"Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story." The precise origin of the quote is debated.
Origin stories appear in biography and legend. Biographer Walter Isaacson explored beginnings of DaVinci, Ben Franklin, Einstein, and others.
Origin stories even cross species.
Basketball origin stories proliferate.
Perhaps the best known and most extensive was the Netflix Michael Jordan series, The Last Dance.
Bill Russell's family relocated from Louisiana to Oakland starting the chain of events that launched his career.
Origin stories aren't exclusive to Americans. Giannis Antetokounmpo rose from poverty to international prominence and an NBA title.
Where's the value? Origin stories inspire, inform 'complexity' of characters, and trigger emotions which could range from disdain, to sympathy, or awe.
Coaches have our own origin stories but refocus on helping players write their narratives. These should work across domains. How?
1. Be an ambitious giver. Adam Grant's Give and Take shares how givers are both the most and least successful. Reign in the self while prioritizing players and teams first. Complex coaching personalities like John Calipari and Nick Saban show how difficult that is.
2. Develop. Without expanding our teaching foundations, how can we grow skills in others? That means studying coaches domestic and foreign, borrowing and combining their methods. Here are just a few, alphabetically:
- Chris Brickley
- Dr. Fergus Connolly (Human performance expert)
- Drew Hanlen
- Don Kelbick
- Bob Knight
- Mike McKay
- Etorre Messina
- Kirby Schepp
- Arik Shivek
- Dave Smart
- Ed Smith (former English national cricket selector)
- Jay Wright
Without a doubt, you'll add another few dozen that impacted you, your knowledge, and approach.
3. Expand horizons across disciplines. Stay open to the firehose of ideas around us. Read, read, read. Learn analogies. Study both success and failure. Why did space shuttle Challenger fail? Was it lack of knowledge or misreading available information?
4. Never stop learning. Stay curious. Being a "know-it-all" is the height of hubris and vanity. Walk into a library in awe of our ignorance. Grow our players through our stories and our mentor's stories. Remember Usher's recommendation to study your mentor's mentors. My mentor's intellectual mentors included Dean Smith and John Wooden.
5. Become a storyteller. What will our former players remember from our mentoring? Stories have power and durability. Stories add both simplicity and complexity. Teach excellence, triumph, and tragedy.
Lagniappe. Remember principles of symmetry. What we want to do on offense we want to limit on defense.
SPACING 101
— Chris Steed (@steeder10) April 27, 2024
Move the on-ball defender VERTICALLY and the helpside defenders HORIZONTALLY.
If your system accomplishes this, then you have proper spacing.
Conversely, great defenses have an inverse effect on spacing. The on-ball defender pushes the ball horizontally and the…
Lagniappe 2. Think again.
Don Kelbick is one of the most unique thinkers in basketball, and the NBA and world basketball community are listening.
— Joe Haefner | Breakthrough Basketball (@BreakthruBball) April 27, 2024
NBA Coaches like Jeff Van Gundy have trusted Don and his methods to develop the skills and mentality that players need to succeed at the highest level of… pic.twitter.com/zaTJS9VgUj
Lagniappe 3. Winners are different. Coach Berge and I are on the same wavelength.
1: They COMPETE at Another Level
— Greg Berge (@gb1121) April 28, 2024
Sport is about Competition -> Winners COMPETE!
✓ Competitiveness is a Skill.
✓ Competitiveness is a MINDSET.
✓ Get the Competitive Juices Flowing.
Coaches: Create competitive situations in practice.
Find your Competitors.
Play Them.