Playmaker (DR) / ABC (DR)
While some league stars benefited from easy conditions during their childhood, others grew up in an environment that was more than unfavorable to their emergence. A legend tells of having been close to death from the age of 5 in shocking words.
More than just a sports association, the NBA has always sought to inspire young people and make them dream. And for that, what better than to count in its ranks figures from all walks of life. Open to anyone, the North American league has a population of players as talented as it is diverse. If only with regard to their origins, oh so different depending on the case.
When some stars were entitled to a quiet childhood and were able to aim for the heights without pitfalls, others had to work harder. This can be seen in particular in the courses of icons which have gone through the worst before arriving on the circuit. Some of them, for example, grew up in a hostile climate polluted by crime, and even very nearly fell victim to it at an early stage in their lives.
The heartbreaking story of Muggsy Bogues
Baltimore native Muggsy Bogues may well have never made NBA history. In an interview given to Playmakerhe recounts the episode that could have been fatal to him:
I was shot when I was 5 years old. I just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I thought that was the end of me in this world. Fortunately, it was buckshot. The bullet hit my skull but the buckshot hit my arms and chest.
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Simply coming to witness a “guerrilla” scene in his neighborhood, the mythical leader thus found himself in the sights of a store manager armed with a shotgun. A terrible experience which, however, had nothing to shock him at the time:
It was normal for us. We weren’t expecting to make it past 20 because of all the neighborhood stuff and the friends you lose at a young age.
The environment we grew up in was like that. Every time you walked through your doorstep, you had to be on your toes.
Spared by fate, Muggs also managed to overcome his size deficit to enter the league and fight great battles there with Michael Jordan. He also attributes his improbable success to his strength of character, which he also forged very early:
Before this trauma, I already wanted to become a basketball player but the other kids made fun of me and my size. I went home crying with my mother, these children were so cruel on the ground. But after this dramatic experience, when I returned there, those words no longer had the same impact on me. I really think being so close to death played into that.
Close to death at only 5 years old, Muggsy Bogues knew how to find in this dramatic experience an incredible source of motivation. Decades later, he can now take pride in his status as a league legend.
2023-08-26 18:20:00
#shot #years #bullet #hit #skull
