Full transcript
0:00i had a purpose i wanted to be one of
0:01the best basketball players to ever play
0:04and anything else that was outside of
0:07that lane
0:08i didn't have time for
0:09[Music]
0:12there's a quote from one of my english
0:14teachers a little marion named uh
0:16mr fisk he had a great quote that said
0:19rest at the end not
0:20in the middle and that's something i
0:23always live by
0:24you know i'm not going to rest i'm going
0:26to keep on pushing now
0:27a lot of answers that i don't have even
0:31questions
0:31that i don't have but i'm just going to
0:33keep going i'm just going to keep going
0:35and i'll figure these things out as you
0:36go right you just continue to build that
0:38way
0:39so that i try to live by that all the
0:40time at what age did that goal become
0:44crystal clear
0:45i made that deal with myself at 13 years
0:47old at 13 years old 13 years old
0:50clear about it crystal clear and where
0:51did inspiration come from
0:53um the love of the game the love of the
0:56game the challenge like i
0:58would watch magic play i'd watch michael
1:00play
1:01and i would see them do these
1:02unbelievable things and i'd say you know
1:04can i get to that level i don't know but
1:08let's find out let's find out and so
1:10that curiosity to see
1:12where i could push this thing let me
1:14down that path i think
1:16i had a summer where i played basketball
1:17when i was like 10 or 11 years old
1:19and here i come playing and i don't
1:22score one point
1:24the entire summer not a free throw not a
1:26nothing not a lucky shot not a breakaway
1:28layup
1:29zero points and i remember crying about
1:31it being upset about it my father just
1:32gave me a hug and said listen
1:34whether you scored zero or score 60 i'm
1:37gonna love you no matter what
1:39wow that is the most important thing
1:41that you can say to a child
1:43because from there i was like okay it
1:45gives me all the confidence in the world
1:47to fail
1:48i have the security there but to hell
1:50with that
1:51i'm scoring 60. from there i just went
1:53to work i just
1:54stayed with him i kept practicing kept
1:56practicing came project
1:58i think that's when the idea of
2:00understanding a long-term view
2:02became important because i wasn't going
2:04to catch these kids
2:05in a week i wasn't going to catch them
2:06in a year right so that's when i sat
2:09down and said okay
2:10this is going to take some thought all
2:11right what i want to work on first
2:13all right shooting all right let's knock
2:15this out let's focus on this half a year
2:17six months
2:17do nothing but shoot right after that
2:19all right creating your own shot and
2:21then you focus so you start i started
2:22creating a menu of things
2:24when i came back the next summer i was a
2:25little bit better i scored yeah it
2:27wasn't much
2:27right but i scored this is 12 13 12 13.
2:30then 14 came around
2:32back half of 13 14 years old and then i
2:35was just
2:36killing everyone and it happened in two
2:38years and i wasn't expecting to happen
2:40in two years but it did
2:41because what i had to do was work on the
2:43basics and the fundamentals
2:45well they relied on athleticism and
2:47their natural ability
2:49and because i stick to the fundamentals
2:51it just caught up to them
2:53and then my body you know my knees
2:54stopped hurting i grew into my frame
2:56and then it was game wow
3:00were you always competitive from the day
3:02you were born you were super competitive
3:05uh competitive with things that i
3:08i participate in so i like i'll put it
3:10to you this way so like
3:11you know basketball for me was the most
3:14important thing
3:16so everything i saw whether it was tv
3:19shows whether it was books i read
3:21people i talked to everything was done
3:24to try to learn how to become
3:26a better basketball player everything
3:28everything and so when you have that
3:30point of view
3:31then literally the world becomes your
3:33library
3:34to help you to become better at your
3:36craft so at 13 years old i had a
3:40i had a kill list and so
3:44you know they used to do these rankings
3:46it was street and smith
3:47basketball rankings and i was nowhere to
3:50be found
3:50because i was like six four scrawny like
3:53160 pounds soaking wet
3:55so i was like 57 on the list
3:58and so i will look at 56 55 all the way
4:00up to number one
4:01who these players are what club teams
4:04they played for
4:06so when we go on an aau travel circuit i
4:09i got to hunt them down right and so
4:11that became my mission in high school is
4:14to
4:14check off every other person all those
4:1656 other names
4:18hunt them down and knock them down so we
4:21played at 13 i would size you up
4:23and see what your strengths and
4:24weaknesses are how do you approach the
4:26game are you silly about it are you
4:28goofy about it are you good at it just
4:29because you're bigger and stronger than
4:30everybody else
4:32or is there actually thought and skill
4:34that you put into it
4:35right and when i play i'd play to my
4:37weaknesses i always work on the things
4:39during those games that i was weak at
4:41left hand pull up jump shot
4:44post game right so i have a strategy
4:47what was really your work ethic like and
4:50for how long did you stay disciplined
4:52um well i mean i mean every day i mean
4:55since you know
4:5620 years it was an everyday process and
4:59trying to figure out shrimps and
5:00weaknesses for example
5:02jumping ability now my vertical was a 40
5:04wasn't a 46 or 40
5:0645 my hands are big but they're not
5:09massive
5:10right so you got to figure out ways to
5:12strengthen them so your hands are strong
5:13enough to be able to palm a ball and do
5:15the things that you need to do
5:17uh quickness i was quick but not
5:19insanely quick
5:20i was fast but not ridiculously fast
5:23right so i had to
5:25rely on skill a lot more i had to rely
5:28on angles a lot more i had to study the
5:30game
5:30a lot more and uh but i enjoyed it
5:33though so like from the time i was
5:35i can't remember when i started watching
5:37the game i studied the game
5:39and it just never changed what does
5:40losing feel like to you
5:43oh it's exciting why is it exciting
5:48because it means you have different ways
5:51to get better there are certain things
5:52that you can figure out that you can
5:54take advantage of
5:56right certain weaknesses that were
5:58exposed
5:59um that you need to shore up right so it
6:02was exciting i mean it
6:04sucks to lose but the hardest thing is
6:06to face that stuff
6:09that's a really really tough challenge
6:11how did you get
6:12mentally and emotionally so strong where
6:16it doesn't bother you well you know it's
6:18you got to look at the reality of the
6:20situation
6:20you know like for me it's not you know
6:22you kind of got to get over yourself
6:25right and then after that it's okay well
6:27why did those air balls happen
6:30got it i didn't have the legs so you
6:32look at the shot
6:33every shot was online every shot was
6:36online but every shot was short
6:38right i got to get stronger i gotta
6:40train differently the weight training
6:42program that i'm doing
6:43i gotta tailor it for an 82 game
6:47season so that when the playoffs come
6:48around my legs are stronger and that
6:50ball gets there
6:51so i look at it with rationale and say
6:54okay well the reason why i shot air
6:55balls because my legs aren't there
6:57i got all next year they'll be there you
7:00have to do the hard stuff
7:01and watch that game and study that game
7:04to not make those mistakes over and over
7:07again
7:08just because you weren't brave enough to
7:10face it so you got to deal with it
7:12got to deal with it face it learn from
7:13it you don't want to have that feeling
7:15again do you
7:16right so you got to really study it and
7:17face it and uh not to say you'll win the
7:20next time you face but your least
7:21you'll give yourself a better better
7:22chance yeah it's an obsessiveness
7:26that comes along with it you want things
7:27to be as perfect as they can be
7:29understanding that nothing is ever
7:30perfect but the challenge is try to get
7:32them as perfect as they can be
7:34and what can you do it's in your control
7:37so control what you can
7:39you have this mindset but how did you
7:41develop that i don't know if that's what
7:43you call a mom of mindset but how did
7:45you develop that
7:47and when did it start it started in
7:50middle school and high school because a
7:52lot of the kids that i was playing
7:54against
7:54were inner city kids and so you're
7:56looking at me
7:57as if okay this kid's soft they felt
7:59like they could try to be physical or
8:01try to intimidate me and do all this
8:02other stuff which they couldn't
8:03right but now i'm saying okay well
8:05you're trying to attack me how am i
8:07gonna attack you
8:08how can i mentally figure out ways to
8:11break you down how can i show you that
8:13no i have the edge
8:15right and so that's when it first
8:16started for me is figuring out
8:18how to get the upper hand on an opponent
8:20that way and what would you do to
8:21mentally break people down
8:23then one of the things i would do is
8:25while everybody would be at the
8:26cafeteria work you know eating and doing
8:27all sorts of stuff i just go back to the
8:28job
8:29so that was my way of showing them yeah
8:32i may be
8:33from the suburbs but you're not going to
8:35outwork me
8:36wow like i see a lot of players
8:39take vacations with other players that
8:41are close friends
8:43and or just take vacations just to take
8:45vacations or just hang out just to hang
8:47out like i
8:47i'm not i never did that
8:49[Music]
8:51why why didn't you do that well because
8:53when i retire i didn't want to have to
8:55say
8:57i wish i would have done more
9:00i don't want that i play games with the
9:02flu i play games with 102 degree fever
9:05man
9:05we had a game against toronto in 2000
9:10and vince was tearing the league up
9:14my back was jacked jacked
9:17so i would be in a layup line like okay
9:19there's a lot of days
9:20where you know you can rest and recover
9:22today ain't one of them
9:24your back can bother you any other day
9:26that ain't bothering me today we're
9:28gonna
9:28he gonna have to see me today you're
9:31playing
9:32against the golden state warriors score
9:35is 107
9:36109. you guys are close to getting into
9:40the playoffs
9:41you know exactly what happens in the
9:43game you go up
9:44you're about to take your shot and then
9:46all of a sudden boom
9:47achilles happens right friend of mine
9:51nema he is here just to listen to he
9:54played ball
9:56and he told me says patrick i don't
9:57think you understand he says when i tore
9:59my achilles in high school
10:01there's four friends of mine dragged me
10:04to my husband i was
10:05crying from there straight to the
10:07hospital he says i have no clue
10:08how the hell this guy did it
10:11he went and hit the free throws and then
10:13you walked
10:14off the stage how the hell do you
10:17tolerate that kind of pain
10:20uh you know i i use this i tell this
10:23example
10:24and i think this is the best way to
10:25explain it
10:27you know you have a hamstring injury you
10:30pull your hamstring really really
10:32badly you can barely walk right let
10:35alone play anything
10:36you're at home all of a sudden a fire
10:38breaks out in the home
10:41right your kids are upstairs
10:44wife is wherever she may be you know
10:47going down
10:47i'm willing to bet that you're going to
10:50forget about your hamstring you're going
10:51to sprint upstairs
10:52you're going to grab your kids you'll
10:54make sure your wife's good you're
10:55getting out of that house
10:57and the reason is because the lives of
11:00your family
11:01are more important than the injury of
11:03your hamstring
11:05and so when the game is more important
11:07than the injury itself you don't feel
11:09that
11:09injury not at that time
11:12i went in the trainer's room my kids are
11:14in there and you know they're looking at
11:16you and stuff and i'm looking at them
11:18and i'm like you know it's all right
11:20that's going to be all right it'll be
11:21fine
11:22it'll be all right it'll be all right
11:23it'll be all right as a parent you got
11:25to set the example
11:27you got to set the example this this is
11:28another obstacle
11:30this obstacle cannot define me it's not
11:32going to me it's not going to
11:34be responsible for me stepping away for
11:37the game that i love i'm going to step
11:39away
11:39on my own terms and that's when a
11:42decision was made that you know what
11:44i'm doing it you got to lead by example
11:47as parents you got to lead by example if
11:49you want your kids to do
11:51whatever it is they want to accomplish
11:52in life you have to show them
11:55you got to show them the definition of
11:58greatness is to
11:59inspire the people next to you yeah i
12:01think that's what greatness
12:02is or should be it's not something
12:04that's that
12:06that lives and dies with one person
12:09is how can you inspire a person to then
12:11in turn inspire another person
12:13that inspires another person and that's
12:15how you create something that i think
12:16lasts forever
12:17and i think that's our challenge as
12:19people is to
12:22is to figure out how our story can
12:24impact others and motivate them in a way
12:26to create their own greatness