I have played basketball pretty much my entire life. I love the sport. I love playing it, I love coaching it, and I love watching it. Growing up, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson were my idols. I can remember watching the Chicago Bulls winning their second three-peat in 1998. And the moment that Jordan sunk the game-winning shot over Bryon Russel will forever be one of my fondest childhood memories. But once those legendary players retired (Michael for his second time), I began to idolize new players like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Vince Carter. An era where flash and flair seemed to take a priority in the game of basketball. Not to say Jordan didn’t have a swagger to his game; being the greatest player of all-time, he earned it.

Now those players are all retired (R.I.P. Kobe), I find it hard to find a player that I admire or enjoy watching as I had in the past. Maybe I am getting old and crotchety; “back in my day, it was all about fundamentals” (in an old grumpy man voice). One of the issues I have with today’s NBA stars is how their cockiness and allure create bad habits for many of the youth that I coach.

Everyone wants to replicate their idols. I know I have tried to duplicate Jordan’s foul-line dunk or Carter’s 360 windmill, be it, on a lowered eight-foot hoop. I’m going to pick on Steph Curry for this the most. Here’s a young man who looks like a boy playing in a man’s sport (not trying to be sexist, but he’s a tiny man in a land of giants). And he has proven with 3 NBA championships, 2 MVP awards, 6x NBA Allstar, and a resume taller than he is, that he belongs among some of the greats. He also has some of the most showmanship and flash that the game of basketball has ever seen. So when I see the kids, I coach replicating some of his habits drives me crazy! I have to remind them that Steph Curry will shot more baskets in his offseason than most of them will in their entire life. He’s put in the work; he’s warranted his “swagger.”

I have coached young kids who barely have the strength to shoot a foul shot without using every muscle in their body, and they are warming up by taking 25-foot three-pointers. I make it very apparent that this kind of shot comes once in a lifetime in a game, so practice the shots you know you will be taking. Shots taken during practice must be game-like, if not, we’d better build the muscles to make those shots, so I implement the push-up rule. Practice is for creating good habits and working on improving as a teammate and a player. Feel free to have fun and re-enact your idol’s most memorable plays before, and after practice… I’ll even partake. But in practice, duplicate your idol’s work habits and dedication to the game. Earn the right to swagger. Put in the commitment. “Don’t practice until you get it right. Practice until you can’t get it wrong.”

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