Travel Team

Danny is shorter than other kids and is often to be thought to be younger than his twelve years. However, he is very talented at basketball, knowing that “[o]ne good passer changes everything” (3). Danny believes this is why he almost always makes the team. His favorite place to practice is his driveway, which his mom has tried to widen. There, he imagines himself as famous shorter players like Muggsy Bogues or Richie Walker.

Danny stays out late in the October evening, practicing and wearing out his shoes. Danny’s parents are divorced, and he thinks about the “sneakers his mom called ‘old school,’” Danny knows that this is a euphemism for affordable. He finishes by doing five crossovers, dribbling the ball between his legs, just as he always does, though this night “was the worst night of whole life” (5). Danny has not made the basketball team this year.

As he practices, his mother, Ali, watches from inside the house. She thinks about giving him bad news that night. She reminded him that if this is the worst news of his life, then he’ll have a very good life.