Why Do We Care About a Made Basket?

Have you ever considered how strange it is that we care so much about a ball passing through a hoop? If you remove the hoop, the ball is just falling through the air—nothing more, nothing less. Yet, because there happens to be an orange ring suspended 10 feet above the ground, we’ve attached meaning to the act of shooting. It’s almost absurd when you break it down.

Think about it: if there were no rim, no net, and no scoreboard, would shooting still feel rewarding? The answer is probably not. In fact, even if you just remove the net, most players immediately feel less satisfied with their made shots. Why? Is it the swish? The visual confirmation? The perceived accomplishment? Or is it simply that we have been conditioned to chase the reward, rather than the act itself?

The Hoop as a Symbol

The basketball hoop is nothing more than an arbitrary target we’ve collectively decided has meaning. Just like a tennis net, a football end zone, or a golf hole, it gives structure to the game. It provides the possibility of winning and losing, success and failure. But what if we removed it? Imagine a game where players simply shot the ball into the air, with no rim to determine whether the shot was “good” or “bad.” Would the excitement still exist? Would people still be obsessed with making baskets?

Probably not. That’s because, in basketball, the hoop gives shooting its purpose. It’s the final checkpoint that tells us whether our effort was “worth it.” But if we zoom out, we realize that the act of shooting itself—releasing the ball with precision, controlling the arc, finding rhythm—holds intrinsic value. The problem is, we rarely acknowledge it because we are too caught up in whether or not the ball goes through the hoop.

Letting Go of the Outcome

So, what happens when we stop caring about whether the ball goes in? When we detach from the reward of a made basket? We free ourselves from the unnecessary pressure, the frustration of misses, and the obsession with results. We start to enjoy the process—the feel of the ball being thrown from our fingertips, the rhythm of a well-balanced shot, the shape of the ball's trajectory. We learn to enjoy our mechanics rather than chase outcomes.

Ironically, this shift in mindset often leads to better shooting. Why? Because pressure creates tension, and tension disrupts fluidity. When you let go of the need to make every shot, your movements become more natural, your confidence grows, and the ball starts falling through the hoop more often.

The Illusion of Reward

At its core, the act of scoring in basketball—or any sport—is only meaningful because we have collectively agreed that it is. The hoop itself is just an object; it does not define your skill, nor does it validate your effort. What matters more is the process: the mastery of mechanics, the development of concepts, and the love for the act itself.

So, the next time you shoot, don’t care whether the ball goes in. Care about the shot itself. Find joy in the act itself, the arc, the release. And remember, the hoop is just a prop in the greater performance of your skills and maneuvers.

Shalom.