By the way hili la ugali ni kama metaphor tu, sorta like tip of the iceberg.
Wenzetu wanaandaliwa tangu watoto wanajua wanataka kucheza NBA.
Hasheem mwenyewe kaanza kucheza basketball miaka ya karibuni tu, na wala hakuota kucheza NBA. Kwa hiyo hata mambo ya NBA attitude na culture, psychology ya ushindani, sense of perservering etc huwezi kutegemea ikawa kama ya wenzetu ambao wanajua NBA or bust. Inside out, wanakul na kunywa ESPN kwenye bootleg cable tangu wako 4 yo.
Ukiwachukua watoto wa Kimarekani, hata wale wa ghetto kina Ron Artest (ambao baadhi yao hata kiingereza kinawapiga chenga kuliko some of us, na ambao wamepeteshwa tu college kwa sababu ni "student athletes" in this sports obsessed society)... bado utaona kwamba hawa kina Artest wanajua vitu fulani subconsciously ambavyo Hasheem kama hajapata handlers wazuri wanaoijua Marekani vizuri hawezi kuyajua hata kidogo. Mara nyingine hata portrayal ya mchezaji in the press tu ni crucial issue.
Ukiangalia documentary ya Mike Tyson "Tyson" utaona kuwa Marekani shule, yaani jamaa anaongea kama ana madegree ya psychology, anaielewa the American psyche inside out, lakini ni mtoto wa mtaani tu wa Brooklyn, high school dropout. Hii experience ya kukulia Brooklyn ni priceless katika mashindano haya, kina Hasheem wanahitaji kuwa very sharp kuweza kunyaka mambo kama haya.
Kifupi sisi hatuna culture ya kuwa na vision na kuweka goals, tunaelea tu.Ukiangalia mambo yote haya, kumlaumu Thabeet kwa sababu ha-perform ni sawa sawa n kumlaumu Kanumba kwa sababu hajui kiingereza.
Mambo mengine hayapo katika tamaduni zetu, ndiyo kwanza tunajifunza.
Wakati wenzetu wana historia inayorudi nyuma kutoka kwa kina Jack Johnson au even further in the plantantions, wana usongo. Huwezi ku compare. Kuna skills na instincts nyingine huwezi kufundishwa in 1-4 years.