NBA star relying on old school work ethic
There were few who approached the game of basketball like Larry Bird. He wasn’t the quickest, strongest, or most talented player in the league, but few had the worth ethic of the Celtic great.
From the beginning of his basketball playing days in French Lick, Indiana, Bird worked hard for everything he had. In his autobiography “Drive” he told of the late nights in the snow he spent shooting free throws for hours.
His practice translated into a Hall of Fame career, as he turned himself into one of the best shooters to ever step on a basketball court today.
Today the game of basketball has changed drastically. NBA GMs are looking for the fastest and strongest young players coming out of high school.
A player’s work ethic today takes a back seat to their marketability as the NBA becomes more and more of a business.
There is one player in today’s game, though, who takes pride in spending all his time in the gym. After getting cut from the U.S. National team last summer, Gilbert Arenas decided to further step up his workouts.
Arenas, the W ashington Wizards star and former University of Arizona standout does not leave the gym when the practice ends. Instead he sticks around to shoot 4,000 additional shots. He is the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night.
In fact, Arenas does little else but play basketball. In the Nov. 26 issue of Esquire, Tom Chiarella reported that in five NBA seasons, Arenas has left his hotel room a total of six times, and that was only in Los Angeles, his hometown.
In a day where many of the young basketball stars have questionable character and work ethic, Arenas stands out as a player who works the way athletes getting paid millions of dollars per season are supposed to work.
Recently, after a disappointing Washington loss to the Trailblazers on Feb. 11, a loss in which Arenas scored only 9 points, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said, “Arenas is not yet a leader.”
Arenas is a leader by example. He displays the work ethic necessary to make himself the best player he can be to lead his team towards a championship. I think you might be wrong coach.
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44, Issue 10. Today is
Nick Kosmider -
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