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Monday, January 26, 2026

Basketball - Advice

In an ideal world, we accumulate wisdom and dispense good advice. Grateful to those who shared theirs.

First, a few relevant quotes:

"There is nothing cheaper than free advice." 

"Never take criticism from someone from whom you wouldn't take advice."

"Your friends stab you in the front." - Oscar Wilde

Advice is not monolithic. It's not one-size fits all; each tidbit won’t resonate. Good advice is rare yet often crosses domains. Good advice is timeless. Choose some and think how it can relate to sports:

1) Develop a clear and relevant philosophy. 

For example, the Fourth Agreement, “Always do your best.” Your philosophy informs your ideals, values, and standards. 

Basketball - Our best efforts leave less room for regret. 

2) Learn every day. 

Learning pays you every day.

Basketball - Watch video every day. 

3) Read. Read. Read. 

Reading takes us to meet people and see places we wouldn’t otherwise know. The differences between who you are today and whom you become in five years are the people you read and the books you read. 

Basketball - Many coaches and executives are readers - Popovich, Steve Kerr, Mike Neighbors, Brad Stevens

4) Make friends with the dead. 

Get to know Eleanor Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Franklin. 93 percent of people ever born are dead.

Basketball - Study great coaches from the past - Dean Smith, Wooden, Pete Newell, Knight, John McLendon

5) Place your character above your reputation. 

Reputation is what people think about someone. Character is who they are. 

Basketball - "Character is job one." - Etorre Messina

6) Establish priorities. 

Coach Ellis Lane taught timeless priorities - family, school, sports.

Basketball - Make everything impact winning. 

7) “Mentoring is the only shortcut to excellence.” 

Find a mentor. Mr. Rogers shared good advice, “Look for the helpers.”

Basketball - Be so worthy that people want to mentor you.

8) Many key words end with _bility:

  • Ability
  • Durability 
  • Reliability
  • Responsibility 
  • Accountability 
Basketball - Study other words, such as in Kevin Eastman's Why the Best Are the Best

9) Have a “NO” button. 

A NO button keeps you out of trouble. “Never follow a lit fuse.” - Dr. Tom Walsh

Basketball - Read Coach Knight's The Power of Negative Thinking

10) Surround yourself with good people. 

Good people avoid the killer S’s - softness, selfishness, sloth (laziness). Some say we become the average of the five people we are around the most. Choose well.

Basketball - The basketball community is remarkably willing to share and enthusiastic to learn. Thank you to the more than a thousand readers each day. I work to add value with each piece. 

Lagniappe. Anne Lamott is a favorite writer. She says her six year-old grandson often wakes and says, "Today could be the best day ever." Make that happen.

Lagniappe 2. Own the standard. 




 

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