{"id":13046,"date":"2024-08-02T13:23:42","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T18:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/?p=13046"},"modified":"2024-09-20T14:16:11","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T19:16:11","slug":"i-want-to-become-part-of-the-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/i-want-to-become-part-of-the-nba\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Want to Make it to the NBA\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13052\" src=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-300x207.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"988\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-1024x708.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-768x531.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-1536x1062.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-2048x1416.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-350x242.jpg 350w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-560x387.jpg 560w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-500x346.jpg 500w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-700x484.jpg 700w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1813-2-scaled.jpg 2560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 988px) 100vw, 988px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Elijah Rodr\u00edguez is a 14-year-old teenager who has loved playing basketball since he was a child. Each summer he looks forward to the seasonal league, Hoops in the Hood, put together by New Life Centers in Little Village. This community initiative creates safe spaces for youth to interact and build positive relationships with their friends, teammates, and adults fostering a sense of community.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Elijah tells us that he joined the New Life Centers league two years ago, and it has been a valuable experience. <\/span><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cSince I joined the basketball program, I feel like something has changed in my life because I see it as something very special. This sport opens the door to other sports, have healthy fun, have a good time with your friends, and keep yourself busy with something.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For Elijah, the opportunity to practice this sport not only allows him to have fun and have a good time with his friends but also helps him set goals for the future, <\/span><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cMy goal is to one day play in the NBA because I love basketball, and I enjoy it a lot as if it were a part of me.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">He admits that promoting these sports leagues brings many benefits to the community. It promotes peace in the community to reduce violence<\/span><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. \u201cAll of us who play this sport know that it is a healthy way to have fun and that it brings peace of mind to the community, we are all together and play in peace.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">He hopes to continue playing to improve his skills as he gains experience. <\/span><b><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cMy family supports my decisions and from my perspective, parents love bringing their children to play and have fun here, so that means it&#8217;s a good thing.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Elijah recently graduated from eighth grade and hopes to play basketball in high school when he starts at the Chicago Bulls College Prep in the fall.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:6,&quot;335551620&quot;:6,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13059\" src=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"761\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-560x373.jpg 560w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-700x467.jpg 700w, https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/IMG_1841-scaled.jpg 2560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Elijah Rodr\u00edguez is a 14-year-old teenager who has loved playing basketball since he was a child. Each summer he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":13054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newlifecenters.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}