NBA in July? It’s unusual…

It's unusual to be writing about the NBA in July.  This is the heart of the Major League Baseball season.  But here we are witnessing the start of the NBA finals in the middle of summer. It’s unusual. 

Although I've shared this many times, I dusted off one of my favorite NBA stories for the occasion.  Not just because I'm a Chicago Bulls NBA fan, which I am.  When I bring up "da Bulls" most people think of the Michael Jordan led Bulls' championship seasons.  Nope, my fanaticism predates those glory years to this era: 

Former NBA center and coach Johnny Kerr said his biggest test as a coach came when he coached the then-expansion team the Chicago Bulls and his biggest player was 6'8" Erwin Mueller. 

We had lost seven in a row and I decided to give a psychological pep talk before a game with the Celtics, Kerr said.  I told Bob Boozer to go out and pretend he was the best scorer in basketball.  I told Jerry Sloan to pretend he was the best defensive guard.  I told Guy Rodgers to pretend he could run an offense better than any other guard, and I told Erwin Mueller to pretend he was the best rebounding, shot-blocking, scoring center in the game.  We lost the game by 17. 

I was pacing around the locker room afterward trying to figure out what to say when Mueller walked up, put his arm around me, and said, “Don't worry about it Coach.  Just pretend we won."          

James S. Hewett

 I have pretended in my approach to many challenges in life.  In fact, in my first sales job I was pretending.  I was a stockbroker for Dean Witter “back in the day”.  I rode the train into work every morning; read the Wall Street Journal ©; wore a three-piece suit; carried a briefcase.  It’s unusual but I certainly looked the part I was pretending to be.  I “lost by 17” in that job. 

I shied away from sales the two years after that experience.  It’s unusual, but I became a card-carrying member of the Chicago Painters and Decorators Union. The company I worked for did commercial remodels.  I was as blue collar as you can be. Not exactly the profession my parents; my wife; or my college degree prepared me for.  When I finally decided to get back in the game, things turned out more like the Chicago Bulls we all remember LOL! 

Which makes me think about my current company.  We just finished a record fiscal year.  Pandemic and all that went with it, we had every opportunity to just pretend that any old type of year would be good 'nuff.  We could have blamed failure on Covid.  

But not my company.  We executed like we have the best salespeople in the industry.  We delivered like we have the best professional services partners in the marketplace.  Prospects and clients invested at record levels because they saw our product as the best product of its kind in the world. 

It’s unusual but I think we started the fiscal year just pretending we could make our number.  Then with a little early momentum, perhaps a few lucky breaks, we morphed from pretenders into champions! 

So if you’re a pretender in one of your current pursuits, it’s actually not that unusual.  Just fake it until you make it!  Now pass me the ball - I'm open. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.