The night of October 31, 2015 was one more Halloween for New York inhabitants. However, the life of Ismael Romero would change in one of the buildings of the city, where the NBA D-League—the development league of the best basketball tournament of the world—draft took place. Ismael would accomplish his dream of playing a first-level professional game on the court, marking the end of a long trip, one that had begun, like so many other stories of Cuban sportsmen, the early morning of June 19, 2012 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “That first night we went out of the hotel was scary, frightening. We did not know where we were, we did not know what came next in our lives,” confess Romero to OnCuba. He had abandoned the pre-match preparation of the national basketball team while he was playing in the 2012 CentroBasket tournament. He was not alone. Next to him were Juan Pablo Piñeiro, Leonel Batista, Enrique Ramos, and Yudniel Pérez. The man who picked them up, and whose name the youngster wishes to remain anonymous, installed them in his house and offered them clothing, food, and bed. Thanks to him and to other friends, the group played some...