Basketball and Esquire's 'Meaning of Life 2012'

I don't read Esquire Magazine as much as I'd like to but I'm always impressed by the thoughtfulness of their articles. The annual 'Meaning of Life' issues, hyperbole aside are always a good read. Most notable are Cal Fussman's profiles which reliably capture the heart of his subjects.

I referenced George Clooney indirectly for my Oceans '12 Team USA poster. Clooney is a big time basketball fan, his court was featured in the cover article for Esquire's 'Meaning of Life 2012'.

George Clooney's Thoughts for Today. What I've Learned (This Year)
The court has a special, slightly padded surface, and it's set up for both tennis and basketball. Clooney's close circle of friends shows up to play regularly. The padding around one of the hoop stanchions says, "The Boys." ...

There are quite a few things that the devil could tempt me with. I would argue youth. But I could argue against it in so many ways. The only reason that being younger would in any way be appealing is that I wish I could play sports at the level I now understand them. I could dunk a ball when I was in high school. But now I know how to play the game really well. I remember getting into varsity basketball games and literally being just lost — just absolutely panicked on what to do. And now I would know exactly what to do.

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Chris Bosh: What I've Learned
When I arrived at training camp, ESPN had set up shop and you'd hear, "Reporting live from training camp." I'm thinking, What are they doing? This is what they do for the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA finals. That was the we're-not-in-Kansas-anymore moment. And it was like that for the whole time 

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Scottie Pippen: What I've Learned
Phil got us into yoga. It was tough in the beginning. We hadn't even heard of yoga. But it was something that allowed us to calm down after practice, to relax and stop thinking about going to the mall to buy this or that. It's seldom that you go into a gym and not hear a basketball bouncing or weights dropping. But the lights would dim after practice, and over time it became a sacred place.