WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.960 Every kid. Every person has the ability to put one 2 00:00:02.960 --> 00:00:05.440 foot in front of the other. So like if you're saying, Okay, 3 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.000 I'm gonna climb Mount Everest, you're at the bottom of 4 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.039 the mountain and you look up and you're going, I'm 5 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:12.320 not gonna go on Mount Everest, right, But if you 6 00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:15.119 break it down into sections and you just one foot 7 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:17.079 in front of the other, one step at a time, 8 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:19.320 next thing, you know, you at the top of the mountain. 9 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:23.120 It's just a matter of what's important to you and 10 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.640 what's important to you. For whatever reason, I didn't feel 11 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:30.199 good about myself if I wasn't doing everything I could 12 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.159 to be the best version of myself. If I felt 13 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.119 like I left anything on the table, it would eat 14 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:39.560 away at me. I wouldn't be able to look myself 15 00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:45.000 in the mirror. The Mama mentality simply means trying to 16 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:48.880 be the best version of yourself. That's what the mentality means. 17 00:00:48.920 --> 00:00:52.640 It means every day you know, you're trying to become better, 18 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:56.200 and it's a constant quest. It's an infinite quest. So, 19 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.159 starting at the age of two, when I first started 20 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.000 playing the game, and on and on on, I always 21 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:04.000 ask questions. I always try to get better every single day, 22 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:05.959 learn more. You know a lot of things I learned 23 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.560 by being just being around the game, right, So by 24 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:12.400 the age of six, I was already strategizing versus other 25 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:16.439 six year olds. I just constantly looked for things to 26 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:20.519 learn from and you know, very observant. Everything that I've 27 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:22.640 learned from the game of basketball, I've carried it over 28 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:25.000 into life. You know, like basketball has helped me be 29 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:27.280 a better person, a better friend. Well, because there's life 30 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:32.079 lessons that are within the game, like communication, like unselfishness, 31 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:36.760 like attention to detail, and empathy and compassion, like all 32 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:40.400 those things are in the game, and as an athlete, 33 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:43.120 if we are aware of those things, it helps us 34 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:46.319 become better human beings. If your job is to try 35 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:48.040 to be the best basketball player you can be, to 36 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.280 do that, you have to practice. You have to train, right. 37 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:52.799 You want to train as much as you can, as 38 00:01:52.799 --> 00:01:55.359 often as you can. So if you get up at 39 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.439 ten in the morning, train at twelve, train for two hours, 40 00:01:58.439 --> 00:02:01.040 twelve to two. You have to let your body recover, 41 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:03.959 so you eat, recover whatever you get back out, you train, 42 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:07.640 start training again at six, train from six to eight, right, 43 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.280 and now you go home you shower, your dinner, you 44 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:11.840 go to bed, you wake up and do it again. Right, 45 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.479 those are two sessions right now, imagine you wake up 46 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:16.599 at three, you train at four, you go four to six, 47 00:02:17.039 --> 00:02:20.400 come home, breakfast, relax, So sola la lah. Now you're 48 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:24.000 back at it again, nine to eleven. Right, you relax, 49 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:25.400 and now all of a sudden you're back at it again. 50 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:27.919 To the four. And now you're back at it again. 51 00:02:28.039 --> 00:02:31.400 You know, seven to nine. Look how much more training 52 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.680 I have done by simply starting at four, right, And 53 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.199 so now you do that, and as the years go on, 54 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.439 the separation that you have with your competitors and your 55 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.319 peers just grows larger and larger and larger and larger 56 00:02:44.360 --> 00:02:46.599 and larger. And by a year five or six, it 57 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:49.520 doesn't matter what kind of work they're doing in the summer, 58 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:53.039 they're never going to catch up because they're five years behind. 59 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:56.199 So it makes sense to get up and start your 60 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:58.520 day early because you can get more work. I can 61 00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:01.039 if I start earlier, I can train more hours. And 62 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:02.719 I know the other guys aren't doing it because I 63 00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:04.759 know what their training schedule is, right, So I know 64 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.639 if I do this consistently over time, is that the 65 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:10.680 GAP's just gonna winden and win and win and win 66 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.879 and win, and they won't be able to get that back. 67 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:15.800 So to me, it was just common sense. I'm like thinking, 68 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:18.479 how can I get an advantage? Oh, start earlier, Yeah, 69 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:21.319 let's do that. It's just a matter of what's important 70 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.159 to you and what's important to you. For whatever reason, 71 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.960 I didn't feel good about myself if I wasn't doing 72 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:31.199 everything I could to be the best version of myself. 73 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:33.680 If I felt like I left anything on the table, 74 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.039 it would eat away at me. I wouldn't be able 75 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.599 to look myself in the mirror. So the reason why 76 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:40.759 I can retire now and be completely comfortable about it 77 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.000 because I know that I've done everything I could to 78 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.520 be the best basketball player I could be. And so 79 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.199 you can't leave any stone on turn. You can't short 80 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:53.000 change yourself like that. You're not cheating anybody but yourself. 81 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:55.319 I mean, you're tired, you're literally this far away from 82 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:58.080 the line. Why would you not go that extra to 83 00:03:58.080 --> 00:03:58.719 touch the line? 84 00:03:59.039 --> 00:03:59.199 Right? 85 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:01.439 So if I let them get away with that, right, 86 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.479 all of a sudden, he starts, maybe achieve something over here, right, 87 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.560 not give his best over here? Not give his best 88 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:09.520 over here. Then as years go on, he's not going 89 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.000 to reach his full potential because he's been taking. 90 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.599 These little shortcuts that just add up up, add up, 91 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.360 add up, And you can't let that happen. Our job 92 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.360 as teachers, as mentors, as inspirers, it's our responsibility to 93 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:23.959 hold them accountable to those things. 94 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:27.279 Whatever you're doing at that moment is what you're doing 95 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.639 at that moment, you know. It's like, that's where the 96 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:33.839 obsessiveness is, having the attention to detail for the action 97 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.120 that you are performing at the time you're performing it. 98 00:04:36.319 --> 00:04:38.560 And if you can have that kind of focus, you 99 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:41.519 can't help but to have a certain level of obsession 100 00:04:41.639 --> 00:04:47.600 or attention to detail, to be unyielding, like you're always 101 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:50.360 going after it, always going after, always going after it. 102 00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:53.079 And if there's a challenge that ensues, oh good, I 103 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:54.720 want to see how I stack up to that. So 104 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:57.240 you go after and you go after it. It's fun. 105 00:04:57.279 --> 00:04:59.839 It's like you get a chance to compete against opponents 106 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.040 and you get a chance to see where you stack 107 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.480 up against them. It's like I want to see, maybe 108 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.000 I'm not good enough today. If that that's fine, now, 109 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:08.680 I'll be good enough the next time I see you though, 110 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.920 you know, and you get a chance to always measure 111 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:15.399 yourself and it's it's just fun to do that. So 112 00:05:15.439 --> 00:05:19.399 I guess that's where relentlessness comes from. Whatever moments occur, good, bad, 113 00:05:19.480 --> 00:05:23.720 or indifferent, I can use those moments to propel me forward, 114 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:28.160 use those as fuel to help me be a better player. Well. 115 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.319 Losing to the Celtics in the finals in two thousand 116 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.839 and eight, I mean that was tough. It was brutal. 117 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.399 Had night in the hotel room after we lost, just 118 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.160 thinking to myself, I may never win another championship like 119 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.600 I might have, just like this is it. It's too 120 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:43.959 hard to get back here. Maybe it's not in the 121 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.680 cards to win another one. And so I go through 122 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:48.399 that night of being mad, and then the next morning 123 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.920 I wake up and then start thinking, nah, I gotta 124 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:55.000 fix this. So where did it go wrong? You know? 125 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.920 Why did we lose? Or we weren't tough enough? Okay, 126 00:05:57.920 --> 00:05:59.759 we weren't tough enough. Whose responsibility is that? 127 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:00.000 To me? 128 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:02.680 The team tough? It's mine? So now I have to 129 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:05.720 start figuring out how I'm gonna lead this team differently, 130 00:06:06.240 --> 00:06:07.800 so to make sure that when we get to the finals, 131 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.879 the next time. We were tough and ready for this challenge. 132 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:15.040 And you know, that's that's how you bounce back from 133 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:19.399 those moments. It was hard man it because the achilles 134 00:06:19.480 --> 00:06:23.759 injury is the worst injury for an athlete. It's like 135 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:27.240 the worst, It's like the kiss of death. And when 136 00:06:27.240 --> 00:06:30.560 I ruptured my achilles, I knew what happened. I knew 137 00:06:30.680 --> 00:06:32.600 the severity of the injury, and I didn't know if 138 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:34.279 I was gonna come back from it, like this is 139 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.279 it like my career could be over right now? Well, 140 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:37.680 what I did is, you know, I went home and 141 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:41.120 I was just really angry, and I was angry. I 142 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:42.959 was mad, I was angry. I worked so hard for 143 00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.959 us to get to the playoffs and to have a 144 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.040 chance to win another championship, and then this happened. So 145 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:50.160 I had a lot of anger, and then from the anger, 146 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.800 and then I was sad, and then you start feeling 147 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:56.839 bad for yourself and then you say, all right, okay, 148 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.240 I'm done being a baby. Okay, what am I going 149 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:02.680 to do now? Because I can't sit here and give up. 150 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:05.720 That's not an option. So now what it's a process. 151 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.720 You look at process. What am I going to do? 152 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.480 What can I control surgery or do the surgery, come 153 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:16.240 out of the surgery, recover from there. Physical therapy. Okay, 154 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:19.600 physical therapy, piece by piece by piece by piece by piece. 155 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:22.240 Start running back on the court. And so I broke 156 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:25.879 things down into sections and said, okay, I'm gonna focus 157 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.319 on resting right now, this is it. I'm going to 158 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:31.959 focus on moving my toes and then walking and then 159 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.279 so you look at every challenge, at every step, and 160 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.240 that's how you're able to be resilient and come back 161 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:42.040 from these things. Every kid, every person has the ability 162 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:43.240 to put one foot in front of the other. 163 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:43.600 Right. 164 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.800 So like if you're saying, okay, I'm going to climb 165 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:48.160 Mount Everest, you're at the bottom of the mountain and 166 00:07:48.199 --> 00:07:50.439 you look up and you're going, I'm not gonna golib 167 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:53.879 Mount Everice, Right, But if you break it down into 168 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.199 sections and you just one foot in front of the other, 169 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.720 one step at a time, next thing you know, you're 170 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:00.439 at the top of the mountain. Came back from the 171 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.319 Achilles and I was fine into the next year. I 172 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.639 fracture my knee. Right, It's like, here we go again. 173 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.120 Come back from that next year, tear my shoulder. Here 174 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:11.319 we go again. Right. But if I looked at those 175 00:08:11.360 --> 00:08:14.920 things in totality, it'd be depressing. But if I look 176 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:18.800 at it as just the facts, this is it happened. 177 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.199 Can't do anything about it. It happened. Now, what are you 178 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:24.399 going to do? One step at a time. As time 179 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:28.639 goes on, I'm sitting there seventy eighty years old, and 180 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.439 I'm going to be wondering if I could have come 181 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:32.639 back from this injury. I don't want to wonder. I 182 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:34.120 want to find out. I want to see if the 183 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.759 critics are out there saying he's done, he'll never come back. 184 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.840 Maybe you're right, maybe you're not, but let's find out. 185 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.879 I think the greatest fear that we face is ourselves. Actually, 186 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:49.039 you know, I think it's it's not anything that's external 187 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.360 or anything that's superficial. I think the greatest fear you 188 00:08:51.399 --> 00:08:55.039 face is yourself because you know, we all have dreams, 189 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.960 and it's very scary sometimes to accept the dream that 190 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.440 you have. Scarier still to say, okay, I want that. 191 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:06.039 It's scary because you're afraid that if you put your 192 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:09.320 heart and soul into it and you fail, then how 193 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:12.600 you're going to feel about yourself? Right? So, being Fearless 194 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:16.559 means putting yourself out there and going for it no 195 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:21.159 matter what. Go for it, not for anybody else, but 196 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:24.919 for yourself. Dance beautifully in the box that you are 197 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:29.399 comfortable dancing in. Right, So, like everybody's box is different. 198 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:32.759 My box was to be extremely ambitious within the sport 199 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.240 of basketball. Your box it's different to mine. Right. Every 200 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:38.320 kid here has her own box. But doesn't mean that 201 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:43.159 your box isn't as beautiful as mine. Right, everybody has 202 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:45.440 their own. It's your job to try to perfect it 203 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:48.000 and make it as beautiful up a canvas as you 204 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:50.159 can make it. And if you have done that, then 205 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:52.120 you have lived a successful life. You have lived with 206 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.559 Mamba mentality. Right. So it doesn't mean you have to 207 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:57.080 go out here and do all of these crazy things. 208 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:59.320 I'll have to be like this person or that person. No, 209 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:01.879 what are you comfortable being? What it is that? What 210 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:03.639 is it that you want to do with your life? 211 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:05.559 And once you have that, then you try to live 212 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:09.639 it to the best of your ability. My vision of 213 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.919 what my goal is changed drastically as I got older. 214 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:14.480 So like as a kid, I said, I want to 215 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:16.879 be the best ever. Right, And now you go through 216 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.279 your life and everything you do is try to be 217 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:19.840 the best ever, be the best ever, be the best ever. 218 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:22.200 And as you get older, you start understanding that those 219 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.159 things are very superficial things, right, and everybody has a 220 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:26.919 different opinion about it. No matter what you do, I 221 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:30.039 can win twenty championships, there's always an opinion on who's 222 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:32.960 the best. Everybody has different opinions, And so I started 223 00:10:32.919 --> 00:10:35.679 to really kind of understanding maybe that's not the important thing. 224 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.120 Maybe the important thing is to, you know, how do 225 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.360 we as a team grow? How do I help my 226 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:44.639 teammates be better? So that was the first change for me, 227 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:48.279 and then as I got older, still it became more 228 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.440 about how are you inspiring others right to find themselves? 229 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.399 That is the ultimate championship. So how do you use 230 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.080 your passion and use that to inspire somebody else to 231 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:02.559 create their passion and then how can they pass that 232 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:03.639 on to the next person. 233 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:06.720 That is true success.