Josh Holloway Grew Up "Determined to Be an NBA Baller"

Long before Josh Holloway was cast on the megasuccessful ABC series Lost, the 42-year-old actor dreamed of pursuing a much different career.

"I have always had a passion for basketball. I was determined to become an NBA baller," the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol star tells the December issue of Men's Fitness. "It was at a time when Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Kareem in the '70s shorts were everywhere."

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"Coaches were like, 'You can be anything you want,' and I believed them," Holloway explains. "I trained hard and I was good. I could play."

Unfortunately, Holloway never got the opportunity to fulfill his potential.

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"I got so abused in high school," he says. "Being on the varsity team but never playing, scrimmaging and getting beat up by all the big players. I was worn out and not having any fun, and my grades suffered because all I did was try to be a baller."

The actor's reason for quitting the sport? "I finally discovered p-ssy," he jokes. Holloway decided to join the soccer team instead, "but I always played basketball because I loved it."

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Holloway did, however, manage to make another lifelong dream come true on April 9, 2009: he and wife Yessica Kumala welcomed daughter Java, now 2.

"It's overwhelming right now," Holloway tells Men's Fitness of being a father. "I've never loved anything so much that it hurts."

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