The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.

Cast as a sports metaphor, the line rebukes the habit of blaming circumstances (“the way the ball bounces”) for outcomes that stem from one’s own actions (“the one who dropped it”). Its point is less about fate than about responsibility: people most aggrieved by randomness or unfairness are often those who initiated the problem or failed to prepare. The aphorism also critiques a posture of complaint as a way of avoiding accountability, urging a shift from grievance to agency—focus on what you can control (handling the ball) rather than what you can’t (the bounce).