Pursuit of happiness - lil huddy remix

By Jaden Bobb

Nothing brings people together more than basketball. Despite its competitive nature, the arguments, the aggressiveness, the trash talk, the surge of adrenaline achieved through victory, everything that ironically should separate people grants us a sense of unity. Through my journeys on the freshman and junior varsity Harvard-Westlake basketball teams, I felt I understood the harmony of basketball. However, once I quit the basketball team, basketball felt a lot less inspiring.

I wasn’t alone, though: a lot of my friends felt the same way and were estranged by Harvard-Westlake basketball just as I was. During the pandemic where basketball practices were few and far between, we frequently headed over to Max Shapiro’s house to hoop together. Eventually, we expanded this group to contain more hoopers from other schools as well.

After months of hoop sessions, one day we saw a TikTok that showed a group of friends creating their own AAU basketball team, and after a few days of discussion, we wanted to do the same. We started to create the team at Max’s house, which included designing the uniforms, assembling the proper identification for the players, and contacting the tournament manager. We went over the details and afterward decided to hoop. During a possession, Chris Spencer ’23 dribbled the ball up the court and shot the ball from very deep range. The ball hit the rim and sailed over the fence surrounding the basketball court, exiting the property and going onto the street. There was a loud bang which caught the attention of the neighbors across the street. What followed was a heated shouting match which somehow ended in the neighbors asking if they could come over and hoop with us. We agreed to welcoming the competition but did not know who the competitors would be. As a result, our group was surprised when Tik Tok personalities Barnscho, Baby7AM and Lil Huddy appeared at the gate. Despite our shock, we continued to play basketball with them, exchanging blows as the night went on. This practice of the influencers heading to our house became a mini-tradition, and eventually we named our AAU team after Baby7AM and assigned Baron to be our coach. Two years and 14 tournament championships later, I can’t be more thankful for this bizarre story. I interacted with and befriended some of the most passionate and bizarre people ever because of the team, ranging from referees, players, little kids, and angry parents. Most importantly, I was able to share my love of basketball with my closest friends. 7AM forever.