Michael Jordan plays for one reason. He loves to play and he loves the challenge. Of course there goes a whole bunch of things about him that made him the greatest ever.
These Rules of Thumb by Michael Jordan are only for those who’re SERIOUS about playing basketball and striving to make it BIG.
Players for whom thegame of basketball is more than just a game.
These things may be something you’ve heard or you know but that’s nothing if you often forget about them and don’t “use” them to your advantage.
1 # Have a motive
“when I lose the sense of motivation and the sense of to prove something as a basketball player, it’s time for me to move away from the game of basketball”.
You should always have a motive. A motivation to play the game of basketballand always be willing to go the extra mile. Here is what he said when he was retiring…
Think about it. What does motivation mean? It’s the motive to take action. And when you consistently take action on new things (you try different things) and you do the right things (you come an hour earlier to practice and you’re the last one shooting the ball), that’s gonna pay off big time.
2 # Pride can kill you
“I’m not above anyone else. I’m just amongst you guys, and I strive to be the best basketball player that I can be”.
See? That’s the thing with MJ. He wasn’t competing with anyone else. He was competing with himself.
“I’m competitive person. I hate to lose and competition is everything. When you lose you’re easily forgotten”.
And that is just one part of the equation. Do you think that if Michael Jordanwas poking fun at everybody and scream.. Innnn your face! after he dunks on someone and if he was bragging all the time that there is no one else better than him, that we’d still have the same opinion of him? Of course not.
“I wouldn’t mind if people pass me by and don’t say a word. That won’t bother me one bit”
3 # If you’re not improving your skills, you’re getting worse
“Each day is just building blocks to a certain goal that we’re striving to achieve”.
“No matter how great you are, you lose some of the edge, each and every time that you do it”.
That’s true. You’re either going up with your skills or going down. You can’t be in the middle.
4 # Don’t be afraid to go the extra mile
“If you’re not successful at it, it doesn’t mean you failed. It’s important that you tried”
You think that Michael ever thought that, hey, playing as a center is not my position so I better not go under the basket and try to grab that defensive rebound? Hell no! Take a look at my youtube video from 2 minutes and 22 seconds to 2 minites and 27 seconds to see what I mean.
There is no other player who wanted to win as badly as he did and that’s why he was everywhere on the court. That’s the point. You should try to contribute to your team in the best way possible while using your special skills that you have the most.
“I never wanted to be looked at as a one dimensional player. People looked at me as a scorer but I was more than that.”
5 # Accept critisizm and turn in into a positive thing
In the 1995 NBA playoffs, when Michael missed several clutch shots against Orlando and made several other mistakes, people were starting to think thatMichael Jordan is definitely not the same and he can’t play on the same level anymore.
“You know I had doubts that maybe I can’t play the same type of game that I used to play because I wasn’t able to do it on call. So sitting in that locker room very disappointed I made a promise to myself that I’m gonna come back next year, I’m gonna be ready for this game.
I started a month earlier than I’ve ever started. I felt I had to do that. I had to put forward work in the game of basketball. Then as I started practicing my confidence grew. I could see a little gap between the defence that mentally I knew I could get into and now phycially I really could get into. These things just started coming back to me”.
And as you undoubtfully know, he got 3 championship rings after that.
6 # Deal with the pressure, instead of running away from it
This is much easier said than done and it goes along nicely with some of the other rules of thumb discussed previously but the only way you can learn how to cope with that kind of pressure is to take chances.
The difference between players who take those shots and players who don’t is not that the seconds types of players aren’t nervous or feel no pressure at all. The difference is that the second types of players Do it, despite the fact that they’re afraid.
Because people are silenltly begging to be let. So why not take the lead if you know you can. At least you tried right?
“It’s a lot of pressure. But some kids look for that type of pressure. That’s when the greatness comes. Looking back at the pressure shots that I made in my career, helped me become a better player. Because from that point on you’re not afraid to take those shots any more.”
and another one..
“We all get into situations when we get used and regret the things we’ve done. But we learn”
and another, even better one..
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
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Some other Michael Jordan quotes..
“When we do something so often that becomes an expectations of the fans and of yourself.”
How he coped with the problems and what he was seeing at those moments (when his father was murdered)..
“It was a diffucult moment for me. Somehow I just kept my head high. I thought about all the things that he used to tell me. Turn the negative into a positive.”
“It felt really good to go back on the basketball court. With a different outlook about life I approach each and every day, I was making myself happy and I was happy being there only because I chose to do so.”
“I love those moments. That you can go in when no one expects you to save the team.”
“In the old days when I first got into chicago, I had to make it downtown in 30 minutes. Like I was in a rush to get somewhere. And now I’ve matured enough to slow down little bit and enjoy the little things. I think that’s what maturity has taken me. To just enojy every minute of it.”
“As long as we’re on this earth, everybody wants to be remembered as a winner, and the only way you can do that IS to win.”
“Once you’re at the top of the hill, you want to defend it.”
“I know how to play the game, but I don’t think they know how to play the game I talking to – (when talking about the trash talk)”
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