Being a Male Basketball Player
About Samuel Malm
I bet that you don’t know anything about how just being a boy and playing basketball could have influenced you and your entire life. Have you even ever wondered about this? Well, Samuel Malm, a 11th grader at ZIS has played basketball since he was 6 and is ready to tell us more about how this has influenced him in his life.
When you wake up in the morning do you have a goal for the day?
“My goal is to be the best in what I do...especially basketball. My morning routine is, I wake up in the morning, do a workout before school, then go to school and do all of my classes. So workout, breakfast, get ready for the day, and sometimes a cold shower.”
Have you ever seen or played a game that has helped you improve in basketball? What game?
“A game that I played was in the summer, July, where I scored about 7 three pointers…
and in total I think that I got 35 points, and that really helped to boost my confidence in myself as a basketball player and as a person.”
Do you have any motivational speeches or songs that you like to listen to that drives you? Or, what is something that drives you?
“I have lots of songs and speeches from famous people from the past like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and a lot of other legends. Also what motivates me… whenever people doubt me I take that to the heart… as Jordan says, it becomes personal to me, so I need to prove that other people are wrong, and sometimes I even make up stuff that people say just so that I can get this energy and motivation.”
Why have you wanted to play basketball for all of these years and what have you found interesting playing basketball?
“I just love the sport. Just how the game is played and how you play it is just so fun. It’s a fast-paced game and either team can win, no matter who has the badder player...I mean, I’ve seen and played games where one team was down by 30 points and actually ended up winning. So I just think that it is really fun. I mean, my dream is to be in the NBA, and I’ve seen stuff that could potentially make that happen.”
Do you think that being a boy and playing basketball has given you an advantage?
“Unfortunately… boy sports get paid more than women's sports. I think that it has been easier for me to find basketball teams and find more opportunities because of that.”
How do you think that playing basketball in different countries has helped you?
“It’s given me different types of playing styles...here in Europe it is very physical, and there’s not a lot of plays. It’s a lot more one-on-one basketball. It’s very physical compared to the US where you’ve got about 20 plays that you’ve got to memorize and the refs are more picky… it’s just different the way the games are played. I think that this has helped me a ton...playing here physically -I’m already used to that- because I love when people play rough, and in the US it helped me as well because I wasn’t afraid to get hit or anything.”
“My goal is to be the best.”
-Samuel Malm
How do you think that you will go on in life?
“Almost all of the coaches say that I have division one (highest place) college basketball talent… I believe in myself that I can get to the top. I had a big school in Michigan that contacted me and said that they kind of believed in me and know that I could play, so that helps a lot.”
How do you think playing basketball as a boy will help you?
“I mean, there is a lot of influence outside of the game… I mean, for example, you’ve got this racism that is unfortunately still happening today where you’ve got LeBron who’s a big part of that… and together with the NBA organizations trying to stop that.”
Would you say anything to your younger self, or other people who’ve had similar experiences with basketball. What and Why?
“I would say to my younger self just to start playing basketball at a younger age and take it more seriously, I would say this because I may be better than I am now or I have more confidence in myself… The big thing I’d say is just to believe in yourself...I mean in the end it comes down to confidence and your work ethic. Your mental game is super important because that is where it all happens. Just believe in yourself and be yourself.”
““I believe in myself that I can get to the top.””
