Being a professional means "getting after it" even when you don't 'feel like it'. In this Sacramento Bee article, George Karl shares his frustration with a lack of professionalism.
Check out these excerpts and wonder...am I giving professional effort?
"...nothing will work if the Kings are lackadaisical and fail to prepare properly." (Comment: Effort, including attention to detail, defines you as an individual and as a team.)
"But when I’m managing attitude, when I’m managing approach, when I’m managing professionalism then yeah, my X’s and O’s aren’t good, either.”
"We’re a team that has to outwork people to win games on the road. I think sometimes we worry too much about shots, rotations." (Comment: Legendary Coach Chuck Daly said, "Players want 48...48 shots, 48 minutes, 48 million." Selfish teams are losing teams.)
"...noise must be made by players who bring a professional approach."
This quote from Rajon Rondo is particularly galling, "you can talk all you want but you have to lead by example. You can’t pick and choose when to lead.” (Comment: Rondo admitted to a lack of effort, especially on the defensive end, for two years while in Boston. You can't change the spots on a leopard.)