You were a part of my family before I was. Mom and dad were like Monica and Quincy growing up in their own version of Love and Basketball. Fast forward 20 years and four kids later, and you’ll find me drawing up plays and end of game situations on the sideline while mom and dad coach my sister’s games. Fast forward another 15 years and you’ll find me and the rest of my family cheering on my sister’s basketball teams in the NCAA tournament. Fast forward 5 more years and you’ll find me walking to Bartow Arena’s center court arm in arm with my family on my senior night. You have been a constant in my life since the day I was born and all I can do is thank you.
Thank you, basketball for bonding my family. You filled every March with buzzer beater madness, every June with hopes of the Bulls winning its next ring, and every August with dreams of being the next Lisa Leslie. AAU road trips turned into family vacations, and collegiate games took us around the country. The Kuzmanic family support was obvious whether we were cheering live or yelling at the TV screen. Every career game, from 1st grade to professional, my family has been right beside me.
Thank you, basketball for providing me with an education. You have always been a love of mine, but I was taught that there is more to life than you. My love for you has set me up for success in the next phase of my life. Because of you, I was able to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a student-athlete. You gave me access to top notch facilities, knowledgeable professors, caring advisors, and most importantly, the UAB Teach program. Through you, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a minor in STEM Education, and I have gained priceless experiences and knowledge as a student teacher.
Thank you, basketball for sending me around the world. You showed me around Illinois as a child playing for my local school team. We took a few laps around the country for AAU and collegiate competitions. Now, you are literally taking me worldwide from Lima, Peru for the 40th Pan American Games to Xichang, China for scrimmages, to San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Americup, to Edmonton, Canada for an Olympic qualifier tournament. I am hoping we can take a trip to Europe this Spring to continue my professional career, and more than anything I would love to travel to Tokyo in 2020 with you and Team Puerto Rico.
Thank you, basketball for giving me lifelong relationships. One quality I love about you is that you are a team sport and you force a group of people to become a family. The early morning conditioning, the brutal preseason workouts, the highs and lows of winning and losing, the countless hours on the road together—there is no choice but to love each other through it all. The amount of people I have crossed paths with because of you is more than I can fathom. I have teammates and coaches all around the world who have truly become family and I will cherish their friendships for the rest of my life.
Thank you, basketball for the opportunity to impact lives. Not only did you give me a family bond, an education, an excuse to travel, and lifelong relationships, but you also gave me a platform. As a student-athlete, you gave me a voice that not everyone is blessed to have. You allowed me to be a role model to little girls watching my every move and a representative of UAB and the city of Birmingham. You gave me opportunities to give back to the Greater Birmingham area. Reading at elementary schools, helping kids with homework at the YMCA, playing baseball at Miracle League, coaching basketball clinics at Girls Inc., yet every one of those opportunities gave something back to me. The platform you gave me as a student-athlete showed me that there is so much more to life than just you, and at the end of the day it won’t matter how many wins we had or points we averaged, but what will matter is how well we loved one another. You have continued to give me a platform as a professional athlete and a member of the Puerto Rican national team and I want to use that platform to exhibit love and compassion to everyone I come in contact with. When the time comes to hang up my shoes, I am excited to leave my role as a basketball player and accept the new challenge as a high school teacher and basketball coach. My career may have to end one day, but our relationship never will.