Megan Trivelpiece Hitting.

Nick Saban explains the difference between a mistake that deserves getting chewed out and one that deserves encouragement “I always sort of had a lot of respect for the fact that any player that’s a competitor wants to do well. And I think when you start with that, you have a better perspective because you look at things from their perspective, not your perspective. And I think that’s very helpful.” “Sometimes when guys are not doing intangible things, whether it’s giving effort or focusing or making mental errors or things that they can actually control, that is something that you can’t tolerate. And you really want to maybe sometimes get after a guy a little bit for it.” “But when guys are doing those things and just not having success, I think that’s when you want to pat them on the back and get them to believe in themselves and have an understanding if they continue to do things the right way, they will eventually have success.” “And every player’s different. Sometimes you got guys that are obsessive-compulsive type personalities that are really hard on themselves, and I don’t think you need to get on those guys because they’re already getting on themselves.” “Then you have other guys that may not be self-starters, and you got to push them a little bit more to get them to be what they’re capable of being. I think all those things were factors in how you kind of approach a player and try to get him to be the best he can be.” “I always tried to focus on the individual and not look at it like one size fits all, and try to take the best approach with that particular guy to help him have success.”

Kyrie Irving says Kobe Bryant told him to read ‘The Alchemist’ in order to stop being obsessed with proving people wrong “He knew how curious I was, not just about being great at the game, but about life. That’s why he gave me the book ‘The Alchemist’ and told me to read that… Kobe’s smart… He studied all the greats in every other industry so he could figure out how to be great too…” “It was about really taking the time to get to know who the people are around you. Get to know them as much as you invest in watching the game. I’m an avid student of all the greats in basketball.” “He really put all those other authors in my life so I could help balance what I was into. Since I was 12 or 13 years old, I’ve studied basketball more than 10,000 hours, as they say before you become an expert or master your craft.” “I’ve played more than 10,000 hours. I’ve done all that. When I got to Boston, I was ready for a new challenge, but I didn’t know how it was going to come from within. That’s why he gave me The Alchemist.” “The journey is the reward. Embrace the journey. Don’t think about the end goal so much where you’re fixated on trying to prove people wrong or be at the mountaintop without going through the details that it takes to really appreciate it. That was him.” “His mentorship was like, ‘Yo, stay curious, bro. I know you’re different. You’re not like everybody else out here.’”