‘We want to be your motivation’: U.S. Paralympic basketball team stops in Charlotte

As far as Ryan Neiswender is concerned, all athletes use equipment to excel in their sports.

You won’t see a tennis player competing without a racket. Golfers aren’t on the course without a bag of clubs. NASCAR drivers become synonymous with the designs on the outside of their race cars.

Ahead of the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, the United States men’s wheelchair basketball national team will play four games at Queens University of Charlotte. Headlined by 6:30 p.m. Friday night matchup set to feature a postgame autograph and photo session, the nation’s best Paralympic basketball players will square off against Australia this weekend at Curry Arena.

“Novak Djokovic uses his tennis racket and does amazing things. We see him,” Neiswender said in an interview. “When we do it in a wheelchair, a lot of people are like, ‘Wow, that’s so inspirational because you do it in a chair.’

“We don’t want to be your inspiration. We want to be your motivation. We want you to see us for the badass athletes that we are.”

‘You can truly fall in love with the game’

Neiswender, 30, lives in the Charlotte area with his wife.

Born with arthrogryposis, a muscle disorder that prevented the joints in his legs from developing properly, he has long felt that this disability didn’t need to stop him from living his life. Neiswender attacks everything in life with the same mentality he does in basketball: He wants to be the first one in, the last one out and make sure he’s working the hardest.

Neiswender works at Visa, where he is always trying to be an innovator and a creator. No matter what he’s doing, he wants to help people reach their untapped potential, whether that’s through real estate investing, sports sponsorship marketing, working with someone at his local church — or using his platform within Team USA.

“The wheelchair isn’t the thing that makes the athlete disabled,” Neiswender said. “It’s the thing that allows them to play their sport at their peak level. When you see it for that, these guys are some of the most athletic guys in the world.

“You can truly fall in love with the game. And not see them as inspirations, but see them as some freak athletes that are here to put on a great show.”

‘A display of the best talent in the world going head-to-head’

Many of the best Paralympians will take the floor in Charlotte this weekend.

Steve Serio, a two-time gold medalist and ESPY Award winner, returns as team captain for this fifth Paralympic games. Two-time Paralympian Jake Williams is a sharpshooter, and Trevon Jenifer has become a pesky defender.

An alternate this year, Neiswender, a gold medalist and world champion who plays for the Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets, will not be on the floor. But he’s going to be cheering them on.

“This is going to be a display of the best talent in the world going head-to-head in four games this weekend, which is a treat for Charlotte,” Neiswender said. “They’re gonna be trying different lineups, trying to figure out what works best. These are friendly competitions — where obviously, there’s nothing friendly about it because you want to win every game you play — but these are the moments when you find out with lineups you can really trust heading into Paris.”

Schedule for the U.S. Paralympic basketball team in Charlotte

▪ 6:30 p.m. Friday, U.S. vs. Australia.

▪ 6:30 p.m. Saturday, U.S. vs. Australia.

▪ 9 a.m. Sunday, U.S. vs. Australia.