Russell Westbrook: I Never Planned To Go Pro

This is a great interview in which Russell Westbrook expressed how important education, more than basketball, was for him as a high school athlete.  Russ did not have a lot of college offers going into his senior year, but instead of getting too frustrated, he trusted his parents and coaches and he trusted the ‘process’ of being patient and continuing to work hard for the scholarship that he wanted. 

So often, young athletes want that instant success or gratification.  Russ was able to remain patient yet hungry in pursuing a college scholarship. 

He had a 3.9 GPA in high school, and he was trying to use basketball as a way to pay for college so that he could get a great education that his parents wouldn’t have to pay for.  His back-up plan if basketball didn't work out was to go to Stanford.  It wasn’t even until after his freshmen year at UCLA that he thought that playing in the NBA would even be a possibility.

Sports are a great learning tool and great for creating character development opportunities, and while it is great to have the goal of being the best athlete that you can be and try to use it to earn a college scholarship or even trying to become a professional, only 1% of high school athletes will ever be professionals.  They will all, however, be a professional something.  Make sure you are working hard in the classroom and increasing your knowledge so that you can live a successful and productive life.

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Trusted his parents and coaches and he trusted the ‘process’ of being patient, and continuing to work hard for the scholarship that he wanted.  So often, young athletes want that instant success or gratification.  Russ was able to remain patient yet hungry in pursuing a college scholarship. 

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Russ’s back-up plan was to go to Stanford.  Because he had a 3.9 GPA in high school, he had more options than just basketball, and he says that basketball was just another opportunity to get school payed for.

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Russ didn’t think that he would be a professional basketball player.  He felt that academics would carry him through life.  He didn’t have the goal of playing in the NBA until after his freshmen year in high school.  His desire to get better and be the best basketball player he could be was so that his parents wouldn’t have to pay for him to go to college.