Success Takes Time - An Unsung Hero's Story

This is dedicated to one of my players Jason a member of my York South Silver Knights team.  

He sat there quietly on the bench as usual.  I called his name and he eagerly checked into the game.  The play went back and forth a few times as it settled in on the offensive end. The ball shifted around through his teammates and all of a sudden he found himself outside the 3 point line, all alone and wide open.  This time he didn’t hesitate, he didn’t over think it he just shot the ball and watched it sail through the mesh.  It was GOOD a perfect shot!  His teammates cheered on the sideline. I heard things like “Nice shot Jason!”, “Oh Yeah!” and just overall cheering.    

He ran back on defence and our team got a stop.  Again the ball bounced around to his teammates and he was wide open again so he shot the exact same shot he just hit moments before and it was in again!  Now the team was really getting into it.  His teammates were on the edge of their seats and cheering him on with more energy than before.  A few more possessions passed and he found himself wide open for a third time after the ball moved to him again.  This time when he got the ball his teammates were all watching collectively holding their breath.  Some of them had their arms outstretched intensely examining and silently thinking “Is he going to hit the shot too?”  Just as he caught the ball and let the shot go it rotated through the air and went right into the hoop hitting nothing but net for the third time in a row.   

His teammates and our fans in the stands exploded to their feet.  They were jumping around like he just hit a buzzer beater in game 7 of a championship series. It still only the first half of a game in the regular season tournament but that didn’t matter to his teammates much at all.  They were loving it and he was hearing about it.  It was a very impressive moment and I still remember the goosebumps rising up on my arms.  

To see a team celebrate a hard fought battle of one of their own is something incredibly special but in all honesty very few players have the ability to gut it out the way Jason did.  For about 2 years he didn't get much playing time to speak of.  His commitment and loyalty to his teammates helped to keep him coming back to practice where he just continued to keep getting better.  Some players are naturals they do things incredibly fluidly from the way they run to the way their natural instincts kick in when they play.  They seem to make the right pass or hit shots whereas other players take years to develop, learn, grow and evolve.  Some players can experience “easy come, easy go” syndrome meaning that when they have to work too hard they lose interest and give up.  Every player has their own path and the longer the player takes to give up usually indicates how much they will end up evolving individually.  

There are always those who have big dreams of what they plan to accomplish with basketball at the next level.  Not every player who steps on the court is setting out for that though.  I hope they achieve a personal form of greatness by following their own path.  Jason, like many other players, is extremely bright and has a lot going for him in terms of academics.  Whatever he decides to accomplish in life I sincerely hope that basketball helps to shape his journey.  

Jason is a great teammate in that he celebrates the accomplishments of others which is why when he lit up that game other people celebrated him.  He is a hard worker that doesn’t cut corners or skip the steps he doesn’t feel like doing.  He is above all a leader of self that is willing to look at himself honestly and continue to strive to get better. Being that introspective is hard because it can be painful.  If he was upset with his playing time as the coach I never heard about it.  He just continued to earn my trust in practice and over the course of the minutes he got in games and he did the little things that made him stand out. 

I have no doubt that players like Jason have great lives ahead of them no matter what they decides to aspire to.  All of those on his team are fully aware of his capabilities now and I know he isn’t the only one out these types of players out there. If you have a player like this on your team please be sure to celebrate their greatness.  Unsung heroes are incredibly important to every team they are apart of. At opportune times they can be incredible difference makers as we have witnessed with Jason.