I throw up a jump shot and miss, but Don rebounds the basketball and scores two points. Shannon takes aim and drains a shot, and now Katie dribbles between her legs and passes to Don, who does a little showboating before shooting and hitting nothing but net. Each person has a distinct style but as a team, we have some skills on the court. 
While we’re still shooting around, five neighborhood boys walk past us and march to half court. We don’t pay too much attention to them, but then I notice they are scrawling graffiti at half court. I would say they are all under the age of 10.
We’re a little shocked they are defacing the basketball court, but we continue playing.
As the boys are leaving the court, I ask them if they want to shoot with us. They just keep walking and exit.
We continue our shoot-around, and the boys return. They act shy, not wanting to shoot, but I can tell they want to join the action. So I pass the ball to one of the boys, and he launches a shot and scores. One by one, they take turns shooting.
Then one of the braver boys takes off dribbling down the court, and Katie gives chase, playing her spastic brand of defense. This was the start of our 5-on-4, full-court basketball game. I have to say these inexperienced boys have some skills. There’s a lot of laughter from both sides.
Don takes it out and passes me the ball. I dribble down the court and have three boys guarding me. One of them makes a weird, high-pitched noise to distract me and then bursts into laughter after I pretend to be scared. I pass Katie the ball, and she shoots and misses, and the boys rebound. Down the court they go.
Then they start setting up plays. One of them brings it down the court and passes behind his back. The taller one dribbles in and scores. We have a good game going, and everyone seems to be having a great time.
But it’s getting dark, and the boys have to leave. This time, they exit the court smiling.
We could not speak Turkish, and they knew little English, but that did not slow down the game. It was a fun time, and I am glad I got to play a game of hoops with them.
As a team, we could have been too caught up in our own game and missed out on a fun game of hoops with the boys. After many adventures on this trip, I have realized we cannot be so caught up in our own schedules that we miss opportunities to put smiles on the faces of a few neighborhood kids.
I hope to play the boys again. Maybe next time, we will win.
