There have been a few instances of blind people playing high school basketball in recent years, but nobody is doing it the way Christian King is.
He is legally blind -- without any correctional lenses, King can't see much beyond the end of his nose.
And all of his teammates are deaf.
As featured in a lengthy News Leader profile, King has secured a contributing role for the team at Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.
King, who hadn't even played competitive sports until a few years ago, has a different level of impairment in each eye -- positive-9 vision in the left eye and negative-11 in his right.
Even when he is on the court, King struggles to see everything that is happening. From one end of the court, the opposite end is a blur. When the basketball is passed into the post, King struggles to see what is going on.
King asked his deaf teammates not to treat him different because of his blindness. Sometimes that means getting hit in the face with a hard pass. Other times it means pushing the ball on a fast break while King moves slower up the court. King is reluctant to be too aggressive on the court, although with time his confidence may grow.
The freshman hasn't scored in a game yet, but he is getting playing time and opportunities. Although the team still plays against regular public and private schools, which can be a significant challenge, King is hopeful that he'll score sometime this season, and that he'll gradually get the hang of a new sport. He is learning sign language to communicate with his deaf teammates, but has an interpreter in the meantime.
"I've definitely gotten along with everyone on the team and I'm adapting well to it," King told the News Leader.
The full story on Christian King in the News Leader can be read here.
In the meantime, any sports fan can appreciate the effort King is making -- not only to play basketball, but to live without limitations.
