Everything else is secondary. Whether it be in Madison Square Garden or a ghetto playground, the court is the same size and the rim is ten feet tall. The ball used for play does not change and common rules apply at every location. Basketball transcends race, religion, economic background, sex, and even physical handicaps. It is unbiased and consistent.
Basketball is played in every country by players of every skill level and enjoyed by all peoples.
Basketball has a way of growing on you. It becomes a part of you, a driving force, a compulsion, an addiction, an obsession. It came to me as an early child, grew with me to adolescence, and has been faithful into my adulthood. I remember the shady confines of my backyard with its huge overbearing hickory trees. It was a relatively small backyard, but it had a half dozen or so giant hickories which shielded the court from the harsh summer sun.