Opinion: Pro sports packed with pressure
October 16, 2017
Under the eyes of thousands, NBA players constantly feel the pressure of their community unlike any high school game. Being down near the court for a recent Mavericks preseason game for warmups only confirmed that feeling .
Looking around all I could see was the 20,000 seats that surrounded the single court. I can’t begin to imagine the feel of playing on the court with media like The Dallas Morning News tracking your every move.
With some teammates playing as a hobby, high school sports usually aren’t as stressful. But for NBA players, basketball is a career, adding to the pressure of reaching perfection on the court. Taking chances and working on new skills are opportunities that are available and should be utilized during high school games for they are non existent in the professional league with salary and reputation on the line.
While in the NBA, nerves and insecurities must be put aside in order to focus solely on their game despite constant cameras and screaming fans as a distraction.
For athletes that want to play past high school sports, they should take advantage of the lenient environment and feel comfortable making mistakes in order to improve. Compared to the NBA, high school sports have a somewhat laid back environment.
While high school sports receive recognition from parents and students along with college scouts, high school is the time to perfect your sport. Before you can improve, you must fail and that’s a lot easier to get away with now than it is in a career.