MAMBA MONDAYS | PLAYING TIME

One of my best friends has a daughter who plays basketball on one of the top teams in the state. She is only a sophomore, but is on the varsity team, playing behind some girls who are being recruited to play division 1 basketball. Even though you are young and playing on a top-ranked team, we all want to play, so spending time on the bench can be hard.

In the video below, 5-time NBA champion, Kobe Bryant, talked to 7-time national championship coach, Nick Saban, about being patiently impatient while earning more playing time, and how to tell your family and friends to shut up when they aren’t helping.

PATIENTLY IMPATIENT

Kobe Bryant: With patience, you have to be impatient, but you can’t get frustrated. Ask yourself, “Why am I not playing, and what can I do differently?” I have to be better, and if that’s not good enough, I have to be twice as good. For me it was a challenge of getting to a place where it was undeniable that you have to play me because I’m that good, I’m that efficient, and I’m strong on both ends of the floor.

I came off the bench my first two years and it actually helped me. I used it as a source of motivation, not to get frustrated and complain and whine about it.

Nick Saban said, “You were being responsible for your own self-determination.

SPEAK UP FOR YOURSELF

Kobe Bryant: It's also a strength to be able to tell your family and friends to shut up. They’ll say you should be starting and playing, but you have to be able to tell them, “Shut up, I’m not playing because I need to get better at this, and I need to get better at that.” There are things that I can control, but unfortunately, there is a lot of outside noise from friends, family, and former coaches filling your head with nonsense, and you have to have the strength to edit that and say, “No, I don’t want to hear it; this is on me.”

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1 - What is your biggest takeaway from the video?

2 - What is your thought process when you aren’t starting or playing as much as you want or think you should?

3 - What do your family and friends say to you when you aren’t starting or playing as much as they want or think you should?