I remember the times when I was a child and my father brought me to the Palacio Municipal de Deportes Vista Alegre de Córdoba, home of the legendary CajaSur (Club Baloncesto Juventud de Córdoba), which at that time it played in the LEB, and then ended up being diluted (and merged with another local club) within lower categories. I don’t remember if it was before or after those occasions, but the first image I have of a basketball game on TV was Djordjevic’s three-points at the Palau Blaugrana in June 2000, giving the ACB League title to Real Madrid under a very young (and already gelled) Sergio Scariolo. Those arms raised under culers whistles and boos engraved in my mind an image difficult to forget in that not so glorious era of the white club in basketball (or not as glorious as this last one we have been living since Don Pablo Laso took over the reins of a team even more ill-fated -if it can be said- than that of the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century).

My parents always brought us to swim a couple of times a week, after ending the lessons at school. But in fifth grade, I wanted to give a twist to my sporting activity by joining a basketball team, the CB San Lorenzo de Córdoba. I didn’t train a lot, as I arrived after Christmas time, and the games I played were even less, maybe a couple, if I remember correctly. But I felt very much loved by my teammates. The team hadn’t had a great season, but I was still considered a talisman, as we won the last two regular league games with me in the squad. Whenever you play, we win, Javi. It’s a pity it didn’t come sooner, otherwise we might even make the playoffs!

We moved, and there we became members of the local club, CB Encinarejo (from Córdoba). They were even lower categories than my CajaSur, but the team played well, and one of those years even qualified for promotion. It didn’t make it, and soon after I would also end up not following it. But my love for basketball continued to grow. Imagine how important this club was in such a small town that we even brought Fernando Romay to an event, forgive me, readers, but I can’t remember if it was the Town Fair, the (Sports) Book Fair or both at the same time…

I remember the first League (ACB) of my dear Llull, a very young guard who arrived from Manresa not long before. That three-points by Herreros (whom I had met a few years earlier at a basketball event in Torre del Mar, Malaga) I couldn’t see it live, as I was playing trombone in the Esperanza, a band already mentioned previously in another entry of this blog. One of these days, I will continue remembering those years in the band, in which, although it’s been more than five years since I played the trombone last time, I still belong, and why not, someday I will play again…

After this brief musical pause, we return to basketball, to remember the moment when our beloved Pablo Laso arrived, and that’s when I really became a fan of such a beautiful sport as basketball. My father and I used to joke (and we still do!) calling the basketball team as the good Madrid and the football team as the bad Madrid. Even considering that in those years, the football team was winning a lot of Champions League titles. But the basketball Madrid was playing very well. And on top of that, they were winning European Cups again!

It was summer 2013 (just after losing that Euroleague final against Olympiacos) and I printed the photo of my Madrid as ACB League Champion. But what year is that from, if Madrid hasn’t won anything this year? The good Madrid, Samuel, the good Madrid, that this year Mirotic can boast of winning leagues. Then he would go to the NBA and then to Barça, to win titles, as my dear Lolaso would say, whom I would begin to follow on Twitter several summers later (when I opened an account on that social network, which today I have closed again!).

But before I opened Twitter, I would already leave for a big tournament: Eurobasket 2017. It’s something I can’t say, at least for the moment, of the (misnamed) king sport. That was like the Copa del Rey we lived in 2023 with SergioBasket_Vlogs, or the Euroleague Final Four that same year, in Kaunas. Six years before these events that I lived through social networks (and the best basketball channel that can exist right now, it’s my opinion, but also my information), I was there in Cluj, Romania. It was an unforgettable experience, and I hope it can be repeated, who knows, if with the good Madrid or with the bad Madrid, or paraphrasing the same, with the bad Spain or with the good Spain, like the one I saw that summer in Romanian lands. There I was, close to Navarro, Abrines, Oriola, Juancho, Willy, Marc, Ricky, Sastre, Vives, Chacho, San Emeterio and Don Pau Gasol, who in the game that pitted the Spanish national team against the Hungarian national team would overtake the great Tony Parker as the top scorer in the history of the European Championships (basketball, of course). Well, that’s where I was. And I remember perfectly how the video scoreboard pointed it out. As I said before, unforgettable. As unforgettable is the photo I took with the first coach who made us World Champions in a senior national team (first Gold we got with the highest category of basketball! as we had previously tasted Gold, thanks to these same players, when they were Juniors). What a team we had both on the court and in the stands, as well as commentating the game: Pepu Hernandez. That year 2017 we would not climb to the first step, but we would also gained metal, after beating Russia in the match for third and fourth place, once we had been eliminated by the Champion Slovenia of the merengues (Real Madrid players) Doncic and Randolph.

And little more I could add in this long episode of my blog, so far the most, but so much Love, so much Support, and so many Years are difficult to summarize in just 5 minutes of reading, I hope at least enjoyable, my dear reader, if not because you like basketball, because you like the great moments, or memories perhaps 😉.

Before finishing, I would like to highlight my passage through the YouTube and Twitch channels of Colgados del Aro, which entertained us so much (and made us happy! A lot!) during the COVID-19 Pandemic. And my discovery of a great channel, which today I can confirm that it is further more than that. A feeling. A way of life. SergioBasket_Vlogs. My father recommended it to me on YouTube. And then I did the same to him on Twitch.

It was June 2022 when I first listened to his channel on the purple platform (yes, you read that right, I say listened, because that’s how I did it that day in the car just after work). And as I previously did with so many other channels on this social network, I wrote him a message (before I started driving, of course!). Havie77, from England. Good morning, you know the London Lyons there, don’t you? Those were the first words that young guy of 34 years old, just turned 34, said to me. I remember perfectly. But especially of that Eurobasket at the same year. Game against Belgium, in the first round. And the important thing was not happening on the court. Not even in the stands: Havie gifted 5 subs: and we reached the amount of 100!!!! That day began a Love for a channel that today, I can’t stop continuing. The subscriptions stopped coming out of my pocket, but they were a first stone for a great Sheikh, Juanmin!!!, to put us beyond the barrier of 200… and 400 (I think), in successive competitions.

Today I can’t stop watching this YouTube and Twitch channel. And I can’t stop reading his book either. Today was going to be the third day of the last four to read it, accomplishing something I hadn’t achieved in a long time. In the end, I decided to write my own Diary. The one that inspires me to write at night, as I said a few evenings ago, in a Course called Create Your Personal Brand that I am currently performing thanks to Sergio Vegas himself, who is its Founder and Director.

Follower, Subscriber, Member, and now also your Student! My Friend, this post is for You. Because without You, this would not be possible. We were born the same year, and in the end the same sport and the same hobby has united us.

May what Basketball has united us, may Friendship continue to embrace us.

Let’s talk about Basketball! C’mon!!!