Thinking out loud

On a thread over on Cats.com:

Man, I wish he played for an East Coast team.

Me too. One that plays at the Belk Arener.

What he said.

So I said: I don’t know. For the most part I think Stephen at this point is where he wants to be and where he should be.

Which led to ...

Wants? Yes. Should? Not in my book.

How does one conclude with certainty he SHOULD be playing for a woeful team with a selfish point guard, without a prayer of making the playoffs, instead of adding to his incredible legacy and experiencing a senior year that he will never have a chance to re-live.

He should be a senior at Davidson.

Certainly I wouldn’t have minded, either, had Stephen stayed for his senior season and graduated with his class. But this conversation at this point always makes me uncomfortable. Part of me thinks it’s selfish almost by definition. We wanted him to stay because we wanted to watch him play. Not only play. Play for us.

Stephen was, and is, a Davidson person, and we understand that. But Stephen is, and was, a basketball person, too, and not all of us understand that. Last spring he took a long time to make a hard decision. I think the process took so long because it was in essence those two different Stephens having with each other a difficult conversation that had no easy answer. For basketball Stephen to make a wise business decision it had to come at the expense of Davidson Stephen. I watched that unfold more empathetic than anxious. In the end, though, he did make the right business decision.

What does he think now? Who knows? I haven’t talked to him in months. I wouldn’t ask him about it even if I did. I would imagine he’s some kind of version of what a lot of the rest of us are if we’re lucky: Sometimes he’s real happy with where he is, sometimes he’s alone and gets to thinking, and sometimes he just gets up and goes to work.

The other thing is that still talking about this also makes it seem like we aren’t paying attention to the interesting exercise this season has been and will continue to be. One of the things we learned right away about Stephen when he was at Davidson was that he had an unusual ability to “forget” previous missed shots so that the next shot might be made. That maybe is a gift greater than some of his considerable physical skills, more elusive, and something that obviously is easier said than done: Be here now.