A Very Roommates Afternoon

Let me paint the picture for you. The New York Knicks are on a historical championship run. They city is more alive than it’s even felt before. The entire city skyline is lit up orange and blue every night. Thousands of people from all walks of life, all ages, all ethnicities, all genders gathering together to watch the games and cheer for something bigger than basketball itself. It feels electric, otherworldly, and like redemption all at the same time.

Sometime in May, our captain, Jalen Brunson and the “Hart” of the city Josh Hart team up with Airbnb for a special experience. A number of bookings would be available on Airbnb to spend the afternoon playing lawn games and watching a live taping of the podcast Jalen and Josh host, “The Roommates Show”. I set my alarm to a few minutes before the booking is to go live and when it goes off, I nervously pace back and forth in my living room until the “book” button becomes available. I click it and ……..they’re sold out. How?! I feel a wave of disappointment wash over me and then, to soothe myself, I say to myself “If I’m meant to book this experience then the universe will deliver”.

A few weeks later, a notification from Airbnb pops up. More bookings have become available. I click without hesitation and this time, I book two spots! My husband and I will be spending the afternoon with two of the New York Knicks starting five in just two months time. There goes the universe doing what it does best, delivering. And there I go, doing what I’m learning to do best, receiving.

Fast Forward to July 17th. I’m running full speed to give my teammate the bean bags I just threw for his turn at corn hole. He throws them and runs to bring them back to me. This continues for 10 minutes back and forth. I’m sweating profusely and running faster than I have ever ran before but it feels only right to put forth this kind of athletic effort when your team captain is non other than NBA champion Josh Hart. And when you’re competing against a team whose captain is non other then NBA finals MVP Jalen Brunson. At the end of the 10 minutes my teammate and I get two more throws each. Points are doubled. As I prepare to throw my bag, Brunson gets on the microphone and “clears his throat”. I miss. I miss both throws. His tactic to throw me off worked. I folded under pressure but how absolutely awesome is it that I got to fold in front of, and because of, the MVP! Still, I must have my redemption.

The rest of the attendees compete in some more games and before we know it, it’s time for the podcast filming. We all sit and watch the champs talk about various topics in an intimate and personal way. Then it’s time for fan questions. Both of my questions that I submitted prior to the day get selected. One is about my son’s pregame eating habits (which are non existent). The question prompts Jalen and Josh to ask who in the audience asked the question. I raise my hand and for you the next few minutes we have a conversation and share a few laughs like good friends over dinner. Jalen finishes off the conversation with solid advice: “If it doesn’t stop, it will only get worse”. Surely if my son won’t listen to me, he will listen to the King of New York.

Before we know it, it’s time to announce the winners of the games. Team Brunson wins by 10 points but, honestly, did anyone expect anything different after the way Brunson cleaned up every award and trophy that he’s been up for this year? Again, it’s only fitting. We take some photos with our teams and with the champs and spill back out into the sunny streets of New York City. And just like that, our very roommates afternoon is complete but the way the experience expanded me will last forever.

A few weeks later I would get a version of the redemption I was looking for. My son would be attending a Knicks Jr. camp. At the end of camp each day they would ask a few parents to come up and shoot “pressure free throws” for prizes. They’re called pressure free throws because as you’re making the shot there’s about 100 kids screaming right behind you and about 10 members of staff directly in front of you blocking your shot with their bodies, waving their arms, their clip boards, and whatever else maybe available. I would walk up to the free throw line, block out the noise (like I should’ve a few weeks ago) and without hesitation shoot a perfect free throw. All net. The camp director would be shocked and call it “unbelievable”. And although it wasn’t a shot made in front of the captain, my quest for redemption would be complete. Because all I ever wanted to prove is that I can block out the noise and remain effective under pressure. And, ultimately, the only person I wanted to prove it to is myself.