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Last year was a tough one for basketball stars: first the Lakers crumbled in the NBA Finals against a team of lesser lights, and then our men’s Olympic team got beaten by Lithuania and Puerto Rico (among others). As the new NBA season gets underway, I find myself considering whether to pull down the Laker posters that paper the walls of my kids’ rooms. Never fear, though, because there are plenty of terrific role models left in the world of basketball. For example, Lisa Leslie led the U.S. women’s Olympic team to victory and Diana Taurasi brought home an NCAA championship as well as Olympic gold. Great basketball is also being played by boys and girls in gyms around Orange County. Which leads me to a local Diana Taurasi fan, Bonnie Samuelson of Fullerton. Eleven-year-old Bonnie dreams of playing basketball in the WNBA or the Olympics for three reasons: she’s tall, her mom and dad were pro-caliber basketball players, and she’s got one of the best foul shots in the country. Bonnie won her age division in the 2004 National Hoop Shoot Finals with a near-perfect performance, making 28 of her last 30 attempts. She’s the first national winner from Orange County. Getting publicity Bonnie’s title made her the subject of several newspaper stories and landed her an appearance on the Lakers halftime show during the 2004 NBA playoffs. Plus, her name is on a plaque in the Basketball Hall of Fame. All in all, it’s an impressive resume for an 11-year-old. Bonnie’s story, however, runs deeper than just one free-throw shooting title. It runs through the generations of a family known to Fullerton as “the Sams.” The four Samuelson boys were key to Sonora High School’s last basketball championship in 1983. The Sams now include grandfather Jerry Samuelson, grandmother Mary Lou, sons Steve, Jon, Eric and Mike, and their four wives and 10 children. Mary Lou and Jerry are my aunt and uncle, so I grew up playing with the Sams, especially on holidays and family occasions. My brother and I used to rule the roost back then, playing basketball against the younger boys on the Sams’ backyard court. Years later, we found ourselves playing at the same court, only now the full-grown Samuelson boys were a good eight or nine inches taller than us and infinitely more skilled at basketball. “This isn’t as much fun as it used to be,” my brother said. The fun house For more than 30 years, Jerry Samuelson, dean of arts at Cal State Fullerton, and Mary Lou, an author, have raised children and grandchildren and entertained countless friends at their home in Fullerton. That’s where I went this summer to see my cousin Jon and his wife Karen, so my kids could play with Jon’s daughter Bonnie and her two sisters. My daughter Jenny’s basketball team won its first championship this year and I half-expected that Jenny and Bonnie would square off on the Sams’ backyard court for a little one-on-one. “Are you wearing your basketball shoes?” I asked Jenny before we left. She said, “No, dad. Flip-flops. We’re going swimming, remember?” And the kids did swim for most of the afternoon, and then they were off to the Sams’ rec room to shoot pool. The rec room itself is a chronicle of Sonora High’s championship season and the Samuelsons’ basketball careers. There are pictures and trophies covering the walls. There is a classic picture taken shortly after the championship game, with Jon, Eric and Mike Samuelson celebrating on Sonora’s court with such exuberance that you have to smile. Milling about the rec room were Bonnie, her sisters, my daughter and my son. They occasionally paused from their game of pool to look closer at a game photo or trophy. In this environment, it seems that Bonnie’s winning ways aren’t remarkable but simply another page in the family’s basketball history. Adding to the legacy When I talked with Bonnie, she said, “I would like to continue the tradition, along with my sisters. It’s cool that I play in the gym that has pictures of my dad and my uncles on the wall.” What did Bonnie think of the U.S. women winning the Olympic gold medal in basketball? “I think they really deserved it as they worked hard and played as a team, unlike the men’s team.” Does she ever see herself playing at the Olympic or WNBA level? “Yes. But it will take lots of hard work, and lots of practice.” Even if Bonnie doesn’t find her way to the highest levels of basketball competition, she’s got plenty of other options. She said that she would like to teach physical education like her parents. She also has other interests that might determine the course she follows into adulthood: “I love piano, but I would also like to play volleyball, and continue to help my grandma write books.” The odds of Bonnie having a successful basketball career are not half bad because basketball’s in her blood. Her father Jon played pro basketball in England, and her mother Karen played in England’s national league. And it doesn’t hurt that Bonnie’s grandparents are, according to Jon, “always supportive, always there.” I asked Karen what her impression was when she first met the Sams. She said, “Awesome. They instantly made me one of their family as I didn’t have much of a family growing up.” Bonnie’s two sisters also benefit from the Sams’ support system. Jon said, “They seem to do well in any sport. They all played soccer, but do lean toward basketball, though that could be from us.” Bonnie and her sisters might be on the path to hoops stardom or the path to something otherwise worth celebrating, but it’s clear that they’ll have plenty of family support along the way. Bonnie plans to be back next year to defend her Hoop Shoot title, and she also hopes to assist sister Karlie in her own run at a title. It seems that the future of basketball lies more with local players like these than with our celebrated pros. The new NBA season isn’t hopeless just yet Allen Iverson still plays basketball like a house on fire, and I know that I’ll have to tune in for the Christmas Day Kobe vs. Shaq matchup. But if you ever feel jaded watching the pros play, just remember that the true spirit of the game resides in our local gyms, and in places like the Samuelson’s rec room. David Kries writes from Mission Viejo. For Letters: ocfamily.com |
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