Most people see it as just a game. A bunch of huge, overpaid athletes running into each other for forty eight minutes. They dont see what I see, and to be honest until I stopped playing I didnt see it either.
When I was playing basketball I was locked into getting better. I wanted to be successful so thats all I thought about night in and night out. How can I improve? What do I need to do to get to the next level? Those were the questions that lingered in my head from sun up till sun down.
Whenever my team would win or lose a game I thought about what I could have done better. Was I aggressive enough? Did I play good defense? I never looked at the life lessons that basketball was teaching me every day. They say sometimes you have to step back to see the bigger picture and when I finally took that step I was amazed at what I saw.
Today I train and coach kids. Im trying to show them that the game of basketball is just like the game of life. I call life a game because just like basketball your success or failure is largely dependent on not only you but the people around you as well. Basketball in my opinion mirrors life theres a lesson for every set back and every triumph.
As I’ve stated in the past basketball didnt come naturally for me. A late start (I was 16) and a sudden growth spurt caused me to move more like a baby deer instead of Michael Jordan. The years of work it took to get better taught me hard work was a necessity not an option if I wanted to fulfill my dream of playing in college and beyond.
Throughout my whole career people doubted me. In high school, college,and afterwards there was always someone telling me to be “realistic”. Those voices taught me that the most important voice was my own.The negativity made my skin thicker, and helped turn off that part of me that didn’t believe.
The injury that eventually stopped my career taught me that sometimes life happens. It showed me that even when you’re working hard, and doing the right thing life can sometimes take what you love away from you. That was a hard pill to swallow at the time, but eventually I did, and it made me stronger.
If I never ventured out on the basketball court the summer of my sophomore year there would have been thousands of people I would have never met, relationships that would have never been formed, and lessons I would have never been able to pass down to the kids I work with today.
I thank basketball for the good, but I owe it for the bad, because the lessons I have learned from defeat have helped me become victorious in life.
So true!!!!! Absolutely love this blog abt life & basketball. The two are mirrors of each other. Lessons overflow each day if we see them & use them as opportunities to get better at work, our relationships & in our community. Amen! You found your inner voice & have used it!
As I read this, Cornell, I am impressed with how stringently analytical your mind is – how you assess everything from all angles, how you distill the information, and re-formulate it, logically and at times from left of field. It is no wonder you are such a wonderful coach and motivator, the wisdom you extract and impart, with humour, humility and humanity is treasure for your audience. This lesson for life encapsulated on the basketball court, is so very valuable and such a good analogy. The overriding truth for me, is that the courage and perseverance you have employed in your own life’s journey is such an inspiration – and underlines the veracity of your approach!