In The Know w/ Finke & Hill

Three… Finke catches the ball at the top of the key. Two… He takes a dribble past the defender. One… He rises up for the shot. Bzzzzzzz… The buzzer sounds and the game is over! Finke made the game-winning shot to win the championship for his team!

I probably went through this situation a million times throughout my childhood while playing basketball on my driveway. It’s the moment every kid dreams of. Being able to play in those big games and hit that game-winning shot. What a feeling. 

Taking a step back, we not only dream of those scenarios, but we dream of playing in those big games or just a game in general. We don’t dream of the work that goes into it. The blood, sweat, and tears that you sacrifice to reach that level. Instead, we dream of the end result. 

That end result sounds amazing, but the only way anyone will ever reach that success is by one thing – putting in the effort aka hard work. 

As a professional basketball player overseas, our seasons usually go anywhere from 8-10 months long. Meaning we are abroad the majority of the year and then return back home for the remaining 2-4 months of the year. During the few months we have back home, it is great to take a step back from the game and catch our breaths. For me, this consists of spending time with family and friends, brushing up on my golf skills (a lot to improve on), and even training kids of all ages on the court. 

I think it is healthy to take some time off from the game. Giving yourself a mental and a physical break is good for you. I did this for a couple of weeks, where I didn’t do any basketball workouts for myself. It was nice, but a couple of weeks was enough. Now it is back to business as usual. 

From doing lifting and agility work 5-6 times a week and basketball skill training for myself as well, I am right back into the swing of things as I prepare for my 4th season as a professional. As a kid growing up, I never thought about all the work that would go into being a pro. To all of the early morning lifts and the thousands of shots I would take weekly to perfect my craft. Now as I am older, it is what I love to do. The process of grinding it out day in and day out to try and earn that next great contract and to be put in a great position to help my future club win. It is what I aim to do every day. I love it. 

Just because I love it though, doesn’t mean that every day is easy. There are plenty of days when I would prefer to sleep in and sit back and relax all day. It is easy to do that in the offseason. There isn’t a team or a coach that is holding me accountable. I know deep down though that if I were to sit back and not work, there is someone out there that is working. I can’t let him win.

On my way back from Europe in May, I watched the movie “American Underdog” on the plane. For those that haven’t seen it, it is about the story of NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner and how he went from literally rock bottom to one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. I highly recommend it. 

In the movie, Kurt says, “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do until you can do what you want to do”. When I heard this, I wrote this down immediately. It is such a great quote to live by and to remind us of what we are striving for when times are tough. We all have that end goal that we are striving for. Unfortunately, life won’t always let it be easy. There are going to be sacrifices, twists, and turns along the way that don’t make sense. It will be easy to give up, but If we keep looking towards that end goal and put in all the work that we need to do, it will all work out in the end. 

As I am going through my training this summer and encounter those tough days where I would much rather be sitting by the pool with a cold beverage, I remind myself of this quote. I have many goals and aspirations, on and off the court that are not just going to happen overnight. They take time to accomplish. One step at a time. One day at a time. 

Do what needs to be done to reach the goal, even when it may seem impossible. Hard work will always beat no work.

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!