A Coach's Diary

First, watch the video below for an insight into the type of parents and parental support that NBA legend Kobe Bryant grew up with: (Watch the video before continuing) In the video, Kobe Bryant was asked, "Who was your greatest teacher growing up?" He said his parents were great. They instilled in him the importance of imagination and curiosity with the understanding that if you want to accomplish something, you have to put in the work to get there. Kobe grew up thinking the world was his oyster and all things were possible if he was willing to put in the work. He was then asked, "Who was more influential for you, your mother or your father." Kobe said, "Both were influential at different points. My mom was there on a daily basis. My father was really influential at a critical time." Kobe then told a story about how when he was 10 or 11 years old, he played in a summer league where he went the entire summer without scoring a single point. The league was a ...

Even though he is no longer with us, I love studying the mind, habits, and work ethic of Kobe Bryant. Kobe was known as a true student of the game, and one of the hardest workers we have ever seen. Kobe had a lot of talent, and he had God-given size and athleticism, but Kobe became one of the best ever because of how hard he worked on and off the court. Kobe Bryant was a true student of the game of basketball and of life. Kobe was so focused on being great that he focused on every detail in his daily life so that he would be able to pick up even the smallest details on the basketball court. Kobe said, "By reading, by paying attention in class and in practice, by working, I strengthened my focus. By doing all of that, I strengthened my ability to be present and not have a wandering mind." From a young age, Kobe devoured film and watched everything he could get his hands on. He said it was fun for him, and the most important question to ask was: Why? Kobe knew early on that he ...

My favorite Steph Curry story comes from his very first college basketball game. We know Steph Curry as an NBA champion, an NBA MVP, and the best shooter of all time, but there was a time when Steph was known as an undersized, not-good-enough, underrecruited freshman who went to Davidson in part because no major program recruited him. Steph started his first college game as a freshman for Davidson, but he had 9 turnovers in the first half, and they were down 18 points at half-time. His coach, Bob McKillop, said that he had to make a big decision at half-time. They were down big, and they had to decide whether or not they were going to keep the struggling freshman in the lineup. When they were recruiting Steph and watching him play in high school, they watched him play in a game in Las Vegas where he was awful. He kept turning the ball over, he was missing shots, he was getting beat defensively, but he never stopped playing, he never showed frustration, and he was never impacted by the ...

Passion, energy, and enthusiasm are powerful forces. In fact, Carmine Gallo writes that the most popular TED TALK speakers share something in common - a passion, an obsession they must share with others. Successful speakers can't wait to share their ideas, and they have a charisma that is directly associated with their passion and joy for what they do. I would argue that the best coaches and teachers share the same passion, joy, and obsession for what they do. A school administrator that I respect once told me, "I hire for energy, and I train for skill. The best teachers that I have been around aren't always the most skilled teachers, but they have the best energy. They have an energy that is contagious. They are like magnets that people - students, parents, and other teachers - are drawn to." I recently started reading Gallo's book called  Talk Like Ted  thinking that I was going to learn more about public speaking, but instead, I learned about the importance of ...

In his book, The Mamba Mentality, Kobe Bryant wrote, “When it came to basketball, I had no fear.” He then wrote what that meant to him: What I mean by that is: If I wanted to implement something new into my game, I’d see it and try incorporating it immediately. I wasn’t scared of missing, looking bad, or being embarrassed. That’s because I always kept the end result, the long game, in my mind. I always focused on the fact that I had to try something to get it, and once I got it, I’d have another tool in my arsenal. If the price was a lot of work and a few missed shots, I was OK with that. As a kid, I would work tirelessly on adding elements to my game. I would see something I liked in person or on film, go practice it immediately, practice it more the next day, and then go out and use it. By the time I reached the league, I had a short learning curve. I could see something, download it, and have it down pat. From the beginning, I wanted to be the best. I had a constant craving, a yearn...

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas recently told a couple of young NBA players, “Coaches always want someone who they can rely on.” One of the simplest ways to become someone your coach can rely on is to listen and apply what they are teaching you. It’s amazing how many of our athletes don’t listen and don’t apply new information that their coaches give them. Coaches sometimes have to go over things or teach and reteach things over and over again before they can get some athletes to even try new skills, much less use them in the game or master them. We are often educated way beyond our level of obedience. How many times do we need to hear that we alone control our attitude and effort? The message won’t help us until we do it and live it. Some of the best coaches have some of the best quotes and one-liners. They can be powerful ways to say something important or to make a point in a different way. Jesus did this by speaking in parables. In Matthew 13, Jesus taught 6 different parables: Para...

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...