I was the youngest of five boys and also had four sisters who had to pull together and take care of each other. Dad wasn't around, so I never knew him well. He killed himself when I was three years old, leaving mom with the job of raising nine kids. She was a very hard worker, and in order to make ends meet, she hardly ever rested. With my mom as my example, I learned that hard work is the best way to get what you want. Even as a little boy, I knew I was going to be successful. Regardless of what I chose, I wanted to make my brothers, sisters and mom proud of me--not only by being successful in what I chose to do, but also as a person who could be looked up to for the right reasons. Surprising as it might seem, basketball wasn't in my plans. One day, my mom cut a rim  off an old water barrel  and then held it up for me to throw an old rubber ball through. By junior high, I started playing basketball on a team. I loved to compete. For me, it paid off. I always put the effort in, every day. I am grateful for the life I've enjoyed as a basketball star. Basketball is not life. It can be exciting. But the most important thing about basketball is that it gives me a way to do good things for others as I move through this journey called life. It can be inferred that the author's  _  .
brothers were more famous than him mother had a great influence on his career father loved his children and wife very much family was rich and happy when he was a child