i've got that hunger again. i want to put on that green jersey and step onto the courts one final time. i want to feel the ball in my hands. i want to burn the opponent, pull it back and burn them again. i want to put the ball through the hoop. i want to hear the swish of the net. i want to hear the crowd cheer. i want to believe there's no one to stop us. it's lonely at the top but that's where i want to be. i want to do it with my team like we did four years ago. i want to be better than i've ever been, because there's no better time. i want to stop the fantasies of buzzer beaters in the finals, because fantasies are only for dreamers.

i want to make it happen. i want the glory. i want that winning feeling. i want to call ourselves champions. i want to hold my breath and fall when everything ends because i never want it to end. i want it for the guys who want it more than me, but have never tasted it because it wasn't their time. i want the clock to run in reverse, to relive the better days, but i want the clock to run down so we know we made it. i want to know how the sun rises on the day when all seems impossible, but seemingly possible. sometimes we fly so high we forget, that at the bottom of it all, there's everything to fall. i want the giants to be reacquainted with the ground, because it where we all put our feet on. i want to live that day over and over again in my head, because we only get one chance at making history.

i want it all. i want it bad. but i want nothing more than to stand up at the very end, next to the people who were there with me every step of the way. who bled with me, cried with me, fought with me, won with me and lost with me. i want them to know this is how champions are made. i want them to remember why we did what we did, and how we got to where we are. because when the dust settles, when all the medals have rusted and the distant sound of glory rings deaf, only the memories remain.

it's not a want, but a need.

we begin.