meet justin jenifer, a ten-year-old ranked as the best basketball player his age in the country.
yep, they rank ten-year-olds for basketball.
his father pushes him relentlessly. adidas showers him with gifts. he plays (and dominates) against players much older than him. and he's got high schools - high schools! - already jockeying for him.
the article has a video of him playing, and he's incredible. it also shows his father training him by making him run the steps and do pushups after misses and all that.
again, he's ten.
and it just shows how bastardized our country has become for celebrity.
this poor kid's gonna be burned out by the time he's sixteen - whether he admits it or not - and then forced to play ball because it's what's expected of him. and this chance for future success (which might not pan out if he doesn't grow) would only cost him his childhood.
i hope the poor kid makes it and enjoys it. because it already seems like a job to him.
and he's just ten.
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