Boom, we\u2019re off and running. Chicago. Set the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
South Side. Bronzeville. I\u2019m 8 years old. Summer time. Living room. We\u2019re watching the White Sox game, because we\u2019re a Sox family, because we were raised right. It\u2019s me, my dad and my older brother. We\u2019re chilling.<\/p>\n
No, we\u2019re not chilling. Forget whatever you thought.<\/p>\n
See \u2026 key piece of information \u2026 My dad came here from Nigeria when he was 7. He was all about that work. He\u2019s the type of guy who\u2019s mad he can\u2019t work in his sleep. So every time the TV cut to a commercial break, boom, on the millisecond, we had to jump up off the couch and do a set. Pushups, crunches, squats, whatever. The whole two minutes. The manager would walk out to the mound to change the pitcher and me and my brother would look at each other like, \u201cNo, come on. He\u2019s good. He\u2019s still got some juice in the tank, man.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s waving to the bullpen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Boom, Geico commercial.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, wall sits, let\u2019s go. You don\u2019t work, you don\u2019t eat. Dinner is for winners.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For the purposes of this story, I\u2019m doing the dialogue, but really my dad wouldn\u2019t even have to say anything. He\u2019d just give us the look.<\/p>\n
Picture an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old squatting against the wall, legs shaking like crazy, holding a 15-pound kitchen chair above their heads, just trying to hang on until they cut back from commercials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the 7th inning, we were cooked. Doing those two-inch pushups where you can\u2019t even bring your knees up off the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I actually loved it. I thought I was Kobe. I kept telling my dad, \u201cWhatever Kobe is doing, I wanna do that. What else does he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKobe drinks protein shakes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alright, boom, I\u2019m coming to elementary school with the shaker bottle and my Flintstones Vitamins.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else can I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u2026.. It\u2019s healthier with just water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alright, boom, I\u2019m drinking the whey with the water. No fruit, bro. No banana. No milk. Sicko mode. <\/p>\n
Courtesy of the Dosunmu Family<\/p>\n
I loved it. All of it. But even if I didn\u2019t love it, I could never complain. Not with my dad being my dad. And not with my grandfather being my grandfather. See, my grandfather immigrated here from Nigeria to study at Illinois State. He left everything behind and came to a whole new culture, a whole new way of life. My dad stayed behind in Nigeria for a few years until my grandfather was all settled here, then he came over. Pretty much from the rip, he had to work to help the family. After high school, he started as a delivery driver for UPS, and any time I ever felt even a little bit tired or complained that I couldn\u2019t play video games, he\u2019d pull out the stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAyo, let me tell you something\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
And me and my brother and my sisters, we all knew the whole plot already.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I think first it started as two different stories. He was delivering a package and a dog was chasing him or something and he rolled his ankle and ended up with a high ankle sprain. So he just taped it up and went to work the next day. And then another time he had to get his wisdom teeth pulled, so he scheduled the surgery on his lunch break.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo painkillers, doc. I gotta go back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yanked the tooth, and he was back in the brown gear by noon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But then when he got really worked up, the stories merged together and he was delivering packages with a high ankle sprain and a torn achilles and a pulled tooth in a snowstorm or whatever. Pack of dogs on his ass. Perfect front porch delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I never took a sick day. Never.\u201d<\/p>\n
After me and my brother were born, he moved his shifts around so he\u2019d wake up at 1 a.m. and work through the night so he could be back at 2 p.m. to pick us up from school. Then boom, we\u2019re going straight to the gym. He\u2019d always have a bag of food waiting for us in the car to eat on the way there, and this man was so frugal that he\u2019d always be on the DEALS, bro. The McDonald\u2019s dollar menu. The two-piece Popeyes. The Little Caesars $5 hot-n-ready. Bro, with inflation these prices don\u2019t even make sense anymore, but back in the mid-2000s if you had immigrant parents, you were messing with the 99-cent two-piece Tuesdays at Popeyes. When they raised the price to $1.29 that was a dark day for my dad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s crazy because when you\u2019re 10 years old you can really eat a two-piece and a biscuit in the back seat of an SUV and then hop out and then run full-court 4-on-4 like it\u2019s nothing. You\u2019re invincible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remember when me or my brother got honor roll in middle school, my dad used to give us 20 bux. But he\u2019d go to the bank and get it in all ones. Crisp, new. Counting them all out in front of us, like a ceremony. \u201c18, 19 ….. 20.\u201d<\/p>\n
Counting it back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c1, 2….\u201d<\/p>\n
It was like…. He was sending some kind of message. It\u2019s not just a 20… it\u2019s 20 ones, you know what I mean? Every dollar counts, for real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Courtesy of the Dosunmu Family<\/p>\n
Our whole goal, as a family, from the time I was like 10, was for me to make it to the league. Everything we did, as a family unit, was to keep me safe and thriving. In Chicago, that can be really hard. Every day was a risk. You can be a great kid, minding your own business, and things can still happen. It\u2019s kind of sad how you have to be on guard even with kids who are really cool. That dude in your 3rd period art class is your boy when you\u2019re at school, but you know in the back of your mind what his brothers are up to, and if you walk to his house after school … you never know what could happen. You almost have to approach things like an adult when you\u2019re 10, 11 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And even then, you never know….<\/p>\n
Darius Brown. That was my guy. The whole world should know his name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you looked up the word \u201cfriend\u201d in the dictionary, he was the definition. Darius could chop it up with anybody. He was two years older than me, playing with my brother\u2019s team, but we just clicked right away. He was a basketball junkie like me. No other dreams. No other priorities. No smoking, no drinking, just ball. My dad used to go pick him up on the weekend and he\u2019d sleep over our house and we\u2019d drive to tournaments. Friday night after the homework was done was the only time we were allowed to play 2K.\u00a0<\/p>\n
7:30\u201310:30 one night a week, bro. That was 2K and Madden time. Me, Darius and my bro. I swear I was so good, too. I could never play and I was still nice. I wish I could go back to those times, man. That was the best 3 hours of my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One day, during summer vacation, my dad came home from work and he was so exhausted that he fell asleep. He said to call Darius and tell him we\u2019d scoop him up in the morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So Darius went to play pickup at Metcalfe Park.<\/p>\n
5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday. Light outside. Just doing what we loved doing. Playing ball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then a car drives by. Shots ring out. They weren\u2019t trying to hit Darius. He was just a kid, man. Minding his own business.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The shots hit him anyway.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was in the shower. My mom was calling me, calling me, calling me……<\/p>\n
I got out of the shower, and grabbed the phone and she said, \u201cDarius got shot at the park.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took him to the hospital. But \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 he didn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swear it was like my brain froze. I don\u2019t even remember anything after that. To be honest, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever fully processed it. How can you process something like that at 11 years old?<\/p>\n
The crazy part about it is that he was just as good as me, if not better. Lefty. More polished. Definitely more charismatic. Lit up the room\u2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a kid. Not stealing, not robbing, not bothering a soul. Just doing what he loved. Never got to make it to the 8th grade. I\u2019ll never understand it….<\/p>\n
From that day on, it was like I couldn\u2019t fail. It wasn\u2019t an option. Me and Darius used to have this saying. He came up with it, of course. You probably won\u2019t get it, but it was Jet Life.<\/p>\n
Not jet life like a private jet. Jet like a rocket ship. That was Darius\u2019 whole personality. We\u2019re only going in one direction. All the way up, all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cJet life, jet life, jet life. Jet life for Life.\u201d<\/p>\n
I carried that mantra with me the whole way. It went from \u201cWhat do you wanna be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\n
To \u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m playing in the league. Period. You can laugh, but I\u2019m not laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he died, it\u2019s like I blacked out. My mom says I used to come home from school and it went from my dad being like \u201cYou gotta get your work in\u201d to it being a blizzard outside and me putting on my hat and gloves and getting a shovel and plowing a little lane on the corner 3 and shooting for hours. I\u2019m an imaginer. I used to be imagining the middle school gyms I\u2019d be in next, and the kids I\u2019d be playing against, and just going off for 30, 40, 50.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jet life, jet life, jet life.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of the Dosunmu Family<\/p>\n
From the time I was 11 years old, I knew I was gonna be doing this. And Darius was such a huge part of my why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of the reason I\u2019m telling this story is because when a tragedy like that happens, you might see the news story or whatever, and you just see \u201c13-year-old kid shot on the South Side\u201d and that\u2019s it. Or if you\u2019re fortunate enough to play in March Madness or get drafted like I was, then it gets mentioned on TV for a minute like \u201cAyo Dosunmu\u2019s friend\u2026.\u201d And that\u2019s it. Everybody moves on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Darius was more than a 13-year-old kid, and he was more than just my friend. He was a great kid, a great friend, and a great ball player. Without him and my brother……. Man, I just wouldn\u2019t be here without them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s crazy but I actually cried tears of joy when I signed my extension this summer. When I say that, people probably think I\u2019m talking about my path in the league. Sliding way past where I thought I was gonna go in the draft, going in the 2nd round to the Bulls and all the pressure that comes with being the hometown guy and all that. Coming into a team with 100 guards and trying to get minutes. But really, that\u2019s just basketball, and basketball for me is like a fish in water. It\u2019s just what I do. I know it\u2019s always gonna work out. If you only give me 5 minutes, it\u2019s gonna be 5 good minutes. If you only give me 6 shots, 4 are going in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Basketball is basketball.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cried tears of joy when I signed that piece of paper because of life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know I came here at the trade deadline last year as a \u201cwait and see.\u201d That\u2019s what the whole league was saying. I\u2019m a basketball junkie, so I knew the deal. When you get traded, it\u2019s like a breakup. Except in basketball, you can\u2019t pick your new girl! You don\u2019t know how it\u2019s gonna go! Might be a good fit, might not be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thank God, from the first day, everybody embraced me here. I got on the plane to Minnesota with 2 bags, and I literally just kept those two bags all through the playoff run. My fianc\u00e9e was texting me like, \u201cAre you sure you don\u2019t want me to bring you some new clothes?\u201d<\/p>\n
But I was so locked in that I didn\u2019t even want to think about anything but ball. I had spent my entire life in Chicago, in my cocoon with my family, all the way from a kid to Illinois to the Bulls. So it felt like God was telling me, \u201cAlright, it\u2019s time to grow up. I\u2019m throwing you in the deep end for the first time. You gotta ADAPT or sink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan Johnson\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
And he threw me in with the sharks.<\/p>\n
The great white shark, bro.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s special. As a trash talker, he\u2019s like what you hear about with the Kobe stories, the MJ stories, the KG stories. No, really I think a better comparison is like the Ali stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s jogging back after a bucket like, \u201cFloat like a butterfly, sting like a bee! I\u2019m a bad man! I\u2019m so pretty!!!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And listen, this is the thing about me. I can go one of two ways. I can stay really quiet out there and lock in. But I\u2019m from Chicago. If you want to talk, we can have a dialogue. So the first few weeks I got to Minnesota I was just trying to observe and stay in my lane. Once it gets to playoff time and the energy is a little different, I\u2019m talking sh*t back to Ant in practice, and I can see he\u2019s going up a level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ant goes to the hoop like, \u201cMFer you too little!\u201d<\/p>\n
I come back down and hit a pull-up like, \u201cMFer take that!!\u201d<\/p>\n
He hits another one, \u201cMFer I\u2019m him!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
I hit another one, \u201cMFer you him?? I\u2019m me!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
And you know when the trash talking is so good that it\u2019s like you black out and you almost get confused?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s saying, \u201cI\u2019m him!!! I\u2019m him!!!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m saying, \u201cI\u2019m him!!! You\u2019re you!!!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
We\u2019re like Spiderman and the other Spiderman pointing at each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m you!!! You\u2019re me!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hahhaha. I love this team, man. It was so hard to see Ant go down, but we know he\u2019s gonna be back better than ever and we\u2019re going to hold it down for him in the meantime and keep that same energy. <\/p>\n
After the way things ended last year, signing that extension and committing to Minnesota was a no-brainer. There\u2019s no place else I want to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s cold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bro, I\u2019m from Chicago. I was born cold. Give me a shovel and I\u2019m plowing a lane. It\u2019s nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This whole offseason, it\u2019s been at a different level. The energy in our gym is something you can\u2019t even capture on video. They won\u2019t allow it. It could get taken outta context the way we\u2019re talking sh*t and going so hard. We\u2019re really so young and so determined and so hungry, and it\u2019s an exciting dynamic. I\u2019m telling the world now: Get your League Pass ready.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so interesting to me as a pure basketball junkie, because I really get to see this team and these guys from the inside. I see the way that the perception is about certain guys, and I\u2019m not saying that people are lying on purpose, but you only see what you see.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJaden\u2019s quiet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bro, Jaden is quiet. But he\u2019s not quiet. He\u2019s not what you\u2019re thinking. He\u2019s a psycho.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRudy\u2019s French.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bro, Rudy IS French. He\u2019s a philosopher for sure. But he\u2019s one of the most dedicated professionals I\u2019ve ever seen in this league. He\u2019s showing me every day how to really be a pro and take care of your body.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLaMelo is too chill.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bro, let me tell you something about LaMelo. He\u2019s more curious about the game of basketball than anybody I\u2019ve ever seen at his level. How many guys who are worth $300 million are still asking questions every day in practice? He\u2019s worth $300 million and he\u2019s trying to learn and get better every day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For me, the vibes are just so good, and I feel so at home. It\u2019s a bunch of young guys who are just doing what we love. I can\u2019t ask for a better situation. Jet Life For Life! There\u2019s only one direction this plane is going. I might have these MFers doing wall sits when we\u2019re watching League Pass in the hotel on the road. When Ayo is around you can\u2019t relax! Let\u2019s gooooooo!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shout out to my father for teaching me how to work. Shout out to my brother and my family for always protecting me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shout out to Chicago for raising a dog.\u00a0Shout out to Popeyes for the two-piece special.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shout out to all the immigrant families hustling to build something here.<\/p>\n
Shout out to basketball for giving us everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shout out to Darius Brown. You were a big part of my story. I hope you\u2019re somewhere doing what you love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
JL4L.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013 Ayo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boom, we\u2019re off and running. Chicago. Set the scene.\u00a0 South Side. Bronzeville. I\u2019m 8 years old. Summer time.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":954051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-954050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=954050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/954050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/954051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=954050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=954050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=954050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}