Mark Bradford

Today, again, I discovered that aging is a very real thing.

My wife Wendy and I were taking a 30-minute walk around the resort we are staying at in Myrtle Beach and I was feeling pretty good. As has become my morning regimen to help with my aging, I drank 20 gulps of water upon rising and had done a series of flexibility exercises designed to keep everything working, including my now balky knees which have become more arthritic this year than I ever could have anticipated.

However, with all the exercising I was doing, I thought I was getting a handle on it. I could do all the normal activities. I thought I could keep up with Wendy who, at 5-years younger still has the body of a 45-year old. I thought I was OK.

Then I tried to shoot a free throw.

A simple goddamn free throw. I've shot a thousand of them.

I had not touched a basketball in at least seven years. Maybe even longer than that. I have replaced what used to be my favorite sport with golfing (walking) and bicycling. Both of those sports involve a lot of knee action and bending over.

So, today as we walked, Wendy decided it was time to become playful and grabbed a basketball on an outdoor court and started shooting around.

I was intrigued. I have often wondered what playing basketball would be like in recent years. Could I still do it? I knew the game would have to be halfcourt only and that running would be considered a turnover.

Sort of like pickleball, you know? Not so much chase and more quick reaction.

So I grabbed a second ball that was available and in a few seconds I was taking a few layups and 5-10 footers. Yes, I was rusty, but I felt OK.

So, I decided to shoot a free throw. And that was when it happened.

My knees would NOT bend. I am serious.

I went through the motions, but without the knee bending, the ball was a foot short of the rim…an “air-ball.” No excuses.

I was surprised. That had never happened before. My knees always worked. Always.

So, I retrieved the ball and on my next try I actually tried to bend my knees as part of my old free throw motion. Same thing.

It's like my body had forgotten how to do it. Or maybe it got tired of doing it and was just refusing.

I tried five more times without success. Each time the ball clanged off the rim, it bounced at least 50 feet away so I was forced to walk, not run, to retrieve it. The area around the court dipped away from me so the ball rolled another 20 feet.

I even did a few deep knee bends before taking my sixth shot. No luck. The shot clanked off the front of the rim and rolled even further away than before.

Soon, it became my goal just to bend my knees and return to my old form. I was never good at free throws anyway, so missing the shots was not that surprising.

But having my knees refuse to bend. Well, THAT was disconcerting.

Finally, after about ten attempts, my knees bent. I missed the shot, but felt much better about myself.

I walked away from the court as a shaken man. The game I had grown up with, loved, wrote stories about, and played religiously well into my 40s had now, apparently abandoned me.

It was like losing an old friend. And knowing the friend was never coming back.

I am sure that this is “normal” aging. Kind of like hearing loss, your hair turning gray, etc. And I can accept that.

This one got my attention. It is something I will think about.

My guess is I will be taking free throws more often for the next few years, until I cannot take them anymore.

But I don't think it will be the same.

In fact, I know it won't.