basketball

Digital media startup focusing on high school basketball athletes, Mars Reel has recently completed its initial round of funding, reaping $4.7 million with donations from Drake, NBA star Dwyane Wade, and Otter Media, now part of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, Variety reports.

Mars Reel offers high school basketball a bigger platform, providing highlights and other short clips. The company also has ambitions producing longer-form content, including video diary series Mars Reel Chronicles and documentary series Life on Mars.

Facilities like Mars Reel are one of many startup companies that are specifically targeting high schoolers. Not only because they are our immediate future, but because they make-up Gen Z, which is already on track to become the largest generation of consumers by the year 2020, accounting for $29 to $143 billion in direct spending.

VP of consumer intelligence at Barkley, Joe Cardador PhD. said when speaking to Forbes that, according to his research,

“Gen Z is on track to become the largest generation of consumers in just a few short years. They already represent up to $143 billion in buying power – and that’s without accounting for the influence they have on household spending.”

The deal is similar to the one that took place earlier in February of the year when sports-media start-up, Overtime received backing from Kevin Durant via his investment firm, Durant Co. The start-up raised a total of $9.5 million led by Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Overtime’s focus is on braking emerging high-school sports stars by monetizing their highlights from Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube to cater to a younger demo that is watching far less live sports on TV then their elders do.

It’s common for superstars to have business teams and market insiders, and it’s clear they’ve spotted potential in Generation Z’s athletes.

Forbes also spoke to Steph Wissink who is the managing director and consumer research analyst at Jefferies. According to him,

“Gen-Zers are showing a willingness to explore and discover, to consume information/media exponentially more than products, and to insert themselves into the consumption conversation – in their households, online and among digital social circles.”

It makes sense to invest in the lives of these kids, the potential return is stupendous.

Mars Reel has a distribution deal with USA Today Sports and a content partnership with LeBron James’ Uninterrupted, which is also a digital media platform.

In addition to their investment, Otter Media will serve as an advisor and strategic partner to Mars Reel in a variety of ways. Dwyane and Drake now join Shane Battier, Kevin Durant; hip-hop artist Nas and actor Cedric Stewart as backers of this endeavor.

Otter Media CEO Tony Goncalves to The Hollywood Reporter said,

“Sports brings out a passion and engagement in fans that is unmatched, and Mars Reel is super-serving the younger generation of sports enthusiasts by giving them authentic sports content that is organic to their world and designed specifically to their unique viewing habits.”

The funding round brings Mars Reels total funding to $7.5 million thus far.

Jelly Fam is the resurrection of New York City basketball itself.

In an age where the best high school players in the tri-state area have to leave to play against top competition elsewhere, just to get recruited to the next level, the Jelly Fam movement is keeping NYC’s top talent home.

You might’ve seen the hashtag on IG and some of the most impressive high school ball highlights on Overtime every time you check your feed, but what does it mean?

https://giphy.com/gifs/TgJ5zC5zpCE4HlBMRr

The movement was started by two local basketball stars, Isaiah Washington and Ja’Quaye James. Both of them are dumb nice, highly respected ball players within the tri-state area and both were born and raised in Harlem

From their local leagues to the competitions at the biggest parks, they’ve made a reputation for bringing finesse and good marketing back to the game.

Isaiah first came up with the idea to use the move because he was inspired by Michael Jordan’s famous free throw line dunk, and all of his double-clutch layups.

Isaiah wasn’t really able to dunk at the time either so emulating Jordan with his own move that he called a Jelly was the wave. Ja’Quaye and Isaiah were homies and came up with idea together and the Jelly Fam movement was born.

From there they started to indoctrinate the best players in New York City area into the basketball sensation that is Jelly Fam.

Ja’Quaye James a well known high school basketball player from Harlem and the CEO of Jelly Fam. He is a 5’9 high school basketball player currently in his senior season at Teaneck High School in New Jersey. He makes scoring look easy on the court.

Peep The 40 Ball Dance @skullgangtwin @njhooprecruit

A post shared by Ja’Quaye.James (@jf_g3) on Dec 26, 2017 at 3:59pm PST

He also has a vision for Jelly Fam as a whole. He sees it becoming a worldwide movement once everyone is adults and are able to move they way they want to move.

Isaiah Washington is the face of the Jelly Fam movement, he currently plays at the University of Minnesota but he was embarrassing people on the court since high school.

He has crazy highlights at Rucker Park, Under Armour Association, and other basketball courts. Isaiah plays basketball like he has a ball on a string.

When he is playing against his opponents it just looks so unfair as he blows by his them with complete ease and to make it even more entertaining he will probably Jelly to top it off. He’s claimed many ankles in his high school career. His style of play is calm, controlled and he always knows how to finish around rim with finesse.

Isaiah and Jelly Fam have received cosigns from stars like Melo, Dave East, Cam’Ron, and Juelz Santana, who is Ja’Quaye James’ uncle. What they see in them is very similar to the movement he and Dipset created during the 2000s.

Cam’Ron has commended the young basketball players for starting their own movement and even knows that they had a hand in it saying,

“Jah was around all that he seen the guerilla marketing. This is incredible for these kids to come together and create a basketball movement that has great marketing. This is something we have never seen they are paving the way for basketball crews.”

Jahquay being around his uncle’s rise to fame has definitely benefitted him positively when in comes to marketing for Jelly Fam as a brand. This system has helped Jelly Fam dominate social media platforms from Twitter, to Instagram and of course YouTube.

Despite all the clout that the Jelly Fam movement has garnered Isaiah manages to stay level headed amongst the chaos on and off the court and is focused on getting into the NBA and making Jelly Fam a Worldwide movement.

Jelly Fam has since expanded far beyond just Isiah and Ja’Quay they have recruited a very diverse group of players into the Jelly Fam arsenal.  They have recruited Sid Wilson, Jahvon Quinerly, Jordan Walker, Leondre Washington, Nazreon Reid, just to name a few.

Sid Wilson is one of the newer members of Jelly Fam.

He is a 6’7 and absolute monster on the defensive side as well as the offensive.

He is a forced to be reckoned with on court, once you see the highlights it makes sense why Jelly Fam sought him out to join their squad.

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Jahvon Quinerly is a 6’0 PG and he absolute monster inside the paint.

He has crazy handles that put defenders on skates and he is able to finish in the paint.

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Jordan Walker is another athlete who has a killer instinct for basketball.

He suffocates players that he is defending giving them little room to breathe let alone dribble a basketball. He approaches the game of basketball with a killer’s mentality.

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Leondre Washington is another 6’0 PG who is well known in Jersey.

Leondre is not afraid at all to take it to rim against people that are way bigger than him. He also has the a great shooting ability from mid range as well as the 3 point line. 

He is very passionate when he plays basketball and he a play to win mentality that has clearly payed off.

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Nazreon Reid is an absolute monster on the court.

Nazreon has the ability to dominate the court offensively as well as defensively.

He has the ability to finish in the post either with a lay up or a monstrous dunk and has also shown that has a great vision on the court making crazy passes to his teammates in order the get the bucket.

Jelly Fam is definitely a force to be reckoned with on and off the court. Recruiting some of the top talent into the brotherhood has kept some of the tri-state’s best talent home and bringing more focus into the game than ever.

With other forces like the Big Baller Brand in full effect, the landscape of how kids like them can connect with their audience has completely changed. They’re on to something.

The force of their movement has the possibility to grow into a brand well beyond just basketball. Jelly Fam is a lifestyle.

In today’s social media age, Instagram provides a platform for people to showcase their talent, and Carlos Sanford, more popularly recognized as FamousLos32, has taken full advantage.

Using his witty, sarcastic, street-styled humor to commentate on every basketball highlight that graces the Internet, FamousLos has appropriately earned himself the reputation as “Da Funny Sports Analyst.”

His humorous transparency has helped him gain over 1.1 million followers on Instagram and has afforded him star-studded friendships with athletes such as Steph Curry, Odell Beckham Jr., and Kyrie Irving.

His YouTube series “Who Got Next?” features episodes of him balling one on one against some of the biggest artists (Tory Lanez, Slim Jxmi, etc.) in the music industry.

Just told @stephencurry30 “WE” going to the finals 🤣 #IToldYouLinkInBio 💀 Goodbye 🚀 fans Now bring on the Cavs haters I mean fans 🤷🏾‍♂️🤣

A post shared by famouslos32 (@famouslos32) on May 28, 2018 at 9:19pm PDT

And while those are just a few of the people he’s befriended, after chopping it up with Los last week, I could immediately tell that his journey is far from over.

Let it be known that I first found out about FamousLos32 back in 2016 when 50 Cent reposted a video on Instagram titled “Different Types of Fighters.” As he nailed each type of fighter with pinpoint accuracy, it’s easy to see why the video went viral.

But to see the man hustle and establish himself as a prominent social media influencer is clearly not by chance. When I asked how that journey was, he simply replied,

“I went from nothing into something.”

And while the process was slow and gruesome at times, Los shared the key to his success: “Stay consistent. Keep going. Don’t Stop. Everybody starts at 0.”

And after having followed Los for the past two years, I can confidently say the dude is consistently authentic; the guy is himself at all times.

Whether he’s in his bathroom filming his reaction to the latest highlight, or posting videos of meme-like baller personalities, FamousLos32 is as real as they come.

Is this your king ?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Swept them boys 💀 #DubNation Congrats @warriors WE did it … Now when do I come get fitted for my ring ?! 🤣💍🏆 @qcook323 “ I Told You “ 🤣

A post shared by famouslos32 (@famouslos32) on Jun 8, 2018 at 11:55pm PDT

How do I know this? Because when the topic of music came up, Los kept it honest.

Coming off the release of his two latest singles “Straight Up” and “Told You,” Los didn’t hesitate for a second to be completely transparent.

When I asked about his pivot into the music industry, Los kept it simple.

“I’m still in the learning process… [Right now] I’m making songs, and I’m understanding how people make albums, how they come up with concepts.”

He admitted that “Straight Up” was him trying to find his radio sound and “Told You” was for the people that doubted him.

And since both songs appear to have an underlying theme of keeping it a hundred, which is the exact “consistently authentic” sentiment that seems to have emanated throughout Los’s career, I asked if these would lead to an eventual album.

And his truthful answer only reinforced my impression.

“Right now, [honestly] I’m just trying to think of a concept for the album, [something deeper] other than women, other than money, other than booze.”

Evidently, the honest manner in which Los approached the topic of his music reflected the same energy he brings to his basketball commentary.

Genuine, sincere, and authentic. And of course we talked basketball; it wouldn’t be an interview with “Da Funny Sports Analyst,” if the NBA wasn’t discussed.

But when I asked him how he’d handle his budding music career while juggling his sports persona, Los said,

“I’ll always do basketball. Really, I just like to work. Either I’m in the bathroom making videos about basketball, or I’m with my girlfriend, or I’m in the studio. Studio, basketball, girlfriend.”

A vigorous work ethic paired with an honest demeanor, FamousLos is making splashes in both the sports and the music industry. If he’s as real and as consistent as he is in the studio just as he is in his bathroom, brace yourself for more Los.

With social media allowing people to twist the way they’re perceived online, authenticity in today’s world is a rare and valuable trait.

Make sure to check out his latest single, “Keep It 100,” now available on all streaming platforms, to hear Los’s authentic-self.

“ Keep it 100 “ DROPPING SOON ! & “ Chalk it up “ ! Produced by @trackztheproducer @_josh_gilmore LINK IN BIO FOR MY OTHER SONGS ! Vibes 🌊🌊

A post shared by famouslos32 (@famouslos32) on Jun 9, 2018 at 7:28pm PDT

Like any casino list, life has a habit of showing us that at any moment, any decision you make can impact your entire existence. Sometimes these decisions are as clear as day while other times you might never see it coming.

Either way, these decisions can make or break someone’s entire life.

A young man from Cleveland, Ohio named Tony Farmer had to experience the impact of his decisions back in 2012.

Playing for Garfield Heights High School, Farmer was a star player

During his time on the team Farmer was a 4-star recruit and ranked one of the top #100 high school players in the U.S. The 6’7″ small forward had a bright future as the talent was definitely there.

The 17-year-old prospect was on the road to success until an incident involving him and his ex-girlfriend became violent. Farmer was charged with domestic abuse and kidnapping after he was caught on video harming his ex.

Then he became the infamous “BRUH” meme

It was clear he committed the crime and at that point, was at the mercy of the judge. The victim herself testified against Farmer but pleaded that he not be sent to jail. The judge ultimately decided that Tony Farmer would serve three years in prison for his crimes.

Just like that, Farmer’s future was decided. The possibility of college was no more and jail would become his reality for the next 3 years of his life.

Farmer was wrong and as a young Black man, he should have known better. In the world we live in, second chances aren’t for those who look like him or me.

Instead of making a good decision Farmer allowed himself to become much more vulnerable to getting his future stripped away.

The judge wanted to teach Tony a lesson and Judge Pamela Barker did just that. Other cases of similar age and severity are handled much differently when circumstances change.

Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer who sexually assaulted a young woman, was given six-months jail time because it was his first offense. Ethan Couch killed four people in a drunk driving accident and was given 10 years of probation with zero jail time.

The deciding factor in these cases is that Ethan and Brock are white with money while Farmer is neither.

By no means are Farmer’s actions defensible. He was wrong and should be punished for his decisions. My point is that as a young person of color, the system is set up to strip you of your opportunities at a whim.

In an unexplained rage Farmer ruined his life. In teaching him a lesson, Judge Pamela Barker ruined his opportunities.

In June of 2015 Farmer was released from prison. Soon after getting out he began playing basketball for Lee College. The fact that he came out of prison and was able to put himself right back in the game is incredible.

As a freshman in 2015-16 Farmer averaged 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. In his second season, he bumped those numbers up to 17.4 points, 9.5 boards and 3.2 assists a game.

Although having a rough start, Farmer has taken back his dreams. Within five years he’s been a top high school athlete, sentenced to prison, and an All-Conference collegiate player. He’s proved his worth and is definitely still balling out.

His story serves as a reminder that young men of color will have to work harder than others. As much as that statement hurts it has to be taken as fact.

After a life-ruining decision Tony Farmer proved he would not give up. His resilience along with his skill proves him to be a valuable player for any professional team.

The “Ball is life” mantra doesn’t just apply to the hoop heads of America, it’s a lifestyle reaching basketball fans who’ve made the same commitment until the final buzzer of every game across the entire world.

Women In the World recently featured Suad Glow, founder of the Somali Women Foundation. Suad has been openly addressing the unjust treatment of countries like UAE and Somalia where women are prevented from participating sports by extremist militant groups, like Al-Shabab, who have taken the country into their own reigns and forced it to play by their rules.

Growing up in Mogadishu, Somalia, Suad found her love for basketball at a young age. During the 1980s, she was captain of the Somali Women’s National Basketball Team. This granted her a scholarship (which would later turn out to be a one way ticket) to the University of the District of Columbia in Washington D.C.

She would not return to Somalia for 20 years.

In 1991, the Somali Civil war broke, leading to the collapse of the central government.

“I was shocked and saddened to find that extremist groups like Al-Shabab banned women and girls from playing sports and regularly send death threats to those who dare to play.”

Needless to say, very few women were willing to risk their lives over a sport.

But Suad wasn’t having it. Visiting her home country two decades later, she began working on developing the first “Somali Federal Women’s Basketball Tournament,” bringing together different team members from different Somalian cities and states, as well as the United States and Canada.

“The project helped re-open the door to women and girls’ participation in sports in Somalia on both the professional and amateur levels. Some 450 young women and girls watched the games daily and 192 girls played on seven regional teams. We employed 192 Somali women for 10 days.”

The project involved 192 employed girls and young women to come on board. A year later, Suad wanted to bump it up a notch recruiting Somali natives for the All Arab Games.

“We were the first Somali women’s team since the May 2017 overturning of the FIBA (the international basketball governing board) ban on women playing basketball with hijab.”

But religious fanatics decided that it wasn’t feasible for women to compete, regardless of whether or not they were wearing the hijab.

“However, we came up against another FIBA rule that did not permit the girls to play with arms and legs covered — which is another requirement of our religion. Some of our players declined to play for fear that exposing their arms and legs could lead to criticism, physical abuse and even death when they returned to their home states.”

But, as we discussed, ball is life. This wasn’t enough to stop some athletes from fulfilling their heart’s desires.

Suad’s project has been received quite positively, with an increase in the number of young girls between the ages 8-18 expressing interest in the sport.

“From our initial efforts to rebuild basketball in Somalia, we have seen concrete benefits: Families are now encouraging girls to participate in sports, especially basketball and track and field. Parents are less convinced by extremist claims about why girls must not play sports.”

Now, Suad is aiming to get the Somali Women’s National Basketball Team into the international league by winning the “4th Arab Women’s Sports Tournament in Dubai.”

The simple act of competing is a gain for the Somali Women National Basketball Team, but their wins will keep coming as long as they let their passion guide them and their love of the sport.

We’re rooting for these brave ladies!

For most players, four years of high school basketball still isn’t enough time to become their all-time leading scorer.

That’s why its ridiculously impressive that Riverdale Baptist (Upper Marlboro, MD) senior guard Donovann Toatley achieved that feat at the school in just TWO years with 1,271 points.

He also led his team to the Maryland Private School State championship and won. Not to mention he’s just 5’8”. In my one-on-one interview with him Toatley said,

“I definitely think that I have the short man syndrome. I feel like I’m a giant. I feel like I take up a lot of space even though I don’t.”

His coach Lou Wilson, who has coached the likes of Nolan Smith, Michael Beasley, and more, says nobody’s played like Toatley with his size,

“He is a once-in-a-decade type of player.”

When you watch him play, it’s not surprising his coach says that. The 17-year-old handles the rock like a yo-yo and his vision is superb. Not to mention, he can dunk despite being short in stature. Donovann told me,

“That’s the best feeling in the world with somebody my size. I feel like a superhero.”

And as good as he is with his hands on the court with the ball, he’s pretty darn good with writing poetry too. He talks about love and feelings. He recited one poem that he wrote to his girlfriend.

Here is an excerpt: “But my soul she has already acquire so captivated by this woman. All I can do is restlessly admire. And she is the muse from which these thoughts inspire.”

The crazy part is that this past summer Donovann had no scholarship offers and was ranked as two-star recruit.

You can imagine what that did to his confidence. He dreamed of playing college and pro ball since he was in diapers. So the fact that he cooked some of the best point guards committed to blue bloods and he didn’t see any offers sent him into a very dark place. Donaovann reflected,

“I remember it was one day in June. I sat in a gym, just dropped to my knees, and cried. I didn’t know what I was going to do at that point. Everything about my life was centered around basketball. I felt like I was a failure because I had no offers.”

He sunk into depression and barely slept during the month of June saying,

“It was hard just waking up sometimes. It was like forcing a toddler to eat vegetables. I was very depressed.”

It even got to the point where he thought about taking his own life. He continued,

“I thought about ending it all. That was my lowest point.”

Thankfully he didn’t but his dark days didn’t subside. All he did was workout like a madman. He convinced himself that this was the way for him to be successful. He felt God had blessed with amazing talent for a reason. Donovann’s dad commented,

“It got to the point where his eye was twitching because he was so worried about getting offers.”

His mother felt the exact same way saying,

“Seeing him the way he was, was very troubling.”

The big change came after reading the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho one day in July. The book focuses on the power of positive thought. One quote from the book changed his life forever.

“And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

He explained how that one single line is something that sticks with him today saying,

“A lot of times people tell you that the Universe isn’t on your side and you have to do things on your own. So that quote really stuck with me. Because if I have the universe on my side, my friends, my girl, and parents, then nothing can stop me.”

Here’s the kicker: The very next day he balled out in an AAU game and received an offer from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Coach Lamont Paris gave him the call that he finally dreamed of. Donovann said,

“I couldn’t believe it. I was on the bus (with my AAU teammates) and I just started screaming while he was still on the phone. I didn’t care though because I was so happy. I almost cried tears of joy.”

He ended up receiving multiple offers after that but Chattanooga ended being the school he committed to. Toatley said referring to the book’s quote,

“It’s crazy how a couple words can change your life.”

A story that seems like it was made for Hollywood. He said it saved his life so much that he was seriously considering getting the quote as a tattoo on his arm. He continued,

“It saved my soul, man. It saved my career.”

Since then Donovann’s been the happiest ever with his girlfriend and parents supporting all the way. He doesn’t fear anything in life or on the court.

“I feel invincible. Like even if LeBron is trying to check me, I believe I can still beat him.”

He knows he’ll face other challenges next year in college, but no challenge will come close to the one he defeated this summer. And that’s what gives him the belief he will end up being a star. He told me with a straight face,

“I believe I was meant to be one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game.”

Hey, I mean he already got passed his depression, so why can’t he achieve it?

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This story was originally done by Chris Williamson for WUSA9.

Trae Young’s name has been echoed throughout the halls of college basketball all season long and rightfully so. Averaging 27.4 points a game, he’s a human highlight reel and has been getting mad comparisons to Steph Curry.

And while his Oklahoma Sooners didn’t play too well during the later stretch of the season, they still made the Big Dance where Trae is ready to prove all of his doubters wrong.

Trae Young couldn't even watch. (via @BPrzybylo) pic.twitter.com/Un0fp9CUz6

— ESPN (@espn) March 12, 2018

But before Trae Young was dropping buckets all across the nation, he was just a kid from Lubbock, Texas who had a dream. Ever since Trae was a youngin’, basketball was his life. He was introduced to the game by his grandfather who taught him all the fundamentals and basics he has built upon today.

Unfortunately, Young’s grandfather passed away at an early age, but Trae plays in honor of him every time his foot touches the basketball court and he is definitely making his late grandpa proud.

Young went to Norman North high school in Norman, Oklahoma where he averaged 42.6 points per game his senior season and regularly sold out high school gymnasiums.

He has been putting up impressive numbers ever since he stepped foot on a college basketball court with the University of Oklahoma Sooners (also in Norman) and doesn’t seem to be letting off the gas any time soon.

When it comes to his mindset, he’s cool, calm, and confident. In an interview with Bleacher Report he said,

“I don’t feel pressure. I realize there’s a lot on my plate, a lot of expectations for me to come in and win and do certain things. But I’m just playing the way I always have. I mean, I’ve gotten better. But my game actually hasn’t changed much since high school. It’s just a bigger stage.”

His range and shooting ability are unmatched in the college game so much so that players all over the NBA are already starting to notice who he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPZF3iUkcU

Young has been acknowledged by none other than King LeBron James for his basketball playing ability and bright future in the league.

LeBron always has his eye on the young up and coming talent and Trae Young is definitely on his radar.

But despite all of his achievements and recognition, Young is still being doubted because of his lack of height and size. Standing at 6’2″, Trae is pretty short, even for a point guard.

During high school he went under the radar because he was in the same class as Michael Porter Jr., Marvin Bagley III, and DeAndre Ayton. All three of those guys are considered future stars in the NBA but Trae Young may be no different.

Trae has always wanted to put on for his town and made a big decision to stay home in Norman for college.

Most basketball players dream of playing at big name schools like Duke, Kentucky, and UNC, but Trae decided to take a different path and it has made all the difference.

While he’s not known for dunking the ball viciously like other players in his class, his handles are insane and he can rarely be guarded on the court. It doesn’t matter if he is double teamed, he will find a way to get the basket and get the bucket.

When asked about the Steph Curry comparisons, he likes them, but at the same time Young wants to pave his own lane in the game. He told Bleacher Report,

“I’m definitely humbled by it. But ultimately I want to be my own self. I want people to say that I’m something new, something different. Something they’ve never seen before.”

Trae has an amazing passing ability and is not afraid to share the ball when necessary. He is also absolutely lethal from three-point range and his game is only getting better. Like I said, LeBron already knows!

“Dudes Skipping Leg Day Just To Run They Mouth” @kingjames

A post shared by Trae Young (@traeyoung) on Aug 28, 2017 at 4:52pm PDT

The stage has been set for the star point guard to show the world how talented he really is and we are sure the he will go above and beyond everyone’s expectations.

Let’s see how he performs on the biggest stage of them all but we already know he’ll be ready to show the haters why height ain’t nothing but a number.

Just a week after Toronto Raptors star and viable MVP candidate DeMar DeRozan came forward to reveal his struggles with depression and anxiety, Kevin Love, 5-time NBA All-Star and NBA Champion, did the same.

In a piece for The Player’s Tribune — a publication for athletes by athletes — Kevin Love opened up about his struggles with anxiety, why he chose to share his story, and how it has unexpectedly affected his life.

“…looking back now I know I could have really benefited from having someone to talk to over the years. But I didn’t share — not to my family, not to my best friends, not in public. Today, I’ve realized I need to change that.”

Kevin Love first became aware that he was struggling with something just this year, right after halftime in a game against the Hawks on November 5th.

A combination of the rough start to the season, lack of sleep, and playing poorly led to the 6’10” forward darting off the floor into the locker room where he ended up on his back gasping for air. It was there where Kevin felt like he was about to die.

The wake-up call, however, didn’t come until two days later, this time after a good performance. Although only a couple members of the health staff knew what had transpired against the Hawks, the story hadn’t leaked, and he just posted 32 points in a win, Love was ashamed and wanted to keep his anxiety attack a secret.

“It was a wake-up call, that moment. I’d thought the hardest part was over after I had the panic attack. It was the opposite. Now I was left wondering why it happened — and why I didn’t want to talk about it”

The “playbook” Kevin has subscribed to his entire life — that men are supposed to suck it up and be about it — is the same playbook that made Love feel ashamed to share his story. In fear of being seen as less of a teammate and person, he suffered.

“I didn’t want to look weak. Honestly, I just didn’t think I needed it. It’s like the playbook said — figure it out on your own, like everyone else around me always had.”

That’s when Love decided to see a team therapist, meeting up a few times each month whenever he was in town.  It was through this process that he found he hadn’t fully gotten over the passing of his grandmother and, more importantly, the power of talking things out. In talking with the team therapist, it was the first time he allowed himself to process the pain.

“I had buried those emotions since her passing and said to myself, I have to focus on basketball. I’ll deal with it later. Be a man.“

What Kevin Love and DeMar DeRozan are speaking on is a truth that transcends any income bracket, quality of life, or circumstance. The stigma of mental health — that, because it’s invisible it’s not real — is one that must be combated. People don’t talk about mental health enough and DeRozan and Love have recognized that needs to change.

Resources like Mental Health America, which takes screenings, offers support programs, and helps people suffering from depression and anxiety, are the types of programs that should be as common as over the counter aspirin and cough medicine.

Like Kevin said:

“Not talking about our inner lives robs us of really getting to know ourselves and robs us of the chance to reach out to others in need.”

It’s okay, to reach out. It’s okay to ask for help. Shout out to Kevin Love for that.

Kobe King-Hawea was literally born into basketball.

Named after the legend Kobe Bryant himself by her hoops-obsessed father, it seemed like King-Hawea was destined for greatness on the court.

At 18-years-old, King-Hawea has already made history. One out of the three Australian women who made the WNBA rosters this year, she has been granted a scholarship to play at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia.

She tells Bleacher Report,

“Playing was all I knew from a very young age. It was a way to be with my family and also to get away from everything. I put basketball above everything, above even friendships. Outside of family, basketball is the first thing in my life.”

The NBA’s global academy outreach is unearthing prospects on an international level. After playing and practicing in Canberra since the age of 12, King-Hawea was discovered in 2017, by Kristen Veal, Center of Excellence coach.

“In 2001, the NBA and FIBA launched Basketball Without Borders, staging more than 50 camps on six continents. Of the more than 3,000 player participants, more than 50 have made it to the NBA, including budding stars like Joel Embiid, Jamal Murray and Lauri Markkanen.”

The Basketball Without Borders program started as a “community outreach program” in order to bring the game to players from all over the world. 133 countries have been involved in the program so far, with over 3,000 participants involved.

Since the program was started, the NBA has seen over 250 players join the association across 30 different teams.

The NBA is also looking into creating a system which will allow players to be drafted as early as high school, though this has been out of the question for the past 12 years.

Players like King-Hawea remind us that though the NBA has progressed in its approach to drafting players and spreading the game, the WNBA’s roster is still catching up on the new age development of international basketball.

“I think I made a stamp over here. My name’s well known over here.”

Hopefully, we will see King-Hawea play in both college and the WNBA. But for now, all we can do it sit back and watch as she alters history, one hoop at a time.

If you haven’t heard the name Mac McClung you are either highly uninformed or you live under a rocks and have not been paying attention to the royal rumble that is college basketball recruiting. Mac McClung has been generating a buzz for quite a while for his crazy bounce and insane dunks.

This kid AVERAGES 40 point games like it’s nothing and his energy is insane.  He is from a small city called Gate City, Virginia and attends Gate City HS where he is currently a senior. Gate City was normally known for their football team but that all changed when Mac McClung took over as the star of the school.

McClung actually played football and baseball but during his middle school years but he decided to make the switch to basketball and his life has never been the same since. He was a smaller kid during his middle school years and a late bloomer in high school. Now he stands at 6’2 and weighs 175 pounds going into college.

Since he made the transition to basketball, he’s been obsessed with dunking. His dedication to learning to dunk led him to develop a freakish jumping ability that is second to none. His hang time and his explosiveness as he gets to the rim is what he is most known for and makes the crowd go crazy.

Mac exploded to stardom on social media will a clip of showcasing his dunking ability in a pick game and the clip has been blasted all over social media and ESPN.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih_pBuWEy14

Ever since then Mac has been one-upping himself. McClung is not only a great dunker but an amazing shooter with the ability to finish in the paint.

Watching Mac dunking is like watching art being made, from his explosiveness from when he leaves the ground to caching the ball and slamming it down — it’s a spectacle to behold.

These are not normal dunks either. He is going between the legs, pulling off backwards dunks, and even jumping over people with complete ease. He brings crowds out to all of his games and if you have seen his clips you can definitely see why.

He has scored over 3,000 points in his high school career which is crazy achievement and he recently broke Allen Iverson’s record for most points scored in a season.

Despite all of these achievements Mac has remained humble and has not let the fame get to his head at all. He signs autographs for all of his fans and takes pictures with people because he used to be in that position. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s also rapper Riff Raff’s first cousin!

FOLLOW MY COUSiN HE GOT CRAZY DUNKS AND COOKiE CRiSP PASSES HE iS iN HiGH SCHOOL AVERAGES 30 POiNTS PER GAME iM GOiNG TO GO TO A FEW GAMES THiS UPCOMiNG SEASON AT GATE CiTY HiGH SCHOOL iN ViRGiNiA … HE iS GUNNA PLAY iN THE NBA LOOK AT HiS OUTLANDiSH DUNKS SHiT iS RiDiCULOUS i USED TO PUSH HiS STROLLER AROUND TOYS R US NOW HE CAN JUMP OVER MY TOUR BUS SMH …. FOLLOW @macmcclung37 ON HiS WAY TO THE NBA …. BALLiN iN THE BLOOD

A post shared by RiFF RaFF JODY HiGHROLLER (@jodyhighroller) on May 30, 2017 at 2:42pm PDT

Mac’s coach Scott Vermillion even said in a Overtime interview, “Mac always Always wanted to put Gate City on the Map”. Mac McClung just wants to put on for his city and he has definitely done that through excelling in basketball.

He is committed to Georgetown and we can’t wait to see what he will do on the college level and eventually the NBA.

If want know more about Mac, peep this mini-documentary that Overtime produced on his story. LIT.