#From rookie to all star football story full

His influence-on music, on culture-stretched across the world. Steve had founded Loud Records and signed Wu-Tang to his label. Only later, after they became friends but before they became housemates, then more like brothers, did Reyes discover what Steve Rifkind, AlexвЂ™s father, did for work.

#From rookie to all star football story full

He could not yet carry full conversations, but he knew every word to вЂњGravel Pit.вЂќ But he piped up whenever Wu-Tang blared over the speakers. He would ride with AlexвЂ™s family to games, still learning a new language. Reyes met Rifkind on the AAU basketball circuit. He didnвЂ™t want them to worry, not with so much at stake. When he could, he purchased gas station phone cards to call home, and when his parents asked for progress updates, he said things were great, terrific, easy. He had come too far, surrendered too much. Reyes even slept on a park bench one night, when he had flown back from Chile and no one knew he was coming in, so nobody picked him up.Д«ut go back? Hell no. It sucked, all these Rosetta Stone imitations, the grumbling stomach, the prospect perpetually in search of a home.

He did the same thing with rap lyrics, pulling up YouTube, using the subtitles, until he could recite every Wu-Tang lyric. He filled notebooks with trickier ones, like вЂњcucumber.вЂќ He watched The Matrix and other films with the subtitles turned on, pausing after each scene to translate. To learn English, he borrowed a Blackberry, looking up words in the dictionary and writing them down.

Then heвЂ™d portion them out to last for days. He befriended the manager of a donut shop nearby, arriving just before close to buy the leftovers at a discount, 12 doughnuts for $1. Reyes would spend $23 on protein powder at Walmart and allocate the rest toward cans of beans, Ramen noodles and jars of peanut butter and jelly, which he sometimes combined and ate without bread. This coach, George Perez, connected Reyes with the coaches at Westlake Prep in south Florida, and just like that, his life changed-for the first time.Д®very month, his parents sent $50 for food. Flew to Texas for an AAU Tournament, where he averaged 28 points and 14 rebounds, catching the eye of a coach from his country with connections to AAU programs in the States. Reyes could play, and after a growth spurt, the Chilean national team called.

He dreamed about dunking and NBA riches, an alternate universe, another life. He would eventually dribble all over the neighborhood, mimicking his idol, LeBron James. His parents, both hoopers, placed a roundball in his hands before he could walk. Thank God for basketball, his sport and his solace and the source of his earliest memories. If that meant there wasnвЂ™t enough money for food, he starved. If that meant walking 45 minutes to and from school because he couldnвЂ™t afford the bus fare, he walked. His mother, Rossana Martel, worked as a teacher his father, Daniel Reyes, took on odd jobs, and his family did whatever it could to survive.