Transcript

00:00 I had a purpose. I wanted to be one of the best basketball players to ever play and anything else that was outside of that lane. I didn't have time for there's a quote from one of my english teachers. A little marion named uh mr fisk. He had a great quote that said rest at the end not in the middle and that's something I always live by you know. I'm not going to rest. I'm going to keep on pushing now a lot of answers that I don't have even questions that. I don't have. But. I'm just going to keep going. I'm just going to keep going and I'll figure.These things out as you go right. You just continue to build that way so that I try to live by that all the time at what age did that goal become crystal clear. I made that deal with myself at 13 years old at 13 years old 13 years old clear about it crystal clear and where did inspiration come from um the love of the game. The love of the game the challenge like. I would watch magic play. I'd watch michael play and I would see them do these unbelievable things and I'd say you know can I get to that level. I don't know but let's find out let's find out and so that curiosity to see where I could push this thing let me down that path. I think I had a summer where I played basketball when I was like 10 or 11 years old and here I come playing and I don't score one point. The entire summer not a free throw. Not a nothing not a lucky shot not a breakaway layup zero points and I remember crying about it being upset about it. My father just gave me a hug and said listen whether you scored zero or score 60. I'm gonna love you no matter what wow that is the most important thing that you can say to a child because from there I was like okay. It gives me all the confidence in the world to fail. I have the security there but to hell with that. I'm scoring 60. From there I just went to work. I just stayed with him.

01:55 I kept practicing kept practicing came project. I think that's when the idea of understanding a long-term view became important because I wasn't going to catch these kids in a week. I wasn't going to catch them in a year right so that's when I sat down and said okay. This is going to take some thought all right what I want to work on first all right shooting all right. Let's knock this out. Let's focus on this half a year six months do nothing but shoot right after that all right creating your own shot and then you focus so you start. I started creating a menu of things when I came back the next summer.I was a little bit better. I scored yeah it wasn't much right but I scored this is 12 13 12 13. Then 14 came around back half of 13 14 years old and then I was just killing everyone and it happened in two years and I wasn't expecting to happen in two years. But it did because what I had to do was work on the basics and the fundamentals well they relied on athleticism and their natural ability and because I stick to the fundamentals it just caught up to them and then my body you know my knees stopped hurting. I grew into my frame and then it was game. Wow were you always competitive from the day you were born. You were super competitive uh competitive with things that I i participate in so I like I'll put it to you this way so like you know basketball for me was the most important thing. So everything. I saw whether it was tv shows whether it was books. I read people. I talked to everything was done to try to learn how to become a better basketball player everything everything and so when you have that point of view then literally the world becomes your library to help you to become better at your craft. So at 13 years old. I had a.

03:42 I had a kill list and so you know they used to do these rankings. It was street and smith basketball rankings and I was nowhere to be found because I was like six four scrawny like 160 pounds soaking wet so. I was like 57 on the list and so I will look at 56 55. All the way up to number one who these players are what club teams they played for so when we go on an aau travel circuit. I I got to hunt them down right and so that became my mission in high school is to check off every other person. All those 56 other names hunt them down and knock them down.So we played at 13. I would size you up and see what your strengths and weaknesses are how do you approach. The game are you silly about. It are you goofy about it are you good at it just because you're bigger and stronger than everybody else or is there actually thought and skill that you put into it right and when I play I'd play to my weaknesses. I always work on the things during those games that I was weak at left hand pull up jump shot post game right so I have a strategy what was really your work ethic like and for how long did you stay disciplined um well. I mean I mean every day. I mean since you know 20 years. It was an everyday process and trying to figure out shrimps and weaknesses for example jumping ability. Now my vertical was a 40 wasn't. A 46 or 40 45 my hands are big but they're not massive right. So you got to figure out ways to strengthen them so your hands are strong enough to be able to palm a ball and do the things that you need to do uh quickness. I was quick but not insanely quick. I was fast but not ridiculously fast right so. I had to rely on skill a lot more. I had to rely on angles a lot more.

05:29 I had to study the game a lot more and uh. But I enjoyed it though so like from the time I was. I can't remember when I started watching the game. I studied the game and it just never changed what does losing feel like to you oh it's exciting why is it exciting because it means you have different ways to get better. There are certain things that you can figure out that you can take advantage of right certain weaknesses that were exposed um that you need to shore up right so it was exciting. I mean it sucks to lose but the hardest thing is to face that stuff. That's a really really tough challenge. How did you get mentally and emotionally so strong where it doesn't bother you well you know. It's you got to look at the reality of the situation you know like for me. It's not you know you kind of got to get over yourself right and then after that it's okay well. Why did those air balls. Happen got it. I didn't have the legs so you look at the shot. Every shot was online every shot was online but every shot was short right. I got to get stronger I gotta train differently. The weight training program that I'm doing I gotta tailor it for an 82 game season so that when the playoffs come around my legs are stronger and that ball gets there so. I look at it with rationale and say okay well the reason why I shot air balls because my legs aren't there.

06:59 I got all next year they'll be. There you have to do the hard stuff and watch that game and study that game to not make those mistakes over and over again just because you weren't brave enough to face it so you got to deal with. It got to deal with it face it learn from it. You don't want to have that feeling again do you right so you got to really study it and face it and uh not to say you'll win the next time you face but your least you'll give yourself a better better chance yeah. It's an obsessiveness that comes along with it. You want things to be as perfect as they can be understanding that nothing is ever perfect. But the challenge is try to get them as perfect as they can be and what can you do. It's in your control so control what you can you have this mindset but how did you develop that. I don't know if that's what you call a mom of mindset.But how did you develop that and when did it start it started in middle school and high school because a lot of the kids that I was playing against were inner city kids and so you're looking at me as if okay this kid's soft. They felt like they could try to be physical or try to intimidate me and do all this other stuff which they couldn't right but now. I'm saying okay well you're trying to attack me how am. I gonna attack you how can. I mentally figure out ways to break you down. How can I show you that no. I have the edge right and so that's when it first started for me is figuring out how to get the upper hand on an opponent that way and what would you do to mentally break people down then one of the things.

08:24 I would do is while everybody would be at the cafeteria work you know eating and doing all sorts of stuff. I just go back to the job so that was my way of showing them yeah. I may be from the suburbs but you're not going to outwork me wow like. I see. A lot of players take vacations with other players that are close friends and or just take vacations just to take vacations or just hang out just to hang out like i. I'm not. I never did that why why didn't you do that well because when I retire. I didn't want to have to say I wish. I would have done more. I don't want that I play games with the flu I play games with 102 degree fever man. We had a game against toronto in 2000 and vince was tearing the league up. My back was jacked jacked so I would be in a layup line like okay. There's a lot of days where you know you can rest and recover today. Ain't one of them your back can bother you any other day that ain't bothering me today. We're gonna. He gonna have to see me today you're playing against the golden state warriors. Score is 107 109. You guys are close to getting into the playoffs. You know exactly what happens in the game. You go up. You're about to take your shot and then all of a sudden boom.

09:49 Achilles happens right friend of mine nema. He is here just to listen to. He played ball and he told me says patrick. I don't think you understand. He says when I tore my achilles in high school. There's four friends of mine dragged me to my husband. I was crying from there straight to the hospital. He says. I have no clue how the hell this guy did it. He went and hit the free throws and then you walked off the stage. How the hell do you tolerate that kind of pain uh you know i. I use this. I tell this example and I think this is the best way to explain it. You know you have a hamstring injury. You pull your hamstring really really badly. You can barely walk right. Let alone play anything you're at home all of a sudden. A fire breaks out in the home right. Your kids are upstairs. Wife is wherever she may be you know going down. I'm willing to bet that you're going to forget about your hamstring. You're going to sprint upstairs. You're going to grab your kids. You'll make sure your wife's good you're getting out of that house and the reason is because the lives of your family are more important than the injury of your hamstring and so when the game is more important than the injury itself you don't feel that injury. Not. At that time. I went in the trainer's room. My kids are in there and you know they're looking at you and stuff and I'm looking at them.And I'm like you know. It's all right. That's going to be all right. It'll be fine. It'll be all right. It'll be all right. It'll be all right as a parent. You got to set the example you got to set the example. This.

11:29 This is another obstacle. This obstacle cannot define me. It's not going to me. It's not going to be responsible for me stepping away for the game that I love. I'm going to step away on my own terms. And that's when a decision was made that you know what I'm doing it. You got to lead by example as parents you got to lead by example. If you want your kids to do whatever it is. They want to accomplish in life. You have to show them you got to show them the definition of greatness is to inspire the people next to you yeah. I think that's what greatness is or should be. It's not something. That's that that lives and dies with one person is how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person that inspires another person. And that's how you create something that I think lasts forever and I think that's our challenge as people is to is to figure out. How our story can impact others and motivate them in a way to create their own greatness.