As I usually do a few times a week, I played pick-up basketball early this morning from 5:50-7:15am. We’ve got a great group of guys (and one woman) who hustle, play defense, share the ball, and basically understand the game. While I sort of know some of these guys (since it’s mostly men) outside of the game, I don’t really work closely or spend any significant time with any of them. I’ve always wondered if how someone is in our games is how they are in other parts of their life?
Is the guy, who slacks on defense, also slack at work? Life? Is the person, who doesn’t call out screens or switches, not a good communicator in other relationships? Is the self-centered shooter, who regularly chucks up contested shots, selfish in other aspects of his life?
Does the person, who shares the ball and passes up a good shot for an even better shot, unselfish in other things? Does the player, who directs traffic on a fast break, lead equally effectively in his job or at his house? Is the guy, who regularly calls his own fouls and honestly tells if he barely touched a ball going out of bounds, equally honest in calling out his own mistakes in life?
Like I said, I know some of them off the court, and some match their on court personas. I guess the next question is, how am *I* like or unlike the way I play in those pick-up games?
MarkR's Musings 
I love this Mark. Such great wonderings. You hav me wondering now about people on the tennis court and how/if their tennis self matches their other self. I love that you turn the question to yourself at the end. And what I love most of all is you showing up here and writing. Your writing is feeling easy and rhythmic to me as a reader. I wonder if it is feeling that way for you.
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Lisa, thanks for your kind words. And it’s funny you used “tennis” and “matches” in the same sentence. Pun intended?
Yes and no, it is feeling a bit easier with the writing muscles. I think what I’m really stretching my observation and reflection muscles.
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You have made me think about myself and the people around me. I also wonder if the behaviors they exhibit in one place is the same as in other places? Your slices make me think. Think about humanity and how complex we are as people. Thank you for planting this seed.
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This is another great post, Mark. Love this. I think you can tell a lot about a person by how he or she behaves in pickup basketball, and I believe that there is definitely a direct correlation to other areas of life. But basketball players (and people in general) can – and often do – change and evolve over time.
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This is a great question to ponder….and since I’m not a basketball player, I’m thinking of how I can relate it to other areas of my life as I love to observe people and their ways…
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