Respect the World Around You and PREPARE to Compete.

(from forthcoming book: The 6ixthman: 12 Lessons I learned from not playing basketball by Norman A. Coulter, Jr.)

A.C. Green is a name synonymous with integrity in the NBA.  He is known by two claims to fame. The first is that, along with  his three championship rings, he holds the Iron Man record for most consecutive games played – 1192 straight from 1986 to 1999. The second thing that distinguished A.C. Green from other athletes was his commitment to abstinence before marriage. As an Inglewood native, I naturally became a Lakers fan. I was raised during the “Showtime” era with Ervin “Magic” Johnson at the helm.
But A.C. Green was a crucial cog in the Lakers basketball machine during this time and toward the end of his career I read one of his books. The lesson I learned was undoubtedly the key to A.C.’s success as a respected Power Forward in the NBA. The lesson, which was one of Green’s 52 keys to championship living, was “Respect life. Respect your opponent. Respect yourself. Victories are not cheap.” Early in my basketball career I used anger to fuel performance because I had little or no regard for those against whom I played. I resented teammates who played more minutes if I thought they were inferior players to me. My loyalty was to my perceived ability and athleticism. Furthermore, by the time I began playing college basketball it was clear that arrogance was a part of my athletic personality. I thought that if I exuded confidence and expected to dominate opponents I could intimidate them. My freshman year of college I bloodied my knuckles a couple of times by punching bleachers after losing pick-up games. I cursed at opposing players, made excuses when I did not perform well and was visibly embarrassed about playing at a Division 3 University. I mean, clearly I was good enough to play Division I basketball. The problem was, apparently every Division I school in the country was ignorant of this fact along with the Division II coaches.

One afternoon I remember my coach pulling me aside and saying, “Coulter, relaaaaaax” with his face forming a half-smile. I had just taken another
shot at the bleachers and was proceeding to spiral into a temper tantrum. To me his instructions were inconceivable. After all coach, can you not
see that I eclipse the talent in the gym? How can I “relaaaax” when my career is at stake. I want to play as a freshman, score points and make
an impact so I can transfer to the kind of school where I belong. I was, in a word, selfish and unable to recognize that until I respected the ability
of my opponents I would never hone my craft as a basketball player. Why is respect for one’s opponent needed? It is absolutely necessary
because “respect” makes one cautious. By definition, to respect someone is to acknowledge that he or she possesses worth, excellence, ability and
skill (ref. dic.com unabridged). The acknowledgment is needed information that should lead to a pursuit of excellence that rivals or exceeds that
of the opponent. In other words, if your respect that your opponent is good, you will prepare well enough to win no matter who you face. This became apparent during my college career. My opponents were all of the other freshmen and walk-on athletes trying to make the team. But instead of making an impact, I spent my freshman season playing on a Junior Varsity team. This meant I did not travel with the regular team nor play in their games. I suited up for Varsity and got to play against other Junior Varsity teams that served as training wheels for guys like me. I learned to respect all teams no matter how they appeared to match up against us. I learned that I was not too good to concentrate on the details of the game. I realized that whenever you compete, the opposition has prepared the same as you. The test is to see who is more prepared rather than to discover if you can win because you are more gifted. Respect says that you understand how difficult competition is and that you are prepared to do battle with a viable opponent. On several different occasions I failed to make it into the playing rotation of my college team. I exhibited disrespect and played reckless basketball, a sign that I needed this chapter’s lesson.