BASKETBALLER Steve Devine has dealt with all manner of wisecracks and answered plenty of questions about whether he can dunk.
“I’ve heard it all before,” Devine says.
“They all say how do you slam dunk? How do you reach the ring? Isn’t it a tall man’s sport?
“I have to explain that there’s no slam dunking, we are just good shots, and our strength is the same as average height people.
“The court is the same size as normal basketball, the ring is the same size and height, and we seem to manage fine – a couple of us can even manage three-pointers.
“The only difference is we use a smaller ball.”
Devine, who stands a mere 137cm, will represent Australia in basketball at the World Dwarf Games in East Lansing, Michigan next month.
It will be his second Games, after Northern Ireland four years ago, but his first with boccia-playing partner Alyssa Biddle, 22, also in the national team.
The World Dwarf Games was first held in Chicago in 1993 but Australia did not send a team until 2009 because officials did not know it existed.
This year’s games will feature almost 400 athletes in sports such as basketball, table tennis, swimming, boccia, football and athletics.
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