It's a shame basketball wasn't the only thing involved.
The 13-year United States combat mission in Afghanistan officially ends on Wednesday, but the end was marked with a flag-lowering ceremony on a basketball court at the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul on Sunday.
Americans born when its longest war began are now young teenagers who rightly should want to know why we went to war there -- where some 2,224 of our country's sons and daughters, by one count, died -- and what was accomplished.
The "why" is a little more clear-cut.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the U.S. asked the Afghan-ruling Taliban to hand over 9/11 mastermind Obama bin Laden and expel his al-Qaeda terrorist organization. When that did not happen, the U.S. and the United Kingdom launched Operation Enduring Freedom there.
Though the Taliban was quickly driven from power, its forces and those of al-Qaeda were not defeated and have fought the coalition ISAF, then NATO, and now ISAF forces again in Afghanistan and Pakistan since. In the meantime, the U.S. helped form a new government in Afghanistan, provided humanitarian aid, and raised and trained Afghan troops to carry on the fighting.
Although the U.S. has ended its combat mission, it will leave 11,000 troops in the country -- of a 13,500-person ISAF force -- as support for the Afghan troops.
The "what was accomplished" depends on the point of view.
The country now has a legitimate, if not perfect, government. Millions who fled the country because of the Taliban have returned. The raised army, ready or not, has taken over combat duties. And millions more Afghans than under the Taliban attend school.
"On this day we give thanks [for the service of U.S. troops in Afghanistan]," President Barack Obama said Sunday. "We are safer, and our nation is more secure because of their service."
Indeed, by all rights, American troops did the best they could in the remote, mountainous country, bin Laden is dead and no 9/11-type terrorist attacks have occurred in the U.S. since.
But the Taliban remains a problem there as Afghan civilian deaths are expected to hit 10,000 for the first time since the United Nations began keeping records in 2008, and some 5,000 members of the country's security forces -- army, police and armed rural defense units -- have died fighting the resurgent group this year.
In addition to its human cost, the U.S. has spent some $1 trillion on the war, plus $100 million on reconstruction in Afghanistan.
And while the U.S. supportive presence will continue, many Afghans and other experts worry that the lack of U.S. combat support will cause the general level of safety in the country -- after some three decades of continual war -- to deteriorate.
"Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, and the Afghan people and their security forces continue to make tremendous sacrifices in defense of their country," Obama said. "Our personnel will continue to face risks, but this reflects the enduring commitment of the United States to the Afghan people and to a united, secure and sovereign Afghanistan that is never again used as a source of attacks against our nation."
However, experts have said for several years that the president's decision to give a date when U.S. combat forces would end would only energize the Taliban. Given the record deaths of civilians and Afghan security forces this year, that appears to be true.
In fact, on Monday, Taliban insurgents crowed about the "defeat" of the U.S. and its allies. Elsewhere, bin Laden's former al-Qaeda organization is still active, with some members remaining in the organization and some joining the Islamic State group that has terrorized Iraq this year.
Meanwhile, a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll says 65 percent of Americans believe the war was not worth the effort and sacrifices, while 27 percent say it was worth it.
So while the U.S. has successfully prevented another 9/11 attack, whether Afghan troops can hold off the insurgent Taliban remains to be seen. And, unfortunately, it cannot be argued in any way, shape or form that the world is safer than it was when the Afghanistan war began in 2001.