6.23 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: They’ll Regret Cutting Me

“If you work hard, keep your head down, try to do the right things, and try to have the right intentions, anything can happen for you.” - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Have you ever been cut from a team or been told you weren’t good enough?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the few NBA guards who have won a regular season MVP, NBA championship, and finals MVP in the same season, but did you know that he was cut from the JV team as a freshman in high school?

When he was a freshman at St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary, he didn’t make the junior varsity team and was sent to play on the 9th grade team instead, something that’s unusual for a future NBA star.

Instead of pouting and quitting, that setback fueled his drive. Shai said after he got cut, he tested his mom, “I’m going to make them regret cutting me.”

Shai went on to become one of the top high school recruits in the country, and he played at the University of Kentucky before being the 11th pick in the 2018 draft.

Shai has said, “If you work hard, keep your head down, try to do the right things, and try to have the right intentions, anything can happen for you.”

He also said, “If you want it bad enough—go get it. If not, don’t waste your time.”

We all have something big we want to do, but are you willing to do what it takes to make it happen?

Are you willing to go through getting cut, overlooked, and counted out and keep going?

Question of the Day: What’s one thing you want to accomplish this week, and what is one thing you have to do to make that happen?