Graterol: “The accident changed my life”

ARGENTINA (FIBA AmeriCup 2017) - Windi Graterol, Center for the Venezuela National Team, took his first steps into the basketball court when he was 6-years old. He always knew what his dream was: “Basketball is my life. It's what I chose”, he says. He suffered a motorcycle accident, and when no one believed he could get back on the floor, he showed everyone that he could do that and more.

The Caracas-born player shares that pasta is his favorite food, he listens to reggaeton, and watches movies in his spare time. The humbleness of the Argentine captain, Luis Scola, is the reason why he's Graterol's role model; who also admires former NBA multi-champion Kobe Bryant, whose games he watched when he was a child.

“I've liked basketball since I was little. I’d been to a baseball championship and I enjoyed it, but I didn't like playing it. When I was 13, I started to play basketball in my neighborhood, at a school in the San Juan Parish (in Caracas). In 2003, I represented the Capital District and we won the Final against Miranda (Dolphins). Caracas (Crocodiles) saw me and I trained with them for several years. I always wanted to play at a professional level and when they called me to play in the professional league, it was very exciting. My goal was always to train hard and listen to my coach. That’s how on 2011 I got in the National Team,” Windi said.

But, during his career —perhaps even in its peak moment— back in 2006, when he was 20-years old, a series of events changed his life. That year he played four game with the Caracas Crocodiles, moved to Ecuadorian basketball, and when he least expected it, his life gave a sudden turn with an accident that forced him to stay away from the basketball court during a year due to a serious injury. He broke his right ankle, and many doctors said that he wouldn't be able to play anymore. The injury caused by the accident made him lose part of the tibia, and threatened to leave him out of the sport he chose as a way of life.

“That accident changed a lot of things at a personal level. Life is very difficult in the neighborhood. There are two roads and it's up to you which one you chose. I was very young and when that accident happened, I opened my eyes and clearly see the road I should take. I chose basketball. Many thought I wouldn't be able to play anymore. They made fun of me and criticized me. I couldn’t walk for a while, but after four months I put my ankle brace and my bandages and I started to throw in the court. I went alone and no one knew about it. I didn't want to stay frustrated at home and that's what started to give me the energy to move forward. It was a long recovery process and I had to do it by myself, but I could overcome it and here I am. At times like those, the people that turn their backs on you are more than those that support you. The teams also turn their backs on you and I took that as a motivation. I told myself that I had to improve and prove that I could do it. And so, I did,” he said with his gentle voice.

When he was a child, he walked the Guarataro slum’s streets and imagined that he was one of the Cocodrilos’ stars. “I'm a very moody person. I like to be calm and have learned to overcome my temper throughout the years. I've matured in that aspect and my game has improved a lot, but I feel that I still have more to give. I like to listen and learn. I always favor new ideas, I like to accept criticism and constantly learn.”

The Center said his family were the most important pillar of his career: “Family was everything. I started playing basketball to help them, and they helped me. They told me to train hard, and although I faced many obstacles and unreachable challenges, I never gave up and I always tried to overcome them. I thought I had no place in the National Team, but I found the motivation to keep on working. There are many things that have marked my life, but that first call to be a part of the Venezuela Team gave me the opportunity to be where I'm at today and get the world to know me.”

FIBA