It's not that I don't like basketball. There was a time when I couldn't get enough of it. But over the last several years my interest has waned. Why? Well, partly it's because I've gotten fed up with the nihilistic, self-important attitude of many of today's players. Mostly, though, it's because many of those whom I consider the giants of basketball have now retired. Guys like Dr. J, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Michael Jordan...guys whose feats on the court I was mesmerized by during my teen years. They knew how to play the game the way it should be played.
Okay, Okay...I realize that somewhere out there is a fourteen year old basketball fan who might take issue with that statement. For them, the guys playing today are the stars. They view the heroes of my youth the way I used to view the heroes of basketball fans 20 years my senior. Yeah, sure, Wilt Chaimberlain, Bill Walton, Bill Russel, Jerry Reed...they were good, but they couldn't touch the likes of a Larry Bird or an Air Jordan. I guess it's all relative.
I had always assumed that without the talent of these superstars, the teams they played on wouldn't ever have had the success they enjoyed. After all, who could imagine the Bulls winning six consecutive NBA titles without Michael Jordan? Unthinkable right!? Who can imagine the Lakers without Kareem's sky-hook or Magic Johnson's...well...magic on the court? They brought a great deal of physical talent and showmanship to the game. But do they deserve all of the credit, or even most of the credit, for their teams success?
If you happened to watch the same clip that I watched on the news this week you saw clearly the answer to that question. There they were. A bunch of sweaty guys in Miami Heat uniforms whose faces I didn't recognize gathered around one face I did. That face was their coach, Pat Riley. It was the same face I'd seen on the sidelines years ago as I anxiously cheered my heroes slamdunking and gunning their way to an earlier NBA championship.
Pat Riley looked a bit older than I remembered him but he had the same fire and passion and confidence in his demeaner as he did when he coached Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper and Kurt Rambis to four consecutive NBA rings. And here he was again, leading a completely different group of somebody else's heroes to yet another.
The lesson is clear isn't it? It's one I wish some of today's self-important players who think they walk on water would get through their heads. They truly are just bit players. The real credit goes to the coach.
It's about the coach for us too isn't it Christian?
Rom 12:3 tells us "not to think of (ourselves)... more highly than (we)... ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
When we are tempted to think that our contribution, our talent, our sacrifice deserves more credit or attention than it gets.... or to bask too long in the glow of positive attention or credit when it does come our way, it's important we remember that the real honor, the real glory, goes to our coach, Jesus Christ. It is He who has placed us on His team. It is He who gives us the tools and support to serve Him. Whatever success we have in life comes as a result of using the gifts that He has given and is directing in us. He rightly gets the glory and the credit.
We couldn't ask to be on a better team or to play under a better coach. On His team, we are all champions.
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"I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word." Psalms 119:15 - 16