CHARLOTTE (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - Yesterday was the American holiday of Thanksgiving but it seems to be more global than that as I received a Happy Thanksgiving e-mail from Tottenham Hotspur (complete with shopping suggestions from their store). To be frank though, I'd be thankful if Spurs weren't so giving to the opposition as they were to Man City last weekend. Same for my Charlotte Bobcats who let the Indiana Pacers show on Wednesday night why they are the best team in the NBA's Eastern Conference this year.

We should all be thankful to enjoy a game that provides the freedom of individual creativity in the collaborative framework of a team.

I've loved basketball as long as I can remember and I'm thankful for the chance to cheer my UNC Tarheels, Davidson Wildcats, Carolina Cougars, and Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats/soon to be Hornets again over the years.

I'm grateful that I first got to see wheelchair basketball in Seoul after covering the Olympics there with UPI. It was a surprise when the 1988 Paralympic Games started because the Korean organizers never thought to tell the thousands of journalists gathered there that they would follow the Olympics. When asked why, I was told that they didn't think we would be interested. I didn't know that I would be.

So I'm appreciative for the opportunity I've had, since working with the Paralympics in Atlanta to cover the Games, and basketball in particular, in Sydney, Athens, Beijing and London.

In Atlanta, though they upset my USA team in the Semi-Finals, I am glad I got to see a one-legged Troy Sachs jump from his chair after Australia won the gold medal and run, as much as one can with one leg, the length of the court and leap up to grab the rim and hoist himself up to a seat on the back of the basket, his arms thrust into the air.

In Sydney, I'm indebted to the basketball gods that I was there to see Paul Schulte take a pass from Eric Barber at half court with just over two seconds to play and launch a shot from over 30 feet that hit nothing but net and won a bronze medal for the USA. There was no way to be an impartial journalist at that moment and I lost my voice for three days.

In Athens, I am thankful that I was there to take a photo of Stephanie Wheeler, also a Carolinian, holding the flag behind her while celebrating a gold medal with her USA teammates, and that I got to take almost the same photo four years later in Beijing when they won it again.

In London, I am honored to have been there to watch Patrick Anderson will Canada to their third gold medal with a 34 point, 10 rebound, 8 assist game over defending champions Australia.

I'm thankful that I've been able to witness, meet and become friends with tremendously talented wheelchair basketball players, coaches and administrators - men and women - from around the world.

I'm beholden to the NBA for making a wheelchair exhibition game initiated by the Phoenix Banner Wheelchair Suns in 1995, a permanent fixture of the league's All Star Weekend since 1998 featuring players from all the NBA affiliated teams in the NWBA.

I'm thankful that I've been able to watch kids from the local Charlotte Rollin' Bobcats junior teams develop and grow to become collegiate players and fantastic individuals. Same for several young adult players who used their basketball skills to earn college scholarships and further their education.

And most appropriately here, I want to thank FIBA for the opportunity to write this column and share the word about wheelchair basketball to those who know the game, and more so, to those who don't. And I'm thankful to you for reading it.

I wish a wonderful holiday season to you all.

Steve Goldberg

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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