Walls Fall Down for Joe Family : Brian’s Basketball Play at La Quinta Brings About Change

About two weeks ago, in the midst of a basketball game at La Quinta High School, a time-honored family tradition fell by the wayside.

Three members of the usually reserved Joe family simultaneously deserted that demeanor.

Brian Joe, a 6-foot 10-inch Aztec senior with a soft voice and touch, dunked the ball for the first time in his career.

In the stands, his parents, Edward and Mabel Joe, a first-generation Chinese-American couple who had never seen their son play before last season, leaped for joy.

“Growing up, I was always told to contain yourself,” Edward Joe said. “Being Oriental, we’re very quiet in that way. . . . I think I’m getting to the point of changing.”

That change may come quickly if Joe has many more games like the one that night against Garden Grove. He scored a career-high 27 points. But so far, only a dunk gets a standing ovation. Mere baskets garner just clapping.

And who do you think convinced him to try the dunk?

“Brian’s a little self-conscious,” his father said. “So I told him if he got a chance, why not go ahead and try it?”

Joe has changed the makeup of his family in more ways than one. Not only is he playing sports--not a Joe family tradition--but he also has grown to 6-10 though both parents are about 5-11.

How did Joe grow so tall?

The Joes are about as baffled as anyone.

“My grandfather was about 6-2, and was considered very tall in China,” Edward Joe said.

Said Brian Joe: “I think it was drinking a lot of milk.”

There was a hint early on that Brian would be very tall: When his parents measured him at age 2, an equation predicted his adult height at 7-3.

Though the Joes are now regulars at La Quinta games, it is all relatively new to them.

Before this season, they had seen their son play only a few times, though this is his third season of basketball and he has played volleyball for four years. The family emphasis is on academics, and Joe’s grade-point average is better than 3.5 on a 4.0 scale.

Playing basketball was a bit like testing a secret recipe for Joe; he didn’t want his parents to watch him play until he had it right.

“I didn’t want them to come until my senior season, when most of the work pays off,” Joe said. “They didn’t care about it (athletics). They didn’t support me, but they didn’t not support me.”

Said Edward Joe: “Before, we didn’t attend a lot. Now, we’ve decided to back him up, whether he does good or not so good. And I think it has helped.”

La Quinta Coach Jim Perry is sometimes surprised by how much Joe has progressed in just three years of playing organized basketball.

“He’s gone from a big, tall, gangly kid to hitting seven-foot hook shots,” Perry said.

When every once in a while Joe throws a no-look pass, everyone else looks twice.

“Sometimes I’m amazed at what’s been created,” Perry said.

Joe has been contacted by such colleges as Navy, Memphis State, UC Irvine, Brigham Young and UC Riverside. But Joe, who wants to be an accountant, said he will chose a school based on academics.

This, of course, makes his parents very happy.