A HOOP FABLE

CHAPTER ONE

CHILDHOOD

DREAMS & ASPIRATIONS

When we are young, we think like youngsters, and when we become adults, we think as grownups. There are many people who straddle these two worlds, so that as adults, they retain the lively, enthusiastic moods of childhood, and as children, they adopt a keen sense of their purpose in life.

Larry Evans developed into such a person. He was the younger of two brothers born five years apart into a Jewish family, in a quiet and comfortable neighborhood in the North Bronx. This was a section of rather well-constructed apartment buildings and with a train line that ran directly into Grand Central Station. The neighborhood was quite attractive and was removed from the noisy part of the Bronx. But in other ways it was cut off from Manhattan and remained somewhat isolated from the rest of New York.

As a young child he showed a moderate interest in school and did what was required to pass his subjects. He was a bright seven-year-old who was a middling success in school. He read at an early age, was able to grasp mathematics, and showed an interest in geography. But aside from that, he just put up with school, the way many youngsters do. They go about their business satisfying the requirements of each course, but not doing much more, nor are they interested in doing much more.

He enjoyed playing different games after school; stickball was his favorite, but that he just tolerated, and he reacted to sports as a pleasant way of passing time and hanging out with his friends. The goal of winning or losing was not a premium for him. The boys did enjoy each other, laughed, played, and horsed around a lot. Once he came home, he changed and became a different sort of a kid. He was more sullen and withdrawn around his family.

His older brother Bill was more studious, and much more serious, and they rarely shared similar interests. They didn’t have much to say to each other and in fact they seemed like night and day. Often, relatives would remark that the two brothers seemed as if they came from different parents. Their five-year age difference appeared to span two continents. Underneath it all, Bill cared for Larry and tried to help him when he could, especially in math, but Larry was not always receptive to his aid and at times tried to avoid him. One time Bill was explaining particular mathematical concepts and finally gave up when he saw that Larry was ignoring him, which almost turned into a fight between them.

Bill had a group of friends much like himself and they rarely went out of their way to engage Larry; and Larry had two particularly close buddies who followed him throughout his life. The chemistry was terrific among them and it lent him strong support.

Luckily each brother had his own bedroom so that they were able to keep to themselves. Yet even with that, Larry yearned for the day when Bill would go off to college so that he would be spared the few moments that they did interact. His parents were another thing. They were closer to Bill and somehow seemed to ignore Larry–or possibly they really didn’t understand him.

This was the 1980s, and the Evans family lived in a small enclave of Jews in the northern part of the Bronx. It was not so much isolated as cut off from the main borough of Manhattan, but there were many perks that went with that: cheaper ,rents and generally a more moderate life style. Ronald Reagan was elected U.S. President in 1980, and the country progressed according to his hardline policy toward Communism and the way he stood up to the Soviet Union.

But more important, as we will see for Larry, was how the American basketball player Michael Jordan burst onto the scene in the NBA during the 1980s, bringing a surge in popularity for the sport and becoming one of the most beloved sports icons in the United States. In addition, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird faced against each other in three NBA Finals. As our story progresses, the last two events had a tremendous impact on Larry.

Larry’s father David was a lawyer who grew up in the Bronx, married, and then stayed in the Bronx, getting a large three-bedroom apartment that would have been prohibitively expensive if it were in Manhattan. He married Janet, a girl two years younger than he, from a nearby high school. When David went off to college, Janet, who graduated two years later, went to a community college, so that they graduated from their respective schools at the same time. They married soon afterward, and Janet took a job as a secretary in a Wall Street firm in order to support David, who was now entering law school at Seton Hall. After finishing school and passing the bar exam, David started working at the New York City Board of Education, where he eventually advanced to a senior legal position. He loved the job, the free time, the prospect of a future pension, and the security that the position offered. The thought of working at a law office almost frightened him.

When David was 30, he and Janet had their first child; and five years later they had their second. They both loved being parents, although Janet had quietly hoped to have a girl. However, they then decided that two children would be enough to bring up and provide for. While they took an interest in their children, they rarely showed concern for their individual futures but were always attentive to the importance of their children’s grades. In many ways, Janet was not always comfortable around her two sons, and David tended to be deeply into himself. They rarely discussed what they envisioned could be the future of each child. Maybe this threatened them too much, considering they weren’t overjoyed at what they had accomplished in life.