Nabilah

Bismillah

Nabilah is a girl I met during MASUM training. She started basketball when she entered USM and entered MASUM in her first year. Pretty impressive for a first timer. She trains with the chinese, plays with them, and dia sometimes hang out with them although dia tau sometimes, dia tak se-power chinese. Ho lah. State/national players vs what.. 1 year of playing experience?

But the thing is, she's not afraid of stepping out her comfort zone of being friends with only malays and learning new things, learning basketball.

Satu benda aku observe basketball ni, kalau melayu, nak jadi jaguh kampung, and only jaguh kampung. I can't say thats the case for UITM men because they've earned bragging rights for being national champs for 2 consecutive years already. But I notice.. Kebanyakan melayu, lelaki or perempuan, bila main basketball nak main dengan melayu je.

Tak macam Nabilah. She knows she can learn more from
Chinese, so she plays with them.

Sometimes, I see like a group of players yang kononnya gah tapi aku tak pernah tengok depa main dengan chinese. Spreading the word, sharing basketball messages macam 'basketball is my life' lah ape la.. I mean, c'mon lah. When its your passion, you don't have to keep on telling the world it is. And then you stay at the same spot, not wanting to get out of your comfort zone, and stay jaguh kampung. Boleh la trash talk, cakap besar sesama orang melayu. Cuba test skill dengan orang bangsa lain? A different league?

Man its really a turn off how some people have the nerve to talk big when they're only half of what they really are. Itu tak masuk attitude dalam court bila nampak perempuan/lelaki observing them from outside!

Nabilah is a real girl, with real passion for basketball. And its sad why some malays see her based on the exterior. Maybe because she doesnt play with them, dont always post basketball stuff, they dont see her as a passionate player. She's really, one in a million.