Ball Up Top
Pickup basketball has a small ritual for restarting play after every stoppage: check the ball at the top of the key. It turns out to be a pretty good rule for the rest of life too.
July 5, 2026
Sports teach us a lot of life lessons. One of my recent favorites: ball up top.
If you’ve never played pickup basketball, here’s the quick version. The game stops constantly. Someone scores, someone fouls, the ball goes out of bounds. And every time it does, play can’t just resume on its own. Both teams have to check the ball. One player passes it, the other catches it, and just like that, the game is back on.
It’s a small act, but it means something. We both acknowledge what just happened, and now we move on. The check happens at the top of the key. Hence the phrase.
That’s the lesson: acknowledge, reset, and keep going.
Some days you feel unstoppable. Your offense and defense are clicking, and you’re handling everything life throws at you. Some days you feel helpless, life is shooting 65% from three and your team can’t stop turning it over. And then there are those days where you’re playing at a genuinely high level, doing everything right, and life is just playing a little bit better.
Doesn’t matter. You learn, you adapt, you reset, and you keep moving forward.
Check. Ball up top.