Last year, I played in a rec basketball league with a group of friends.
That sentence alone would’ve surprised the version of me who wrote this article about quitting organized basketball. Back then, I was clear: I was done. No more practices, no more pretending to care about things I didn’t. I wanted to put everything into dunking—and I did.
But this wasn’t about chasing anything. It was just good runs with good people.
That made it easy to say yes.
Even with zero intention of “coming back,” I ended up averaging over 20 a game, had multiple 30-point nights, and even pulled off a windmill in a game.
This wasn’t about proving something.
I Still Don’t Want to Play Basketball
That hasn’t changed. I’m not trying to make a return or get back into competitive basketball. I left it for a reason, and that reason still holds.
What this did do was remind me how much value there is in saying yes to things that feel low-stakes but high-enjoyment. Playing again made for good memories, and even great content.