Of course, but it goes against the "self-made man" myth, which itself is the foundation of good old "boostraps" capitalism.
Most people will already get mad when you tell them they are lucky to be born in a Western country, know how to read, have access to clean water, electricity, health care, education, live in a war-free zone, in a country where rule of law actually exists, with infrastructures, etc. Just for that they (we) are luckier than the majority of the planet. And that's just at birth, before even doing anything.
Aftewards, where you go to school (notice we consider it a given to even go to school), who your teachers are, the examples/role-models you have around you, all of that plays a big role in getting a break or even knowing that this or that opportunity exists. And that's just at the school level.
At this point you might already be much luckier than someone with the same skills/talent/work ethics just because of where you were born and where/with who you went to school. You're already in a better situation than the majority of Earth and you still haven't given any real effort.
Now it depends what you do with all of this, but saying that people start off at the same level is right-wing bs tbh. People repeat it because it makes them feel good about themselves ("I did all this by myself!") and means you don't have to adress any systemic priveleges some have over others. So if they don't succeed, it's their fault.
And then yes one has to be ready to "take advantage" of meeting the right people, knowing how to promote yourself, all of that stuff...which is also an acquired social skill btw, that one will more likely have...if he/she has been in such situations before and/or has had the opportunity to build these social skills. Or someone told them to be ready. Or they head someone else's story about how they got their break, etc.
You see all these "motivational" speeches and videos and it always seems to be that the person just made it thanks to "hard work, grit and determination" while never taking into account the macro situation.
Work obviously is extremely important, but you can work as hard as you want on your jumpshot it won't matter much if you're in some random village in Central African Republic and no one is there to see you. shyt you might be lucky to even have a ball in the first place.
