From Naismith’s Invention to NBA Legends: A Journey Through Basketball’s Rich Heritage
The sport I will be researching is Basketball. Basketball is a game played between two teams of five players in which goals are scored by throwing a ball through a netted hoop fixed above each end of the court. Some famous basketball players are LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dwyane Wade.
LeBron James is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. His accomplishments include three NBA championships, four NBA MVP Awards, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, and two Olympic gold medals. Shaquille O’Neal is a retired professional American basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT. Dwyane Wade is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association.
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I chose this sport to research because it interested me, and I took this as a learning experience to dig deeper into the game of Basketball. The history of Basketball began with its invention in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by a Canadian physical education instructor, James Naismith. A month after James Naismith invented Basketball, the first official game was played at a YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York.
Basketball Hobby: Rules, Equipment, and Intriguing Tidbits from the Court
The rules of Basketball are listed as the following. The ball may be advanced toward the basket by being shot, passed between players, thrown, tapped, rolled, or dribbled. The ball must stay within the court; the last team to touch the ball before it travels out of bounds forfeits possession. The ball is out of bounds if it touches a boundary line or touches any player or object that is out of bounds. The ball may not be kicked nor be struck with a fist. For the offense, a violation of these rules results in loss of possession; for the defense, most leagues reset the shot clock, and the offensive team is given possession of the ball out of bounds. Basket interference, or goaltending, is a violation charged when a player illegally interferes with a shot. This violation is incurred when a player touches the ball on its downward trajectory to the basket unless it is obvious that the ball has no chance of entering the basket, if a player touches the ball while it is in the rim, or in the area extended upwards from the basket, or if a player reaches through the basket to interfere with the shot. If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is unsuccessful, the player is awarded a number of free throws equal to the value of the attempted shot. A player fouled while attempting a regular two-point shot thus receives two shots, and a player fouled while attempting a three-point shot receives three shots.
The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the ball and the court. Competitive levels require the use of more equipment, such as clocks, score sheets, scoreboards, alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.
An interesting fact about Basketball is that in the early 1900s, basketball players played in cages of chicken wire and mesh to keep players from falling into the audience’s seats. Another interesting fact is the player silhouetted in the NBA logo is former all-star Jerry West, who played with the Los Angeles Lakers.
References
- Naismith, James. “Basketball: Its Origin and Development.” University of Nebraska Press, 1941.
- George, Nelson. “Elevating the Game: Black Men and Basketball.” HarperCollins, 1992.
- Goldstein, Richard. “Shaq Talks Back.” St. Martin’s Griffin, 2002.
How We Develop Our Personality: Insights From The MBTI Test
Identifying Personality through the MBTI Test
One way people use to identify an individual’s personality is the MBTI test. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. It was created to see how different people make decisions based on their personalities. When I took the MBTI test, I got ENFJ, which is one of the sixteen personality types. ENFJ stands for Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judgment. The characteristics of a person who is ENFJ are natural-born leaders, full of passion, persuasion, and charisma.
The Significance of Personality Traits
Personality traits are one of the many elements that make an individual different. Personality is the blend of attributes or characteristics that frame a person’s character. They enjoy spending time with people and possess the ability to bring out the very best in others. Everyone in the world has unique personality traits, which provides a better understanding of the human behaviors, actions, and choices we as humans make. Kendra Cherry wrote that ENFJ people have “great people skills and are often described as warm, affectionate and supportive.” It encompasses all the traits, characteristics, and quirks that set you apart from everyone else.
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Self-Reflection and External Observations
When I took the MBTI test, my results were 60% of extraversion, 52% of intuition, 56% of feeling, and 72% of judgment. I was not surprised with the result I received because my friends and family can say the exact same thing. When I interviewed my friend Tiara Hedgepeth, who has been my friend for over three years, I asked her to describe my personality. Personality traits that she has noticed from me are outgoing, fun to be with, a lively sense of humor, dramatic, energetic, and optimistic. She says some of my strengths are that I’m outgoing, driven to meet other’s needs and do what I put my mind to. Hedgepeth described my extraversion personality as having good leadership skills and always showing confidence in myself. Also, I’m able to keep calm and level-headed whenever I am in situations of stress. With the information I received from her, I would describe my personality as very outgoing and social. I am easy to talk to and a good listener. Being outgoing helps me to make friends easily and understand each person as who they are. For my weakness, she said that I’m impatient. I totally agree with her; when someone tells me they are going to do something and either they don’t complete it or they take too long, it bothers me. As for my weakness, she described not being willing to wait for something or someone.
Challenges and Strategies for Improvement
My second challenge, which happens numerous times, is the communication challenge. Working with a partner can be difficult, especially when both people have different understandings. I remember when I had to do a project with a classmate; the task required us to work together on the assignment for our class. My partner and I were given an essay assignment that required us to divide the work equally. Each decided which part of the assignment they would like to work on. I chose to work on the last body paragraph and conclusion. She also did two: the introduction and the second body paragraph. Three days prior to the essay’s due date, I asked my partner if she could send her part so I could connect it with hers. She responded by saying she wasn’t done with it yet. I was a little worried, but I didn’t ask her to explain because we still had a little extra time. I called her back the night before it was due to check up on her progress, and she told me she didn’t want to work with me anymore because she had a different analysis for her part.
At this point, I got frustrated, worried, and impatient because the teacher had given a full two weeks’ notice about the essay, and she could have told me then. For us to compromise, we had to contact the teacher to resolve the problem. As of that we brought the individual paragraphs we each worked on together so we could make sense of the essay and for all the pieces to come together. The three strategies that I can use to help me deal with my challenge are managing disagreements, good verbal communication skills, and giving constructive feedback. Managing disagreements can help me deal with my challenge by seeking to understand the problem or the individual’s reasoning. Trying to see the other person’s point of view also helps, so I do not assume something else. Looking beyond my own triggers and compromising with the individual can help me with my communication skills. This will improve my communication skills because I won’t lead to my own conclusions.
I will politely ask the individual to clarify their statement better. Listening and being patient can help with giving constructive feedback with an appropriate tone and the use of positive language. Working on those three strategies can help me deal with weaknesses and strengths and improve my personality and communication skills. To improve my personality and change the outcome of my challenge, I approached a different strategy. According to Sophie Thompson, who wrote How to Develop Effective Verbal Communication Skills, “characteristics of effective communication are active listening, being open-minded and empathy.”
Conclusion: The Journey of Self-Discovery and Growth
The strategy that I used was to try to improve verbal communication skills. To improve my verbal communication skills, I asked more questions and listened so I did not lead to my own conclusion. I asked the individual to clarify more details so I could understand better what they were trying to say. Being polite and clarifying any misunderstood messages also helped me to understand the situation better and find a solution that we both agreed on. This showed me that by improving my verbal communication skills, I became reliable and trusted around my friends, family, and classmates. In conclusion, personality traits can define an individual in many ways, which can be bad and good. After learning all about my MBTI, I understand myself better. Also, it helped me understand why I have the personality that I have or understand how people are different depending on their personalities.
After I took my test and learned all about ISTP, I came to relieve and learned about myself. When I took the test, I got to learn many new traits that I didn’t even know about. My personality traits that people have noticed me are outgoing, fun to be with-lively sense of humor, dramatic, energetic, and optimistic. An individual’s personality can change for the better or worse depending on the environment and society a person is surrounded by. This project analysis gave me a clear understanding of who I am as an individual person. This test can help others understand and evaluate certain individuals just by the way they act or behave. Although you cannot just judge someone without getting to know them, these variables appear to be important personality facets in explaining and predicting individual behavior.
References:
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Briggs, K. C., & Myers, I. B. (1985). Gifts differing: Understanding personality type. Davies-Black Publishing.
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Cherry, K. (2021). ENFJ Personality: The Teacher. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/enfj-extraverted-intuitive-feeling-judging-2795978
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Thompson, S. (n.d.). How to Develop Effective Verbal Communication Skills. Skills You Need. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/verbal-communication.html
