A Coach's Diary

Kobe Bryant was known for his Mamba Mentality. The Mamba Mentality means, "Trying to be the best version of yourself." It means, "Every day, you are trying to become better." One of the pillars of Kobe Bryant's Mamba Mentality is Fearless. Kobe Bryant was asked, " Why is being fearless such an important part of the Mamba Mentality? " He said: "I think the greatest fear that we face is ourselves. It's not anything that is external; I think the greatest fear you face is yourself because we all have dreams, and its very scary sometimes to accept the dream that you have, and it's scarier still to say okay, I want that. It's scary because you're afraid that if you put your heart and soul into it and you fail then how are you going to feel about yourself? Being fearless means putting yourself out there and going for it no matter what. Go for it. Not for anybody else, but for yourself." He was then asked, "When you got to the le...

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions that we have, and it is one of the worst feelings. Fear can stop you in your tracks, freeze you in place, and keep you from doing what you want to do or need to do to be successful. My first year as a head coach, I would get so nervous and fearful right before tip-off that my fingers and knees would start shaking, and I would want to walk off the court and into the stands to watch the game with everyone else. I would ask myself, “How can I be a coach if I am so afraid to coach?” I am now about to begin my 15th year as a coach. I made it through the fear. I did it afraid until I wasn’t afraid anymore. I still get nervous before almost every game, but it is now a healthy nervousness that is manageable. Through my journey, I learned that courage isn’t the absence of fear. Courage is doing what you want to do or need to do in the face of fear. You can’t wait until you don’t feel fear because fear is always going to be present and trying to stop you...

Do you get nervous? Kobe Bryant was once working with a group of young athletes on a panel for a Project Play summit when he asked one of the athletes, "Do you get nervous?" They said, "A little. Some butterflies, maybe." Kobe replied, "Completely normal. Same thing you get before you play or perform." He then told them a story. He said that before going onto the court to play games, he would wait in the tunnel of the arena and listen to the crowd. He was like a character in a movie, and he was ready to embrace his role as either the hero or the villain - whichever character he needed to be. He was ready to earn the cheers and the boos. Just before jogging onto the floor, if he still felt anxious or nervous, Kobe would mentally transform into "The Black Mamba," emotionless and untouchable. It was like Maximus, the Roman general who later fought as a Gladiator in the arena, rubbing dirt on his hands before going into battle. No opponent or circums...

Have you ever been so afraid of something that you don’t do it at all or you don’t do your best? In a big game in the biggest tournament of the year, I was fouled with no time left, we were down by one point, and I had two free throws and the chance to win the game. It was my first time shooting free throws in a big moment like that, and I was very nervous. My heart was beating through my chest, and I could not stop my legs from shaking. I missed both shots, we lost, and I thought it was all my fault. I led my team in scoring, rebounding, and assists, but being in that moment was the scariest thing that I had been a part of, and I let that fear hold me back from being my best. If I could do it all over again, I would not focus on the fear - I would focus on love. Writer and speaker Jon Gordon says fear can sabotage you and keep you from living the life you want, but love casts out fear. He says that if you love something, you won’t fear it.  Athletes grow up dreaming about making g...

When I was playing basketball in high school and college, I would get nervous before my games. Some gamedays, I would wake up nervous, and that nervousness wouldn't go away until the game started. One thing that helped me was visualization. I would go to a quite place, close my eyes, and visualize myself playing in the game. I would start with hearing the announcer call out my name during the player introductions. I would follow myself as I went from the introductions, to the huddle, to the opening tip, and through the first few possessions of the game. This made me feel more confident because I could see and dictate what was going to happen. When the game came, I felt more comfortable because I felt like I had already been there before. It made me feel better when I found out that even Michael Jordan got nervous before games. When he was asked if he got scared before games, Michael said that he is never scared to do things on the basketball court, but he gets nervous because of th...