Read from the introduction of Why She Plays: The World of Women's Basketball by Christine A. Baker:

"One Friday night in July 2005, I walked out of the tunnel and onto the floor of Madison Square Garden moments before the New York Liberty basketball team did the same. I was aware of the lights behind me flipping on to illuminate the way for the players and the television cameras. I saw the electrical wires crisscrossing down the tunnel and underneath the hardwood floor. Only steps ahead of the team, I watched the fans look beyond me to the players they had paid to see. There was fanfare. There was noise, but it was not for me and it never will be. I am like a ghost forever hovering at the edges of the tunnel, riding the shadows of the players, trying to grasp the ball as it slips just out of reach of my fingertips.

Over 99 percent of all basketball players never have the opportunity to play professionally, and I am one of the majority. Nevertheless, since my father bought me my first basketball at the age of six, I dreamed of being a superstar. Twenty-eight years later, not much has changed. Some nights when sleep eludes me, I hear the sold-out arena chant my name, “Bak-er, Bak-er.” The voices collectively urge me toward that sacred place of glory I still vividly envision.

Sadly the reality is that a sold-out arena will never chant my name. An Olympic gold medal will never be gently placed over my bowed head. Not every one of us is chosen for Olympic glory. Legions of quiet superstars play because we want to. We work against the odds of height or build or natural ability because we want to better ourselves, because we have a profound love of a game. We have, each one of us, those moments to treasure after practice in the empty gym. Those hours after dark in the playgrounds and backyards across America are ours and ours alone.

I might never be a professional basketball player, but the court will forever be my home. Basketball is in my blood. It’s in my heart. I play because I love the sound of a leather ball slipping elusively through a chain net. I love the cracks in a blacktop court where the weeds poke through. I love the sound sneakers make on a shiny indoor court. I love the competition and the camaraderie. That’s why I play. Why do you?"

To read a longer excerpt or to purchase Why She Plays, visit http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Why-She-Plays,673432.aspx.

Visit the author's Web site at http://www.whysheplays.com/.