Basketball, Christmas, and the Gift No One Wants
- Peter Young
- Jan 24
- 3 min read
Christmas is celebrated right in the middle of basketball season. On numerous occasions, I have played, coached, or broadcast basketball games a few days before or after Christmas.
Christmas 1985: My senior year in high school. We played Bloomfield High School. Their star was 6’10” Alaa Abdelnaby. He went on to play in college at Duke and then for several years in the NBA. I held him to 32 points.
Christmas 1988: I was in college, playing for George Washington University. We traveled to the University of New Mexico to play in their Christmas tournament. The games were held in the legendary Pit, which sat around 20,000 fans. Luc Longley was on that New Mexico team. He went on to play for the Chicago Bulls and was a teammate of Michael Jordan. I tried to stay away from him that night in the Pit.
Christmas 1990: Against a good Vanderbilt team, I hit a three-pointer to tie the game with about 10 seconds to play. It was my best college game ever. After hitting my big shot, the announcers for the GW radio broadcast that night said, “Peter Young is the last guy I expected to take that shot!” Thanks guys.
Christmas 1991: I was an assistant coach at the University of Colorado, the kind that sits at the far end of the bench, past the managers. We won a couple of games right before and after Christmas. And for the month of December that year, I had a friend who was a big basketball fan sleeping on my couch. He was also an alcoholic and ex-con. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, email me and I’ll send you the Legend of Ray Johnson.)
But Christmas isn’t about basketball, nor is it about Santa Claus or reindeer or shopping.
It’s about the story of Jesus and His birth. He is the greatest gift of all. So, yes, Christmas is about gift-giving. But have you ever thought that pain could be a gift?
Is pain a gift? If so, it's certainly not the gift we want. The great CW Lewis wrote a whole book about it: The Problem of Pain. He said…
“…pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…”
The Bible has much to say about pain.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2
There were a few years where it felt like I was given nothing but pain for Christmas. It wasn't coal in my stocking. It was worse.
Christmas 2016: On New Year’s Eve, I called the game between Colorado State and Boise State. CSU hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win the game. It was a thrilling game to call, but I didn’t care. Away from the TV cameras, my life was falling apart, and no one knew it. That game in Boise was the last basketball game I called for ESPN.
Christmas 2017: There was no basketball for me this Christmas. Nor was there any joy. I was called a devil, told I had no soul, and accused of being possessed by a legion of demons. That was a very painful Christmas. (For context, read my memoir, Stop The Tall Man, Save The Tiger)
I have experienced pain. I have been tried and tested. I lost a lot of basketball games. I lost my marriage, lost my broadcasting career.
But my faith has produced perseverance. I have been delivered from my pain. I’ve been given the most important gift of all, the victory over sin and death. I’ve won because that’s Christ’s gift to me.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
This Christmas season, I hope you experience the greatest gift of all, the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The message of Christ is woven into all my stories and all my books. I’d love for you to buy one or all of my books this Christmas and give them as gifts to your loved ones.
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