A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 17

This is the 13th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Because the best way to come up with a great story idea is to come up with a lot of ideas. And the best way to come up with a lot of ideas is to be proactive in sourcing story ideas.

Today’s story: Mike Tobey on Olympic dream come true, chemistry with Doncic and his Slovenian family.

If there’s a person that’s maybe even more excited than Mike Tobey for his first-ever participation in the Olympic Games, that’s Mrs. and Mr. Tobey back in the States. His parents, who are now also fully geared up with the proper equipment to cheer for their son.

“I FaceTimed my family and my mom showed me that they already bought a Slovenian flag,” Tobey told Eurohoops while traveling back to Slovenia and the national team camp following a short trip to Spain. “A Slovenian flag and the Olympic flag. They are ready to go.”

“They are going to hang the Slovenian flag outside the house during the whole Olympic tournament. Our neighbors are going to be confused but it’s great. They will hear yelling and all in a weird time because of the time difference, but they’ll figure it out,” Tobey added with a chuckle.

Enthusiasm, anticipation and other similar emotions run rampant with the Tobeys, less than two weeks before Mike parades around the Japan National Stadium as an Olympian. The 26-year-old center of Valencia is heading to Tokyo as the naturalized player of the Slovenian national team following a triumphant run in the Kaunas Qualifying Tournament that was capped with an upset over host Lithuania in the Final.

— —

EH: How would you respond to the criticism against the use of naturalized players on national teams?

M.T.: I’m kind of new to this situation but when the opportunity came up I jumped at it because I was very excited. I understand both sides but at the end of the day, that’s the rule. It’s a great opportunity for me and it’s a good opportunity for a team and a country like Slovenia to go to the Olympics. We aren’t breaking any rules so I don’t see a problem with it.

Mike Tobey is an American basketball player plying his trade professionally in European leagues. One day he is informed that the Slovenian basketball association has discovered that Tobey has a ancestral connection to their country. Therefore, he qualifies to become a naturalized citizen of Slovenia and can play for the national team in the Olympics.

Would he be interested?

Cut to Mike Tobey not only playing with Slovenia in the most recent summer Olympics, but making it all the way to the semifinal round.

For our purposes, let’s imagine a young collegiate player with the talent level of a LeBron James. Let’s call him Stefan. Projected to be the #1 NBA draft pick, he suffers a major leg injury. One surgery doesn’t fix it, so he has another. And another. Soon he’s three years down the road and drifted into relative obscurity, a trivia answer to a “what could have been” question.

Out of shape and still in pain due to the multiple failed surgeries, he receives a call from a tiny European country — let’s say Luxembourg. They have discovered that Stefan’s great-great-great grandmother was a resident of the country. Would he be interested in trying out for the country’s national team?

They assign Stefan a trainer to help get him back into shape. Noah has some very strange practices which include bizarre exercises and some strange herbal concoctions to help heal Stefan’s leg injury.

It works. Stefan makes the team. Then it’s off to Olympic qualifying.

What are some potential story dynamics to be mined with this setup:

• FOOW: Fish Out Of Water as Stefan has to adjust to being a stranger in a strange land.
• Selfish to Selfless: Used to being The Man on the basketball court, more concerned with scoring than teamwork, Stefan has to alter his playing style to fit the Euro-mode of shared effort.
• Romance: What if he and Noah fall in love? Or gender bend Noah to Lara for a heterosexual relationship.
• Self-Identity: During this journey, Stefan discovers his more authentic personal nature.

And, of course, the games themselves which provides a structure for the plot.

This idea brings to mind movies like:

Cool Runnings (1993): When a Jamaican sprinter is disqualified from the Olympic Games, he enlists the help of a dishonored coach to start the first Jamaican Bobsled Team.

The Air Up There (1994): A basketball coach travels to Africa to recruit a new star.

This is a pretty straight ahead story concept. It all depends upon the execution of the characters and brainstorming some compelling situations.

That’s my 17th story in this month’s series. What would YOU do with this setup? Other stories in this year’s A Story Idea Each Day for a Month:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.