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Ball Don't Lie: Book Review |
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Written by Administrator
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Tuesday, 06 December 2005 |
 "Ball Don’t Lie" is the story of Sticky, a foster kid from Southern California
whose life has been anything but easy. But his great equalizer is that he can ball - you can’t
help but immediately compare Sticky to B-Rabbit, Eminem’s character in
in “8 Mile.†And like Rabbit, Sticky’s gift is the only thing
that can potentially give him a better life. But it’s up to Sticky to
make it happen.
There’s really nothing that bothers us more than when someone who doesn’t
know ball, who’s never played ball, tries to talk or write like a player
would. We can always see right through it. De la Pena played Division I ball
at Pacific University, and one of his greatest strengths in telling Sticky’s
story is that the game action and the dialogue among the characters feels on
point....
Dime: What influenced you to write the book?
Matt de la Pena: Honestly, when I started writing seriously
I tried really hard to avoid writing hoops. But then seeing a kid like Jason
Williams come into the league and play with such flash -- I was like, there’s
so much more happening here than just the stuff we’re getting on TV. I grew
up in an all-black gym. My mentors as a kid weren’t white or Mexican, they were
black. And when I started to understand the beauty of that, I was moved to write
about it.
Dime: How much did playing for Pacific help you in writing
the book?
Matt: Playing at UOP was great. We were always at the top of
the Big West, we shot tons of threes, and we had an offensive-minded head coach.
The relationships I formed with East Coast guys was interesting, too. Of course,
my coach thought I was crazy -- I used to bring a guitar on every road trip,
I wrote a short story in the school paper every other week, I won this big writing
prize my junior year -- but many of my teammates are probably represented in
the book. We were so different -- they were rap, I was rock -- but we all lined
up at the financial aid office at the start of every year to collect the same
pell grant.
It’s funny, there’s a certain level of brotherhood that comes out of growing
up poor.
But the voices in the book, the verve, that stuff’s not about UOP. It’s about
Muni Gym in Balboa Park (San Diego). I grew up in that gym. I was the only white
person - actually, I’m Hispanic - the only kid, but these guys taught me the
world. The ball was amazing. The social interaction was invaluable. A guy with
nothing to his name offering to buy me a hot dog. I owe this book to these faceless
characters.
Dime: What was your reasoning in making Sticky’s character
the way he was?
Matt: Sticky can’t control the big things in his life -- he’s
passed around to a handful of different foster families, his mom is MIA, he
never knew his dad -- so he tries to control the little things. That’s why I
made him OCD. It made sense to me. He’s also very much a reactionary character.
Things happen and he deals. This is the way he gets through life. It’s also
the reason he’s such an amazing baller. Guys who think too much can only get
so far in hoops. That was my problem. I was so content to get a D1 ride that
I’d sometimes hold myself back from taking the next step, excelling at the D1
level.
Dime: Is any part of the story real or patterned after yourself or
someone you know?
Matt: I’d be lying if I said none of this stuff is directly
taken from my life. Lincoln Rec is almost an exact replica of the gym I grew
up hooping in. This is my experience in that environment. The big difference
is the character. Sticky has had a tough road. I’m not a foster kid. Maybe the
difference is this: I went home after every day I spent in the gym; Sticky doesn’t
have a home.
Dime: How hard was it to balance Sticky’s struggles in real
life with his success on the basketball court?
Matt: Isn’t hoops the great equalizer? If you can ball, nothing
can touch you during the theater of pick-up hoops. If you notice, Sticky doesn’t
do the whole OCD thing when he’s playing. Ball is his haven. It’s his church.
And he spends as much time as he can in that environment. Off the court he doesn’t
have an ounce of control. It’s all about self-sabotage, you know? I know so
many great players who live that dual life.
Dime: Can you explain the title?
Matt: "Ball Don’t Lie." I think it has two meanings. The first
is obvious: doesn’t matter who you are off the court, you can’t fake it when
you got somebody isolated on the wing. The second is more of a stretch: There’s
all this talk surrounding hoops. Posturing, etc. The title kinda says "Don’t
talk about it, be about it."
Dime: If you had to pick two players from the NBA, who do you
think has similar game to Sticky’s?
Matt: I’m gonna choose just one: Jason Williams. Every hoop
action scene I wrote I thought about Jason. Say what you will about the guy,
and he’s a very polarizing player, but I think he transcends the game of basketball.
I think he’s an artist. A trailblazer. And I’m not sure he’s even aware of it.
Do I start my team with him if I’m a GM? Maybe not. Do I pay to watch his art.
Hell yes!
Dime: How do you think your book will impact the younger players
growing up in today’s rougher neighborhoods?
Matt: I sincerely hope the book is embraced as a little piece
of urban truth. I didn’t write it to save the world. I always explain it like
this: Sticky’s sitting on a bus stop bench on the corner of Lincoln and Venice
Blvd. He’s holding a basketball. All these fancy cars are driving by. Business
people. Actors. Ad execs. Nobody sees Sticky sitting there. Well, for 300 pages
I wanted people to SEE him. Because his life is beautiful.
Dime: Who was your target audience?
Matt: I’d love for the book to be embraced by the hoop culture.
But my target audience is anybody who wants to read about real life.
Dime: Honestly, what do you think of Dime (Laughing)?
Matt: Dime is amazing. It’s mature, but incredibly soulful.
And the writing is strong. It’s an honor to be noticed by Dime.
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