with my little brother before going to bed.
Tuesday ~ LET’S GOO... IT’S GAME DAYY! Today at 3:30 is my first lacrosse game ever! I started my day by getting all of my clothes on and taking out my dog. I made a BLT for breakfast. After eating, I went to school, and everyone was hype for the game. I left class early so I could go to the trainer and tape up my feet. Once I got taped up, I went to get my stuff on. We had our speaker blasting music, and we were in our zone! Playing music before the game is my tradition to prepare for basketball games. It gets me pumped up and ready to play. I think I played well, but overall I had fun. My family was there cheering me on! I even had people pop out to see me play. After the game, we went to the store to get food for dinner. My brother and I had made tacos because today is… TACO TUESSSDAYYYYY. While eating dinner, I was watching the Nets play against the defending champs, the Raptors. I was happy that the Nets won because I want the Nets to have that #1 Seed in the East. After watching the game, I stretched and rolled myself before going to bed.
Wednesday ~ Yooo, I woke up at 4:50 a.m. for training at 5:30 with Coach Ross. I worked on my speed and agility. However, my shoulder was feeling sore because of my game yesterday. I got illegally checked, and a Defensive Pole hit me in the back of my shoulder. The stick is 6 feet tall, and made of metal. Coach Ross and I talked about the different movements that I need to do to stretch my muscles to feel better. She also told me to ice as much as possible. We also talked about how my body is adapting to a new sport, and doing different motions. The motions would be different because I am throwing a ball, and catching with a stick, rather than passing and shooting with a basketball. I had a half-day, and Geometry class was my favorite today. My teachers Mr. Liwosz and Mr. Murphy was hyping me up because of the game we had yesterday even though we lost. Later when school ended, I stopped by the school trainer’s office. I did this because like I said before, I felt a little sore. Mrs. Neilson told me to stretch and ice just as well as Coach Ross told me too. Mrs. Neilson had me ice before going home, and then stretched my shoulder. Once I got home, I finished my homework and then started to ice my shoulder. I settled down by watching some basketball highlights from Ballislife and Overtime. I finished the night with stretching, and icing, while watching CashNasty who is one of my favorite YouTubers.
Thursday ~ This morning I slept in because Coach Ross told me to chill out with working out for this week. I was frustrated because I wasn’t able to workout. Coach Ross was right about not working out because I don’t want no lingering injuries going on. I didn't practice today because of my shoulder, but I stayed to watch the Varsity Boys Lacrosse game. I had to leave early because my mom had to go make a quick stop to take care of some business. So, when I got home, I watched the Nets beat the Pacers. James Harden should be considered as an MVP candidate. This is because of the simple fact of his productivity in the games with the Nets this year. He’s been averaging 25 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. James Harden is a key player on the Nets, but it was not like his season with the Rockets. He has other superstars on his team, and him being able to adapt this year explains how he should be in the talk for MVP. After watching the Nets play, I finished my night by icing my shoulder and watched more episodes of Demon Slayers with my little brother again before going to bed.
Friday ~ Today was Community Day at my school. I went to school at 12:30 p.m. I slept in until about 8:30. I woke up my brother by blasting music, and he jumped up dancing to Lil Uzi Vert. We both laughed for some time before Christian had to go log in to school. I started to watch an episode of All American. By the time I finished watching All American, my mom was coming home with Chick-Fil-A. I had lunch, then was on my way to school. Community day is a day where all of Pennington has a fun day. The day is filled with different activities, and either an ice cream or slushy truck. We had both, but for Middle School we had the ice cream truck. I had Cookies and Cream. After Community Day, I had practice. I went to the gym to put up some shots before leaving school so that I could see how my shoulder was feeling when shooting. It was a little hard to shoot, but by next week I’ll be back in business. Before I left, I stopped by to watch the Varsity Boys Baseball team and a little bit of the Varsity Girls Lacrosse game. Later, when I got home, I couldn't wait for the matchup tonight with Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard. I even named my Roblox account after Dame, and if you guys didn't know, Kyrie is my favorite player. After watching the Blazers beat the Nets, I played Warzone and iced my shoulder to finish off the night.
Saturday ~ I woke up earlier than usual. I figured I’d sleep in until 10:00 a.m. like always, but I woke up around 7:30. I had a dream that I woke up as a King. Next thing you know, I finally woke up and said to myself ~ “I AM THAT KING!” I made myself a mango and peach smoothie with peanut butter, kale, spinach, and honey. I was tired, so I went back to sleep around 9:00. I woke up around 11 when the rest of my family woke up. Unfortunately, I didn’t go to my workout session this afternoon because I was still feeling a little sore. After waking up my family started to clean, and we were jamming out to 80’s and 90’s music ( my mom love’s to listen while we clean). My dad and I were watching live stream games from the KYDA Invitational all day. I watched all of the NY Rens games for the day, then watched other teams that I knew. By the time all of the games were over, I hopped on the game with my little brother for a little bit. We finished off the night with a win on Warzone before going to bed!
I’ll talk to you guys next week on Diary of a Baller ~ The inside look on DJay Snead’s Life!!
