"Ex-Basketball Player" by John Updike defines Flick as what he used to be, while there is no definition of what he has become. For, in the present, Flick Webb's life is merely spent in a routine of mediocrity and his past glory is gone.
John Updike's title, "Ex-Basketball Player," complements the metaphoric meaning of Flick's name since he has been stellar only for a brief "flick" of the spotlight in time. All he is now is merely what he has been. For, Flick Webb, who was a former basketball star for his high school team, now works at Berth's Garage, where he towers over "the idiot pumps." While he was in school, he "racked up" three hundred ninety points, "a county record still." However, while he was in school, Flick never learned a trade, so all he does is sell gas, checks oil, and changes flat tires. When he is not at the gas station, Flick just "hangs around" Mae's luncheonette. Now, the only crowd that Flick faces are merely the "bright applauding tiers" of packaged candy and cookies. His life has become a mockery of what it once was as he cannot go beyond his glorified days in high school.
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