“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” ~ Carl Jung
Hey
Basketball Spotlight World,
This is my 7th week of my Diary of A Baller entry and this week consisted of a lot of basketball training. Unfortunately, I have one more week with y’all, before I pass the pen & Diary to the next Baller. I’m positive that whoever has it next, will keep the flame burning.
Sunday ~ I woke up around 11 this morning and started stretching. I felt tight after waking up, so that’s why I stretched. Like always, I gave thanks to the Most High and did my morning routine. I went to the courts around 12:30 to 1:00 with my mom while my dad stayed home with my little brother since we were going to the grocery store. While at the courts, I worked on my mid-range and touches. So after I worked out, my mom and I started playing 1 v 1, and I loved it. We went to the grocery store to get things for dinner, and groceries the rest of the week. I had Starbucks, and the Pink Drink is by far one of the best drinks there. Later when we got home, I helped with lunch, then I played the game with my little brother for some time. At 6 o’clock I was invited to attend the “Philly Vertimax Elite Basketball Clinic” today as a player representing the Beach Eatz (IG:@beacheatz) of Cape May, NJ. It was great, and I loved it. I worked on the Vertimax with Coach Dana Ross of Philly Vertimax (IG: @phillyvertimax), then worked out with Jared Armstrong of Who Would of Thought (IG:@wwouldofthought) to finish the workout. After training, we cooled down doing some yoga with Alignment-Based Yoga Teacher Lisa O’Rear (IG:@lisaorear_). By the time I got home, I ate and got ready for school the next day.
Monday ~ I did my routine this morning like usual, but I woke up tired this morning. It was okay because I knew I was going to feel better by the time I got in the shower to leave for school. Once I finished school I stayed to get some work in with my teammates. I didn’t have workouts today because the Seniors had some type of rehearsal for their graduation. There were chairs all on one side of the gym, but I still went to the gym because one court was open. I got some shots up with some of the players who are on the team. This was in a half-court set, and we worked on ball handling and shooting. We had a good workout, then afterward started to goof around. We all were trying to make 3’s back to back to back from the NBA line and the half court. It got frustrating, but it was overall fun, and I got a chance to gel with my upcoming teammates. Once I got home, I did my homework, then started to work on my handles outside. I was working with my medicine ball and footwork mat. After working out, I went inside and ate dinner. Dinner was good, but after dinner, I did some asynchronous homework, then started to wind down while watching YouTube. Next, I talked with my dad for a little bit about basketball before getting my stuff ready for school and playing the game with Christian for about an hour. After playing with Christian, we ended the night on a win for Fortnite then went to bed. I finished a set of 100 push-ups and 50 pull-ups before going to bed.
Tuesday ~ I woke up this morning and started to work on my handles before going to school. It was 30 minutes of a mixture of freestyling, stationary, and me closing my eyes while dribbling. After working on those aspects I got in the shower then got ready for school. After school ended, I stayed to put some more work in at school. I used the gun with my teammates and got about 200 shots up myself. We all worked on different moves, like one-dribble pull-ups, side steps, and step-backs from the perimeter, and mid-range. By the time I got home I did my homework, then was outside working on my handles again. I was working on running up and down the street as if I’m running on a fastbreak. I worked on some freestyling while listening to music as well, but when I finished working out I talked to a neighbor about my school for a little bit. Once I got in the house I ate, and it was around 8:00 so I played with my dog for a good time. When he got tired, I went to watch tv with my little brother. I was on my phone, but I was watching all of his favorite shows. By the time we finished watching tv, it was about time to go to sleep.
Wednesday ~ I did not have training with Coach Dana this morning, so I stayed in bed until around 7. I did my daily routine and got ready for school. I had a blueberry Belvita for breakfast, and those are probably one of the best breakfast bars. School went by fast, but I caught a lob outside on our outdoor court which was the highlight of my day. My mom and brother picked me up from school, and they had fresh hot Chick Fil A waiting for me. I was watching Overtime, Ballislife, Tiktok, and Instagram in the car. Once we got home, I did all of my homework, then went on a walk with my family. We took our dog as well, and it was nice spending some time with my family outside of the house. After taking a walk, I stayed outside and worked with my medicine ball and weighted tennis ball to get my handles better. I finished my workout, then got ready for workouts at Pennington. I was at workouts until around 7, and my mom picked me up, then we went home. I helped make chicken wings for dinner, so after helping I started to watch some tv with my little brother while eating. After eating, I started shopping for this summer, and my mom bought me the new Kyrie 7 Concepts without me knowing. My dad and mom played me out. They made it seem like they were for my dad when they were really for me. My dad didn’t even try them on, and I was like “How are you not going to try on these sneakers, they are FIREE!” We all laughed, but then we watched a tv show to end the night.
Thursday ~ I woke up around 4:40 a.m for workouts with Coach Ross. When I got to training, I ran a mile again, and my time was 7’25’’. I worked on the vertimax working on my upper body strength with the resistance from the vertimax. After training, I cooled down by stretching and talking with Coach Ross. We talked about upping the workouts coming later because I need to keep getting better and better. I came to find out that I was running more than a mile for the past two 2 weeks. Coach Ross said I would probably be running 15-20 seconds less from the shorter distance. I started at the wrong marker for the mile that I ran. I was farther from the actual starting spot. It’s like running up and back twice on a basketball court. Once I got home, I took a nap until it was time for my brother to get up for school. I didn’t go to school today because my mom had a doctor's appointment and I had an orthodontist appointment. At my orthodontist, they adjusted my braces and changed my colors. After my appointment when I got home, I started to work on my handles outside at the courts. Also, I put up about 200 shots before my dad got home. When my dad got home, it was around 5, and I started to watch some film with him. After studying film for about an hour, I hopped on the game with my brother until it was time for dinner. Once dinner was done, my family and I watched a movie together until it was time for bed.
Friday ~ I did my usual daily routine in the morning. School went by fast because it was a Friday. At school I got ice cream at the end of the day because school is getting ready to end, and the teachers wanted to do something nice for us. I stayed at school in the gym on Friday working out with two of my teammates. Once I finished workouts, my mom picked me up and we were on our way home. We went to my little cousin Jaylyn’s surprise birthday party. She turned 13, and we went to her house for the party. It was a cool party, I got to see a lot of my cousins that I haven’t seen because of Covid and how busy my family gets. I hung out with my cousins while at the party, and they're neighbor has a basketball court outside. Most of the kids went to play Wiffle ball, and I didn’t want to play that. So, I was shooting on the court with my little brother and my cousin Neveah. I always keep a ball in both cars, so I could be ready for anything! My brother and I watched YouTube for some time. My family decided that we were going to have Texas Roadhouse for dinner. After eating, I ended the night off by playing the game with my little brother before going to bed.
Saturday ~ I had practice in Brooklyn for my team again this weekend. It took about two hours to get to practice. At practice, we worked on all of our plays and did a little bit of full-court running with our plays. Traffic is no joke coming back home from NY. It took us about 2 and a half hours to get home. We stopped to get Chick-fil-A before heading home. Once I got home, I took a nap because I was tired from practice, and being in the car for so long. I woke up around 4, then started my homework for this upcoming week. After finishing my homework, I was looking for what I was going to wear for my upcoming graduation. That took about 2 hours conversing with my mom and dad about what would be my graduation plan. I’m planning to go out to eat at the Sugar Factory. We went there for my brother’s 9th birthday party with our family, and it was amazing. By the time we finished planning everything, I played the game with my brother until it was time to eat. After eating, I hopped on the game with my friends for the rest of the night!
See you guys next week for the last submission of my Diary of a Baller
~ DJay Snead’s way of course!!
