Wheelchair Basketball: Injuries

Series Summary

Basketball, b-ball, hoops—these are all names for one of the most popular games in America. Whether it’s professional play in the NBA, college games, the local high school team, a friendly one-on-one game, or outdoor at the playground, basketball is exciting and fast-paced, pitting player against player and skill against skill. Having strong fundamentals like dribbling, passing, and shooting is the key to the success of any aspiring player or team. Though flashy dunks, trick shots, and showy dribbling are fun to watch and have their place, they often create a “superstar” mentality that ultimately hurts the team if not put in check. What makes basketball great is the combination of individual talent and team strategy, ultimately producing a match that’s sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. Wheelchair basketball is enjoyed by many players with many different injuries and levels of disability. In this free sports video series, a world champion and paralympic medalist will teach you how to play wheelchair basketball. Discover the exciting world of offensive and defensive strategies, teamwork, practice, training and fitness. Get tips about basketball wheelchairs, the mental part of the game, who is permitted to play, how to shoot and how to maximize your strengths.

Video Transcript

"One of the most amazing parts of this entire game to me, is the athlete. And the disabilities that they have. And how they acquired those disabilities, and how inspiring they are to overcome those disabilities. And we're all a little bit different. Some guys will walk in the gym, and they might be missing a foot, they jump in their wheelchair. Those are amputees. other guys have a spinal cord injury. Maybe from a gunshot. Maybe from a car wreck. It could be really low in their back, it could be up in their mid chest. Now, if somebody has broken their neck, and can't move their arms or legs, that's a quadriplegic. Unfortunately, they don't have the arm strength to play wheelchair basketball. To be able to shoot a ball up to the basket. And there's all kinds of different disabilities. Some people were born, maybe, with Spina Bifida. And so, they, you know, they were born that way, they can play wheelchair basketball. Many people become disabled, and it's not uncommon that, you know, ten thousand young men every year in the United States of America between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, fall off a mountain, or, you know, get in a car wreck, or they just get hurt. And, it effects, it effects their legs, obviously. Like me, I'm a complete paraplegic. I do not have any ability to stand, to walk, to limp. But half of my teammates do. You'd see them sitting there like me, but then when they get home, they wouldn't live in their wheelchair. They put their wheelchair in the back of their van or what not, and they would, they would live around their house on their feet. So, it's just very complicated, and I don't want to bore you to death, but there are rules that you have to have a certain level of disability to legally be able to play wheelchair basketball in the United States."