Hoop Dreams

Hoop Dreams by Ben Joravsky is a book about two kids, William Gates and Arthur Agee, trying to make it to the NBA. They are both from different inner-cities of Chicago, and they're number one goal is to make it big by playing basketball. Even though they had similar and different problems with life, both William and Arthur would not let them get in their way of their dreams.

One obstacle that was in William's way getting to school. He grew up and lived in the Cabrini-Green projects, but got a scholarship to play at St. Josephs, a private school that was at least four hours away. He had to go live with his sister and brother-in-law to make his commute a little easier. It still took him two and a half hours to get to school. He had to leave quick, and mostly never had time to eat breakfast. His commute was harder than anyone could have. First, he had to take a bus that came at 6:20. After that, he got off to take a commuter train, and now he wasn't in Chicago. Then, him and Arthur Agee met to take a bus that still left them about a half a mile away form school. In the winter it was worse because it says, "In the winter it would be like crossing Alaska, the snow would be so expansive and deep." After all that, he still had to start school. Even though his commute was long and tough, William never gave up on going to the school and getting more coaching on basketball. Another thing that was in his way was his knee injury. Even though he did not injure his ligament, he tore his cartilage. It meant that he would have to go to rehab for six weeks. He was happy that he didn't have to miss the season, but he would not be as effective on the court as he was before. There were even more problems, but these two things that William had to deal with did not stop him from playing basketball.

Arthur Agee had his own set of personal problems too. One is that his family was deep in poverty. He had two other siblings, and his dad couldn't hold on to a job. His mom left her job, and it meant they were broke. In his sophomore year, he owed the school $500, or he would have to get kicked out. Without school, he had nothing to do and nowhere to go. In the book it says, "Two weeks went by and the Agees still didn't have the money for Arthur's tuition." It shows that the family was very poor and in two weeks they still didn't have enough money that most people we know have. It resulted in him having to go to his neighborhood school. Another thing that affected him was when his father left. His father, Bo, was a drug addict, and that's where most of the family's money went to. He used to sell drugs, but he eventually tried it with his customers and got hooked to it. His business then fell apart.  One day, after hitting his wife with a metal pipe, Bo left for good. He had left other times but come back, and even went to jail once. Bo's disappearance also affected Arthur's mom, who wanted him to be punished. Arthur didn't have anyone at home to talk to, and had no role model in his family because Bo left.

In conclusion, Williams Gates and Arthur Agee had many problems and challenges in their daily lives, but none of them got in their way of pursuing their basketball careers. They proved to be strong and determined to not let any of those obstacles ruin their lives.