Voiceover: It is fall, 1978. Davis Ball tries out for the Cal-Poly Christian basketball team as a freshman. Nobody knew just how hard he’d work to make the cut.
Pip (teammate): One thing about Davis Ball, he was short. Like, really short.
Jerome (teammate): I think he was 5 foot 2, but he walked in with this mindset of, hey, I’m here to play.
Duncan (coach): It’s tryouts, and he’s outworking everybody. I mean everybody. And I have to say, I’m impressed. But “impressed” isn’t enough.
Surr (assistant coach): Davis was slow. Very slow. And he had trouble recognizing faces. But he wanted it, you know? He had something.
Keith (assistant coach): When did I realize Davis was special? When he got stepped on. Total accident, but we had to stop to make sure he was all right.
Duncan (coach): He wasn’t all right.
Scotch (teammate): His knee was backwards. Pip took one look and threw up.
Pip (teammate): I think it was Scotch that threw up. Because of the sound. Wet, kinda tearing sound.
Duncan (coach): To give you a sense of Davis Ball, this kid just got stepped on by our starting center and his knee is twisted absolutely beyond recognition. The leg part opens the other way now—the knee just goes in. Not right, not any kind of right. And you know what Davis says to me?
Keith (assistant coach): “Pass me the damn ball.” [laughs]
Pip (teammate): “Pass me the damn ball,” that was one for the ages. Even then, you could see the beginnings of his greatness. And I think myself and the other guys, we really responded to that. Someone passed him the ball.
Jerome (teammate): It was me, I passed him the ball. [Shakes head] Shouldn’t have done that.
Surr (assistant coach): He couldn’t really catch it because of the injury. The immense pain, the totality of the destruction—also, Davis wasn’t great at catching.
Duncan (coach): Broke my heart, but I had to tell him straight. “Son, it’s over for you this year.”
Keith (assistant coach): I think I made some suggestions. Like, “Hey, work on your jumper,” things of that nature. But inside I was thinking, this kid doesn’t have a chance. Like, “Maybe try the chess team.” [laughs]
Maybe try subscribing. [laughs]
Voiceover: Davis Ball is heartbroken but continues to practice intensely throughout his freshman year. And when next year’s tryouts came around, Ball was ready to play.
Duncan (coach): I’m looking at my list and I see his name. And I’m rooting for this kid, because I remember just how tough he was last time out. Then a deep voice from the corner of the gym says, “Good afternoon, Coach Duncan.” And there he is. And oh my god, it was like a totally different player.
Jerry Nagler (sportswriter): Between his freshman and sophomore year, Davis “Basketball” Ball grew roughly twenty-seven inches and put on 150 pounds.
Duncan (coach): Now, there are all these things he can do. He can dunk without jumping. He blocks shots with his neck. Who taught him to do that? He taught himself. Still couldn’t catch, but one thing was clear: this kid had put in the effort.
Mugley (teammate): Hall of Fame work ethic.
Scotch (teammate): “Davis Ball works so hard.” Yeah, true, but am I the only one that noticed his entirely different body? That he was now over 7 feet tall and built like a tank? That his face was different? Explain how hard work did that. I think it was the magic beans he kept in his locker.
Duncan (coach): His game was rough. But he was ready to learn. Most important, to work.
Scotch (teammate): Coaches all say the same bullshit.
Keith (assistant coach): The effort. The grind. The will to win.
Scotch (teammate): Okay, I’ll tell you straight up: One night after a game where he scored like, sixty-five, it’s just me and Ball in the locker room. I asked him, “Dude, how’d you get so big?” He just smiled and walked away. Then he walked back in, leaned down real low and whispered: “Magic beans, but they’ll never believe you.”
I quit basketball that night.
Duncan (coach): Scotch, he just didn’t have that winner’s mindset. But if you’re a winner and you work hard, there’s no limit. Just look at Davis Ball.
