Advice for NBA Players on Roles

a role, right? I had a player reach out to me, and he

was like,

"Man, I need some advice. You know, I'm struggling right now." This is an NBA

player, I'm not gonna say names. "You know, I'm not getting minutes,

you know,

they're not playing me the right way, uh, setting the system for me.

They're not letting me play my game.

You know, they want me to do XYZ, be a defender, blah, blah, blah,

and that's not

what I do." And I had to sit him down and say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Why don't you finish your plate first and then ask for more?

Dominate your role and what they're asking you to do

and then come

back for more." Right?

The team needs and your needs are not always gonna be the same thing.

Actually, most of the time it's not.

What the team needs you to do and what you wanna do

are probably gonna be two

separate things. And guess what? No one gives a damn what you wanna do,

and no one's gonna feel bad for you.

See, this is why college right now, as much as I love it, and I love

that these

guys are getting their money, it sets a false reality of how the real

world works

when you get outside of it, especially if you're trying to go pro.

And this ain't even just a basketball thing. Again,

this relates to people in life.

See, in college, when you're having a tough time or

when things aren't going well,

you just transfer.

Hell, half you guys transfer anyways.

Even if the situation is promising and you are progressing,

you guys just hit the

transfer portal because that's where the money's at.

Even if it's not beneficial to your character or your development as a

basketball

player, you still transfer. In the NBA or in pro sports or in life,

w- if you're having a real job, you just don't get to transfer.

That's not how things work, especially if you're playing in the NBA or pro sp-

uh,

pro sports. It's not how it works.

So this is what you need to understand.

If the team's asking you to do XYZ, then you need to work your ass off to do

XYZ. Star in your role. Do what they tell you to

do. Finish your plate for- first and then go back and ask for

more. See, the problem is we look at social media

and it gives you the

final product, right? So, like we see Derrick White now coming off

pick and rolls,

playing off the dribble, hoisting fadeaway threes,

but that's not how he started in

San Antonio, man.

Shai Alexander, two-time MVP, arguably the greatest player in the NBA

right now.

That's not how he started playing.

He was the defender picking up full court for the Clippers, for my pops.

Jalen Brunson coming off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks.

They start little by little. They eat their food on their plate first.

They do what they're told. And then what happens is

when you star in your role,

when you dominate what they're telling you to do, when you eat that plate and you

come back for more, they give you more.

And that, that leash that you're on gets a little bit longer

and longer and longer.

Why? Because you're on the floor playing

minutes.

So now your talent gets to naturally show itself.

You just start to progress naturally.

If you're that good, it'll be shown, but you gotta get on the floor.

And to get on the floor, you gotta do what they ask you to do.

I always try to approach this with a little bit of humility, man.

If I only knew then what I know now, my gosh.

I'm trying to give you the secrets, man. This is not even a secret.

This, this should be common knowledge.