In The Know w/ Finke & Hill

As I have stated in previous blogs and if you know anything about me, you know that sports have pretty much consumed my whole life since I was young. I have so many reasons to be thankful for sports. One of them being that I have always been pretty competitive, so for obvious reasons, sports have been my outlet to compete. Another reason I am so thankful for sports is that it has taught me so many life lessons along the way.

I could go on for days, but to name a few different things, sports have taught me how to:

• Be a part of a team
• How to lead
• How to follow
• How to have structure
• How to win
• And even how to lose. 

I saw a quote the other day from John F. Kennedy that really stood out to me. He stated, “Once you say you’re going to settle for second, that’s what happens to you in life”. 

I think this quote is extremely important, because why go through something if you don’t want to win or do your best?

All throughout my life, I have been told that hard work is what will get you to where you want to go. There will always be bumps in the road throughout your journey and you may not win at everything you accomplish. However, if you give your all, then you can be frustrated you lost, but you can’t be disappointed in your effort because you know you left it all out there. When you should start to second guess things or even be embarrassed, is if you lose and you know deep down that you didn’t give everything you have.

I believe that this is what JFK was saying in his quote. You need to strive for greatness in everything you do. Shoot for the best possible outcome, because what is the point in giving the effort if you are not expecting the best for yourself? Especially when you know you have put in the right amount of work. Whether that is on the court or off.

Kobe Bryant is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He won five NBA Finals Championships, won multiple Finals MVP awards, an NBA MVP, is fourth all-time in points scored in the NBA, and many more accomplishments. 

These accomplishments didn’t happen overnight. He put in countless hours on the court to earn everything he accomplished. There is a reason that he is known as one of the hardest workers of all time. He put in the hours and it showed.

He also dealt with his own adversity. For example, did you know he also leads the NBA in the most missed shots of all time? He missed over 14,000 shots in his career. Crazy right? However, if he didn’t shoot this much and wasn’t as aggressive as he was, I guarantee you, he wouldn’t have been as successful as he ultimately became. He used his adversity and put it into a way to become successful. He was never satisfied with anything else other than winning.

This makes me think about the team I am on right now. When I joined the team in November, we were multiple games below .500 and not in the playoff picture. We have had multiple interruptions throughout our season from different players and coaches being replaced, players and coaches catching Covid, multiple injuries, and many more obstacles. Despite all of this, we have fought our way to the playoffs and are ready to fight til’ the finish. My mindset going into it is to win it all. There is no point in settling for anything else other than first. If we give it all we got then we can walk away with our heads high knowing we fought until the end. 

This is something that I am trying to do off the court as well. I need to keep my mindset on not accepting anything but the best. 

Give it all you got and the results will follow. When you hit adversity, keep plugging away.

Hard work is undefeated.

God Bless.

Michael 

P.S.

As always, leave any questions or comments that you might have for Malc and me. We appreciate all the support!