Basketball - Blogs Are Made of Books

"I learn from everybody, even if sometimes it’s what not to do." - Abraham Lincoln 

Learn across domains. Everything connects with everything else. 

In Show Your Work by Austin Kleon, he notes that "books are made of books." So are blogs. Sam Davies shares an excellent summary:

samuelthomasdavies.com

Book Summary: Show Your Work by Austin Kleon | Sam Thomas Davies

This is a book summary of Show Your Work by Austin Kleon. Read this Show Your work summary to review key takeaways and lessons from the book.    

On the cusp of summer, what books (or authors) are you reading?

I’m slogging through Elon Musk, by noted biographer Walter Isaacson. Musk could have become a great coach…until one of his players or assistants killed him.

Musk like some driven and highly intelligent people, has no patience for those whom he considers to be 'fools'. And fools can have a broad definition. He expects everyone ultimately to bend to his will and his authority, setting up inevitable conflict. Coaching is about relationships, adding value, and teaching. Doing that while living on a razor's edge can't be comfortable. 

Kobe Bryant’s The Mamba Mentality clarifies the secret sauce - outwork everyone. It's not just Kobe's opinion of himself, but the examples cited by Tim S. Grover in Relentless. 

Fundamentals provide players a technical and tactical advantage. 

Self-assessment and self-correction belong to success stories. Thumb through “The Tao Te Ching” to learn about self-evolution.

Reading exposes coaches to examples of success and failure beyond basketball. Abraham Lincoln's political career ran the gamut from his Presidency to earlier losses and decades of depression. General "Fighting Joe" Hooker had early major battlefield successes, but diluted by liquor and wandering eyes, he suffered a catastrophic defeat in May 1863 to Lee at Chancellorsville. 

Extract the lessons:

• Failure is not final (Lincoln).
• Distractions will be held against you (Hooker).
• Beware the 'numerical' underdog with an effective plan (Lee at Chancellorsville)

Coach Kevin Eastman commits to reading two hours a day, citing the advantages of 180 hours of professional reading a quarter. 

Lagniappe. Dos and Don'ts. This is who we are and that is who we are not. 

One of the most powerful things you can say to build a winning culture is, “We don't do that here.” #DailyWisdom pic.twitter.com/fVHPt9981V

— Ball is Psych (@BallisPsych) June 12, 2025

Lagniappe 2. As an individual we set our standard of performance. That was a key to Bill Walsh's success with the 49ers as well as Kelvin Sampson.  

"It all starts with our standards.
Eventually, our standards and our culture will coexist. But, they are two different things.
If you don't have standards, there is no culture." pic.twitter.com/S8IRZTqrdA

— The Winning Difference (@thewinningdiff1) June 12, 2025

Lagniappe 3. Reread great books and abandon bad ones. It is better to read a great book multiple times than to read ten bad books. Wooden, Dean Smith, Krzyzewski, Newell, and Knight all wrote great books. Other famous coaches wrote less highly recommended ones.