Four years ago during Crown League’s inaugural season, the head of security told me that one of the players was being disrespectful and asked me to speak with him. I didn’t know him at the time, but it was Richard Amardi. This dude didn’t care what I had to say and was looking at me like, “Who is this guy talking to me like this!?” Meanwhile, I’m thinking the same thing while he’s giving me attitude. The following summer, there’s a 6’9” guy working security at Crown, he looked vaguely familiar, but never made eye contact with me. I saw players approach him and ask why he wasn’t playing, then realized it was the same guy from the year before. “Irony,” I thought. Last summer, at the start of Crown Amardi approached me - we hadn’t spoken since our first encounter two years ago. He apologized for his behaviour and told me he’s different now. He told me it had been bothering him and he wanted to shed his knucklehead reputation and show everyone he could play ball. I thanked him, and then he went out and did it - as Player of the Week and then helping lead 6Man to the championship game. This isn’t supposed to be a fairytale/happy ending analogy, I’m just illustrating how in a basic way, the game has the ability to change people and challenge them to become better individuals. I’m getting ready more of that tomorrow and throughout the summer. 📸 @niketoronto #crownleague #ballislife #claimroyalty #toronto #hoops #justdoit
