Jerseys...

I’ve put on a lot of jerseys in my life. From a young, naïve kid desperately trying to make a squad for which I wasn’t talented enough, to running up and down the same floorboards as my heroes, right through to pounding the cement with no shoes on just trying to keep up with others.

There have been a lot of jerseys, a lot of different jerseys, in a lot of different places.

Parquet, cement, blacktop, red dirt, grass, even brick.

A lot of jerseys in a lot of different places with a lot of different people.

Yet.

Yet on that court, none of the differences matter.

Not where you’re from.

Not where you were born.

Not what you believe in.

You wear the same jersey as me, and we’re together in this struggle, we’re together in the same goal.

Who you are, where you’re from, whether you’re male or female, black or white, this religion or that, none of that matters in the end, because above it all you are my teammate, and I can’t do this without you.

I can’t do this without you.

There could be everything on Earth different between you and me, but this one thing, this jersey, overrules all those differences.

We’re a team, and I can’t do this without you.

Dedicated to our 50,000+ kids in 15 countries, and to each and every volunteer who has represented our jerseys so honourably. My Team Is Strong.

Pic by the amazing Lalage Snow for the Big Bang Ballers.