Before The Basketball
I was always into sports and, as long as I can remember, felt that I had the gift of athleticism. My early sports experiences were in the driveway behind my house in Philly on Dorset street- 1-2-3-hold football, kickball, backyard basketball on adjustable courts. My first entry into organized sports was with baseball, which my dad coached at the local playground (and still does). I was incredibly bad at baseball to begin with– I mean can’t-catch-the-ball, never-make-contact-when-I’m-at-bat bad– but I became a contributor about 3 years in, and a full blown Rookie League star by the time I was 14 (the Rookie league age limit). The league I played in wasn’t a fast pitch league, however. It used a pitching machine, meaning the ball went right down the pipe every time once it was adjusted for each batter’s height. So I knew that moving up to playing vs. live pitching would be a challenge, I just didn’t know how inept I really was at trying to hit a pitched baseball. By the time I hit high school, I had hung up my cleats.
I showed interest in football around the same time that I started baseball. I ended up on the diamond, though, because football equipment was not cheap. My parents made sure we never needed for any necessities and also had lots of extras as kids, but springing for hundreds of dollars of pads and helmets was a bit too steep of an investment, especially with no guarantee from the coaches that I’d even make the team. I was quite fast though, and maybe woulda turned into a wide receiver if I had stayed with the pigskin. But I aint mad at all; basketball is prettier and careers last longer.
(One year in middle school, though, I did participate in track & field practices. I found out there that I wasn’t nearly as fast as I had once thought.)
My dad taught me how to play chess at a young age, and with guidance from a coach at Masterman Middle School named Mr. Shutt, I became pretty good at chess. My dad would take me to tournaments on weekends where I actually beat a few other players. I remember traveling with a couple of other kids to a weekend tourney where we stayed in a hotel in Jersey as a middle schooler. I also recall getting beat handily in all my matches that weekend. I was nice with it though; my dad once told me he didn’t even look forward to playing me any more because I had surpassed him.
If you’re from the hood, though, you know this: ain’t too many chess players you can name that came from your block. I naturally turned to sports as my outlet when chess just became too nerdy and “uncool” for me. Had i grown up in the ‘burbs, who knows what would have become of me. I think athletes make more money anyway though.
I started playing basketball at Finley Playground at around 14 years old, even though my mother had sent me to try out for bball teams at Finley beginning at 11 or 12 years old. I didn’t come close to making those teams. I remember crying after being cut on those fateful days; not because I believed I should be on the team, but for the embarrassment of seeing my peers (many of whom went to the same school as me and/ or had parents that were friends of my parents) make teams I wasn’t good enough to be a part of. The neighborhood I’m from, everyone played basketball between the ages of 10-20, HARD, and daily in the summer. So any person within a year or two of my age from Mt. Airy, I could see them today and not know a thing about their current life, other than their name and basketball-playing style from back in my teen years.
I started playing bball all the time after baseball practices on Saturday afternoons, and spent endless summer hours out on that blacktop, alone, practicing. I had no mentor- my dad was more of baseball player as a kid, and I had no brothers- and didn’t have Youtube or any type of free-advice giver online to turn to for ideas. I just kept practicing the things I saw the good players do, combined with what I imagined, until I was one of the good players.
The rest, as they say, is history.
thanks, your story is really inspired!
but i can’t imagine how hard does it to take to be a nba or really excellent player, like lots of people all over the world try to do the same thing, what’s ur opinion of this or you just don’t care?
thank you very much! m answe to that: anyone can do anything if they want it bad enough to go get it!
thanks
well have you try out for nba yet?
and what kind of training, besides shooting, did you do when you were a teen?
and when did you start realize that you can starting beating the players that used to beat you?
im at D-League PreDraft Camp at this exact moment.
everything u see in my vids, ive been doing as longas ive been playing in some form.
i got to that “beat anyone” level around 18-19yrs old.
thanks for supporting my site!
awesome! feels great right? how’s the players over there?
same level like you or you can still beat some of them up?
and how did you get to play overseas?
i dont know much about them now, since im not in the neighborhood anymore.
stay tuned to my site and ill get into that eventually.
Hey Dre, there was a kid named Stefon Jackson that came outta Philly, prolly 4-5 years younger than you. Anwyays, he played at my hometown college UTEP and set the all-time scoring records for UTEP and conference USA. Just wondering if you might of remembered him or heard his name or somethin?
na i dont know him.
your story really made my day alot better. this makes me really want to practice alot. thanks dre
glad i could inspire. no prob!!
This really entertained me :O When you started playing, you had no mentor or brother(s) who could play with you and teach you.
although, my dad used to play basketball a long time ago maybe he could teach me something :d
I’ll tell you, I have 2 brothers, they both dont play basketball and dont even want to play with me (or at least not as long as I want)
But I dont have to worry about a free advice giver cause thats you ;p thanks for those videos and this story
no prob, thanks!
What dre I don’t know you but .I’m 13 and good at bball be playin wit high schoolers and stuff and I be watching yo videos to on youtube they work fa me thanks bra
Dre how often do you work out and wat do you do daily basketball wiseum and wat exersices u do fa your verticle
what up, and thank you!!
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D6F0F41990E26F72
i find it kind of weird how much i relate to you. i was into soccer as a kid but didn’t excel. got into ball after and practiced all the time. still do haha and your vids have been pretty helpful thanks by the way.
let’s have a game of chess haha.. i haven’t lost in a while =p
thanks a lot! and maybe we will haha
Sup man I’m from australia and I’d like to thank you because you inspired my whole basketball team to have a goal to make it into the NBA even though it’s not easy from here. My fav basketballer was patty mills now u r thanx mate for helping improve my skills. From my whoe bball team gud luck and thank you PS if u come to Australia u should watch an afl game cause it’s off the hook (I’ll get you sum tickets if u come)
thank you very much i appreciate the support from you and your team!! stay tuned and keep me updated on your progress
Hey man, got a question, what excercises do you do to increase your hops and starting speed (are those related?), or/and what muscles do you train for that? The calfs? I’m bout 6.2 feet, so it should be possible..
Btw awesome vids man! Hope you get into the nba real soon! Did you apply for the draft this year?
hello and thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=92404A5A0726D2FE
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=910A6DF37EDD3935
WAAA WAS UP DRE ! DO U HAVE ANY VIDEO’S ON HOW TO MAKE UR LEFT HAND STRONGER . I CAN DRIBBLE WITH MY LEFT HAND GOOD I JUST CAN’T LAY UP AS GOOD WITH IT . YEA SO KEEP IT UP KEEP HOOPIN ! I HOPE TO SEE U ON NBA 2K12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdKhv8Y7kb0
Any other vids of mine can also be found via search on YouTube (“Dre Baldwin ________”)
Thank You Dre for all of ur videos. It really helped me and inspired me to work harder. Please keep on making more videos and I wish you the best of luck on making it to the NBA. That’s my dream too and I hope to achieve it one day.
thanks a lot i appreciate it!
yo man thanks for all the vids u put up, you got me inspired bro, thanks for everything. i hope you make it to the league.
glad u like em. thank you for checkin them out!