Week ONE FINITO: 6ixth Man at NBC Italia 2010

The language barrier proved to have a bigger bark than bite. Some things transcend fluid verbal communication. I know at least this much, that basketball is one of those transcendent bridges. Granted, I had some exceptional Italians translating for me. Shout out to Andre Klun, my Brazilian/Italian brotha who is athlete, scholar and a well developed human being.

As Andre and i worked together this week, we discovered that the truth of what young men and women need is like a steel cable rather than a thread. It extends from hemisphere to hemisphere and is never prey to relativism. I’ve come thousands of miles and found a dynamic person who holds to the cable and isn’t afraid to move peers to do likewise.

Andre is only 22 years old and is in that nebulous of wanting to be an effective coach while also desiring to continue his own basketball career. Despite the crossroads of his young adulthood, however, he possesses the candor and self-awareness needed to subvert the obstacles to any of his aspirations. He’s the type of guy that gets it now and doesn’t need to wait until he’s 30 years old to say, “Well, I’ve grown up.” He’s the example that says to campers, “I’m young and serious enough to do what it takes to not squander whatever God intends to do with my life.”

Andre is the hero of my week because there’s no one better to spur a young athlete on toward proper motive, proper preparation and proper perspective than someone who resembles that athlete. I bark out commands and kids may listen because they perceive that I know what I’m talking about. Andre…that brotha is still young, still in the struggle, merely a few years beyond his comrades headed for the same adversities and disappointments that life and sport brought him. In a world desperately in need of mentors, might I submit to you the notion of finding an Andre and equipping him with everything he needs to spread the WORK ETHIC of a champion like a virus.