The Best Message I’ve Been Given From A Coach
Let me start this out by saying I’ve been blessed to play for some amazing coaches. Each step of my career has had a different type of leadership; from Hall of Famers like Doc Rivers to Mike D’Antoni, to my own Dad, to Scott Brooks and now Burak Gören- each coach has taught me so much about both life and basketball.
The biggest piece of knowledge that I think about almost daily didn’t even come from someone that was coaching me (at the time.) It was a February afternoon in 2012. Wisconsin was playing host to Jared Sullinger and #3 Ohio State. As a recruit in the audience, it was hard not to notice the physicality and toughness the Buckeyes showed in the tough road environment. From the opening tip, Ohio State controlled the pace and tempo, knocking off UW on their own court by 6.
As a committed recruit, I got pretty comfortable around the program. I had gotten to know the guys on the team and was able to go into the locker room after games to hear Coach Ryan and the Staff speak to the players. I wasn’t sure if I should enter the locker room to see everyone after a tough loss, but after what I absorbed from the leader of the Badgers I am so glad I did.
Ohio State “out-Badgered” the Badgers. The guys knew it. You could see it in their body language and hanging heads while sitting in the Player’s Lounge of the Men’s Basketball Locker Room. I thought I was about to hear my first college hoops verbal explosion about toughness and grit. As I learned then, and throughout my career, Coach Ryan isn’t much of a screamer after games. Whether it is a win or a loss, Bo usually has a lesson or message that he wants to get across directly and calmly.
This message was one I needed to hear.
“Every day you wake up, there is a blank canvas sitting in front of you,”
17 year old me sat up straight trying to figure out where he’s going…
“You’re the artist. You paint it each day. Throughout the course of each day, you are creating a painting with your actions, your words, your thoughts, your habits. The goal as the artist is to create a masterpiece. When you go to bed each night, you look at that canvas, and you have to ask yourself if you are truly proud of what you see, or if there is room for improvement. The beauty of life is that if you aren’t proud of what you see, you have the next day to get up and try to make another masterpiece. So let’s pick ourselves up, wipe this one clean, and know we have to be better. Let’s get outta here.”
Short and sweet. A perfect message.
For me, this message isn’t about basketball. As I said, I reflect on this analogy daily. As an Immature 17-year-old, and now a little-bit-more-mature-26-year-old, I am so glad I was able to be in the locker room and hear this message. I’m not perfect, none of us are- but I do my best to create a painting each day that I can be proud of; and if not, like Coach said, I have the next 24 hours to give it another shot with all that I have.
The lessons, struggles, and achievements in my life/career have taught me so many things about this world. I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to handle them and keep a smile on my face through a ton of tough things thrown at me. Whether it is relationships, basketball, or learning to handle social media B.S. - all of these experiences are slowly molding me as a person, fine-tuning weaknesses that are being exposed each day. Thankfully, the coaches, teachers, friends and teammates that I’ve been blessed to have, are helping me grow into the man I’m striving to be. There are still going to be days where I look at the canvas and see a very ugly picture, but with growth, you learned to embrace those.
Embrace mistakes. Learn from your errors. Don’t cover up the bumps and bruises. We keep going.
Get up, wipe yourself clean, and go create a masterpiece today.
