Years later, she would still feel the tremor of that moment: the way the ball felt too big in her hands, the air too thick with possibility. The court wasn’t just asphalt anymore; it was a border between who she had been and who she might become. When Mr. Ellis stepped beside her, not to perform but to teach, she realized that sometimes the smallest gestures carry the loudest truths.

Each clumsy shot rewrote a quiet story she’d been telling herself for years—that wanting was selfish, that watching was safer than trying. The smaller hoop he hung for her didn’t shrink the game; it expanded her courage. In its gentle arc, she learned that belonging is often born in the moment someone notices your unspoken hope and decides it is worth reaching for, together.