Ah, Bulls vs LA Clippers. That game. Yeah, I remember it, but probably not for the reasons most sports fans would. It’s funny how a random game can stick in your head because of what was going on in your own life, right?
I was really looking forward to that specific match-up. Had my snacks ready, told everyone not to bother me. You know how it is. I needed a break, a distraction. Work at that time? Man, it was a grinder. I was stuck on this project, felt like I was wading through mud uphill, both ways.
The Project from Hell
This project, oh boy. It was supposed to be this big innovative thing for the company I was with back then. But in reality, it was just a battleground. We had:
- Team A, dead set on doing things their way, no compromises.
- Team B, convinced Team A was clueless and pushing back on everything.
- And then management, just kinda… watching from the sidelines, hoping it would sort itself out.
It was exhausting. Every day felt like a Bulls vs Clippers game itself, but with way less skill and much more passive aggression. I was just trying to get my part done, caught in the crossfire.
So, I’m settling in to watch the actual Bulls and Clippers go at it, hoping to forget the office drama for a few hours. The game starts, it’s intense, exactly what I hoped for. Then, my phone buzzes. It’s an email. From my boss. Subject line: “Project Update.” My stomach just dropped. You know that feeling?
Turns out, “Project Update” meant they were “restructuring.” And “restructuring” meant my entire contribution, months of work, sleepless nights, was basically being shelved. Sidelined. Just like that. Poof. Gone. All because the higher-ups couldn’t get the battling teams to actually work together, so they just decided to cut their losses, starting with parts they didn’t understand, or maybe parts where the person fighting for it wasn’t loud enough. That was me, I guess. I was trying to build bridges, not burn them.
The Aftermath and the Game
I just sat there, staring at the screen. The Bulls were making a run, the crowd was roaring on TV, but it all felt muted. All that energy, all that fight on the court… it suddenly felt so pointless when compared to the silent, stupid battle I’d just lost at work. What was the point of all that effort if it could just be wiped away by an email on a Tuesday night?
That game, Bulls vs Clippers, became a weird turning point. I watched the rest of it, but I wasn’t really seeing it. I was thinking. Thinking about how I was pouring my energy into a place that clearly didn’t value real collaboration, only internal politics. The game ended, one team won, one team lost. Life goes on for them. But for me, something had to change.
It wasn’t immediate, not like I stormed in the next day and quit. But that night, watching that game after that email, planted a seed. A big one. I started looking around, quietly. Started thinking about what I actually wanted to do, not just what job I had to endure. It took a few months, but I eventually moved on from that company.
Now? Things are different. My work is still challenging, sure, but it’s constructive. It’s not a constant war. And sometimes, when I see a game like Bulls vs Clippers on TV, I remember that night. Not the score, not the players, but that feeling. And it reminds me that sometimes, you gotta realize which games are worth playing, and which ones you just need to walk away from. That was my big “practice” from that whole episode – learning to pick my battles and knowing when to fold ’em, even if it feels like you’re losing in the short term. Turns out, it wasn’t a loss at all. It was a push towards something way better.
