No Coincidences

Tag: NBA

Resilience and Will to Win

Before you read this – I start this post with a brief description of this year’s NBA playoffs. After this introduction I get into personal stories and what basketball this year has taught me. If you don’t care about the NBA, Just get through this brief introduction to get to some life lessons learned.

If you’ve been watching any of the 2025 NBA playoffs then you’ve watched some AWESOME basketball. You’ve also heard about or seen the miraculous Indiana Pacers.

For the record, I love this team. Tyrese Haliburton has been my second favorite player for some time but he might have taken the top spot.

I watch all my basketball on a delay (DON’T TEXT ME ABOUT THE SCORE). I put my phone away and don’t look at it to the best of my ability until a game is over.

The Indiana Pacers have had multiple games this playoffs that I’ve fast forwarded to the end, thinking the game was over, only to get to the end and say, “WHAT HAPPENED!?!” loud enough for my wife to get irritated with me. MULTIPLE TIMES. That happens once and it’s an out of this world comeback. The Pacers have had four of those occurences in one postseason.

Here is something posted by a guy on Twitter about the Pacers comebacks:

That is four times the Pacers have basically done the impossible. These Pacers have been so extraordinary they’ve made me stop and think more about resilience, will to win, heart, fight, belief, faith, and all the other never-give-up attitudes and character traits.

I’ve been thinking about momentum. I’ve been thinking about when the energy in a room changes.

Here’s my personal glory days basketball story I must now share.

When I was a junior in high school my team was one game behind the fourth seed for the last playoff spot in our division. We played Centennial High School the final game of the season. If we won, we would be exactly tied with them in record. This would mean we would then need to do a one game playoff to determine who got that last playoff spot.

We beat Centennial handily in the first game on a Friday night. No contest. We were feeling great. We just beat this team easily. Surely we’d do the same the very next morning, right?

Wrong.

Centennial switched up their game plan. They actually ran a triangle and 2 to keep the ball out of mine and another player’s hands. Things were not going well. We were down big. Something had to change. I didn’t expect that something being a 3 inch gash to my left eye.

With things going so badly, our coach called a timeout. He gave us that classic, “You need to fight and be more aggressive” speech. So I went out there and got right on top of the person I was guarding. They swung an elbow down across my face. I went down in a heap. There was blood everywhere. I was taken off the court. I believe we were down 13 when I left the game. I thought everything was over.

I went into the back and the trainer tried to butterfly stich my face so I could go back out. It was too close to my eye. He couldn’t stop the bleeding. So I was given a white rag to hold over my face and went to watch the rest of the game. To my surprise, as I walked back out to watch the game, I checked the score. We were up! We had gone on a huge run after that hit to my face.

I was later told that our coach gave another classic speech, something like, “You’re going to let them do that to your teammate? To Quack? That’s your brother! They just busted his head open! What are you going to do about it!?!?!?!” Apparently my team went crazy. Playing with a new force, energy, and purpose.

My team decided they weren’t going to lose this game while I bled in the back.

We did win that game.

Back to the Pacers.

If you listen to quotes from Pacers players postgame from some of these miraculous comebacks, it’s all, “We never stopped believing”, “We always knew we would win”, “We never give up”. Usually these statements are just cliches, things players have to say as they can think of nothing else to say to a reporter postgame. Things that have to be said after a comeback. But with these Pacers I BELIEVE IT. I believe they never stop believing. I believe they always thought they were going to win. I know they never give up.

From glory days 17 years ago to more recent, weekend warrior glory days.

In a recent pickup basketball game my team was up 13-3. We needed to score one more time to win the game. The other team scored. 13-5. No big deal. The other team hit a three. 13-8. Okay. The other team hit another 3. 13-11. Uhm. The other team hit a three. 13-14. It was now next to score wins. At this point all 10 players on the court had watched the Pacers comeback just two days prior. We were all thinking about it. Those on my team felt like the Thunder. It actually crossed my mind, ‘This is how the Thunder felt, oh man, we’re going to lose this game.’ The 5 players on the other team were thinking, ‘This is how the Pacers felt. We’re going to win this game.’

I took a moment in the middle of that pickup game and looked around at my team. I knew what they were thinking. I looked at the other team. I knew what they were thinking. Before you say, ‘How did you know what people were thinking?’ Well, when the game ended, we discussed it openly. All 10 of us were talking about the Thunder Pacers game and how we felt as a 13-3 lead turned into a deficit.

I know you’re wondering how that game ended. I don’t want to brag but… you know… I finally decided enough was enough. Used a pick and roll, got a switch, pivoted into the paint, pivoted around a big player, and finished a left hand scoop layup. It was as cool as it sounds.

But really. There was a moment when I decided, “We’re not going to lose this game.”

I could have easily stayed in the mindset that hit me for a brief second, “We ARE going to lose this game.” I had to fight that thought. I fought it. And we won. If I stayed in that thought, there’s no chance we win.

I know I know, pickup basketball at my church building pales in comparison to the NBA Finals.

So think about the pressure felt by 5 players on a court surrounded by 18,203 watching fans all thinking the same thing: the Pacers are going to do it again. Think about that energy. Think about what that does to your psyche. If I felt it with 10 players on a church basketball court, what did the Oklahoma City Thunder players feel?

Pressure. Weight.

What is resilience? What is fight? What is the will to win?

This is why I love sports. It teaches us about life.

I tell the girls I coach all the time – “Yes, this is a game. You will win or you will lose. Things will go well or things will go bad. But how do you handle it? This is a game. What happens when life gets hard? What happens when life is easy? How do you handle it? Basketball teaches you about life. It teaches you about who you are. It teaches you how to handle adversity.” Every player I’ve coached has heard some version of this speech.

So if life has been hitting you in the face lately and you feel like you’re on the other end of an 11-0 run. If you feel like nothing is going your way and you just can’t win. This is my reminder to you that the Indiana Pacers have done the impossible FOUR times in a month.

Faith. Belief. Hope. Positivity. Fight. Never give up. This is what makes you a winner, in life and in sports.

June 12, 2025
Why I Hate the Lakers
When I was in fifth grade my best friend lived across the street.

He was a Lakers fan. He and I would watch basketball together. I remember one game when the Jazz were playing the Lakers and we watched it together. I was ruthless. I was mean. I was calling him a bandwagon fan, all of the mean insults and Laker hate comments I could come up with.

That friend was one of the kindest souls. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. That day it didn’t matter to me. He was a fan of the enemy. My friend was being complimentary of the Jazz throughout the game. I had nothing nice to say about the Lakers. I don’t remember exactly what happened but I do know that friend left upset. A deep-seated hatred of the Lakers had been engrained in me at a young age. I knew they were evil, and I hated them.

Bill Simmons has a saying. He says he doesn’t really hate any professional sports teams. He calls it sports hate. My hate might be real. But it’s healthy hate. We all must unite to hate the Death Star, the Yankees, the Cowboys, and the Lakers.

My hatred runs deep.

Fast forward 25 years and on the morning of February 2^nd I woke up to a text.

It was from Chris and it said, “No way this trade is real.”

I pulled up my sports app and checked the news.

Surely this trade wasn’t real. Luka Doncic, one of the best players in the NBA had been traded. Not only had he been traded. He’d been traded to the Lakers. What do the Lakers even have to offer for a player of Doncic’s caliber? I thought.

Not real. Must be fake.

Further investigation.

Real.

Can’t be real.

How can it be real?

I looked into the trade more.

A soon-to-be-over-his-prime center, a first-round pick, and a throw-in player for the second best player in the league who, oh by the way, is 25 years old?

As I read about the trade that morning, I thought back to that time with my friend when I was 10 years old.

This was why I hate the Lakers.

A lot of nonsense has come out about this trade since. A lot of reasonings and excuses about why the Mavericks did it. Why would they trade Luka Doncic?

The Mavericks have aggressively bashed Luka while trying to defend their decision. If the decision has such solid reasoning, why does it need so much defense?

Propaganda against Luka has included but is not limited to:

He is fat and out of shape. Oh yeah, and still destroying the NBA? What happens if he does get in shape then?!?! Also, fat and out of shape, so you trade him for someone who has historically been injury-ridden and is now approaching 33 years old? The irony of Anthony Davis getting hurt in his first game with the Mavericks is too much. Anthony Davis will be out for multiple weeks. Meanwhile you can catch Luka doing what he does best: killing teams.

You hate to root against players especially when they did nothing to deserve it. But that’s what the Mavericks did to Anthony Davis.

Other attacks on Luka include complaints about chemistry, culture, and reports have gone so far as to basically imply management couldn’t stand him. Meanwhile, this organization that he gave the first 6 years of his career to traded him, cost him 100+ million dollars, and is now bashing him. Luka’s response? A heartfelt message about how he always wanted to bring a championship to Dallas and was sorry he couldn’t now. What a scumbag. Seriously. Maybe he is a complete jerk in the locker room and everyone hates him. Problem is I haven’t seen that.

Another reason given by the Mavericks includes that they want to win now. Your plan to win now is trade the guy who has dragged you to a conference finals and NBA finals in two of the last three years, all before the age of 25? This guy averaged 39 minutes, 31 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals in last year’s playoffs. Win now. What a sorry excuse for an excuse.

The player Doncic got traded for has solid stats. But he’s not Luka and he’s not 25.

Even if you think trading Luka Doncic needed to be done, why not shop him? This is the second or third best player in the NBA. He is an out of this world asset. This trade was done under the cover of night. Of course the Mavericks have tons of stupid reasons they did this. It’s inexcusable. I talked to my JV team about this trade. I gave them a life lesson: If you have a multi-million dollar house, don’t sell it to the first person who comes to the open house who offers half its value. That’s stupid. If you have something valuable to offer, see what people will offer.

Do you know the real reason the Mavericks didn’t make it public knowledge that they were trading Luka Doncic?
1. Because the NBA world would have said, what? Really? And made them feel stupid.
2. Their fan base would have revolted.
If that’s not the reason they didn’t do this as a complete secret, then I just don’t know. The trade is even more stupid.

Kareem Abdul Jabaar.

Magic Johnson.

Shaquille O’Neal.

Kobe Bryant.

Pao Gasol.

Dwight Howard.

LeBron James.

Anthony Davis.

And now Luka Doncic.

Add him to the list of best players of all time gifted to the Los Angeles Lakers.

This is why I hate the Lakers.
February 13, 2025
NBA 2023/2024

The theme of my blog is NoCoincidences (thus the name). This started as spiritual thoughts with some random thoughts sprinkled in. This developed into a lot of writing about being a father and having daughters as my family changed.

There is a big passion of mine that I seldom write about.

I love basketball.

I’m a big NBA fan. I don’t follow other sports really at all. I’ve long cut NFL football out of my life (and never been happier). Since Mike’s passing I hardly watch college football anymore. I occasionally dip into college basketball. But NBA is the one time-suck I’ve allowed myself to keep.

So, with it being roughly midway through the 2023/2024 NBA season, I thought I’d give some thoughts about the NBA, this season, and especially my love and passion: the Utah Jazz.

Here’s what I’ve noticed.

Let’s start with the Jazz.

My Team:

Lauri Markkanen is great. If you don’t know who Lauri Markakanen is, you’re missing out on a 7-foot-tall, Finnish, gloriously great team player. We struck gold with him. That said, I don’t think he can be the best player on a championship team without even more developments in his game. He’s made such big leaps the last couple years in who he is as a player. I don’t think he’s done getting better. But to win an NBA championship, it’s pretty much confirmed that you need a top 10 player in the NBA. I don’t know if Lauri can get there.

Let’s go through the last 10 champions as a case study:

Nuggets (2022/2023) – Nikola Jocic: undoubtedly a top 10 player, probably the best player in the world.

Warriors (2021/2022) – Steph Curry: still a top 10 player.

Bucks (2020/2021) – Giannis Antetekounmpo: at the time the best player in the world, definitely top 10 today, probably top 3.

Lakers (2019/2020) – LeBron: it can be debated on if he’s still a top 10 player right now, at this time he definitely was. At this time, during this run, Anthony Davis was also likely a top 10 player.

Raptors (2018/2019) – Kawhi Leonard: at the time he established himself as one of the best in the world, definitely a top 10 player.

Warriors (2017/2018) – Kevin Durant: top 10 player for the last decade and top 20 player of all time. To say nothing of Steph Curry, another top 10 player on the roster.

Warriors (2016/2017) – Kevin Durant: again.

Cavaliers (2015/2016) – LeBron James: one of the best players of all time, arguably a top 10 player in the league for the last 20 years.

Warriors (2014/2015) – Steph Curry: this is the year he established himself as one of the best players in the NBA.

Spurs (2013/2014) – Tony Parker: at first glance, I thought this might be the exception to the rule. Upon further investigation, Tony Parker was considered by many to be a top 10 player this year. This year the Spurs had 6 players average double-digit scoring and still had the best Power Forward to ever play on the roster.

The point is, you need a top 10 player in the NBA to win a championship. Can Lauri get there? Maybe. His ability to score one on one is a shortcoming. He’s a phenomenal player on the move, and great with his catch and shoot. But at the end of the shot clock when everything breaks down and a score is needed, all eyes still turn to Jordan Clarkson.

Speaking of Jordan Clarkson, I love him, but he takes so many minutes from our young players. It’s a true dilemma.

There are a lot of questions for the Jazz but I love where we’re headed.

My Favorite Team to Watch:

When my Jazz inevitably don’t make the playoffs, I’ve found the team I will aggressively root for. I LOVE the Oklahoma City Thunder. LOVE. I love the way they play. I love their players. I love their style. I love that they’re a small market team. I love that they’ve built through the draft. The Thunder are awesome. When they have Giddy, Gilgeous-Alexander, J-Dub, Holmgren, and Dort on the floor, and just spread the floor, it is a thing of beauty watching them patiently penetrate and kick over, and over, and over until they get a good shot. If I could play on any NBA team it would be the Thunder with the Heat in second. The Thunder are basketball ecstasy to watch.

On the topic of top 10 players, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is that guy. For the casual fan who doesn’t watch the Thunder and doesn’t know, this is your official notice that Shai is a top 10 player, no question. He doesn’t shoot threes, but I love the way he plays. He’s never rushed. When he penetrates into the paint, he almost never forces a shot. He kicks the ball out, knowing it will get passed around and he’ll get a chance to penetrate again and get an easier shot. This is true team basketball. You can tell, at least in what I’ve seen, that the players are playing for the team, and not for themselves. The Thunder are so fun to watch. If you’re a casual fan that wonders if the NBA is ruined, come over and watch a Thunder game with me. I have them all recorded.

Favorite Player:

If you haven’t watched the Pacers play, tune in to see Tyrese Haliburton. He is my new favorite player. From his janky three-point shot that I love, to his pace, his lack of turnovers, his obsession with making the right play every time; he is my favorite player in the NBA right now. I love Lauri and Clarkson on the Jazz, but Tyrese is my point guard love. He replaces Jalen Brunson who I still love but I find it harder to relate to. I like Tyrese Haliburton because he plays the way I like to think I play (in my dreams).

For those who are wondering, my all-time list of favorite players in order is:

John Stockton

Steve Nash

Steph Curry

Donovan Mitchell

Tyrese Haliburton (working his way up)

Favorites to Win the Championship:

The Celtics and Nuggets have to be the clear favorites to win the championship. They are head and shoulders above anyone else I’ve seen.

Honorable mention:

Bucks – if Giannis and Dame can be fully unlocked, Middleton can get back to form, and they can play a lick of defense, they might be able to beat the Celtics.

Heat – the Heat should always be feared.

Timberwolves – I fully expect the Timberwolves to have a momentous playoff meltdown, I saw it too often in Utah to believe otherwise.

In my opinion, the Nuggets are coming out of the West. I’ll be rooting for the Thunder.

It’s been a fun NBA season so far. There is so much talent in the league. It’s in a great place. The expansion to 32 teams, which is coming in the next couple years, is coming at a great time. There is enough talent in the NBA to spread around to two more teams.

I love the NBA and I love basketball.

January 11, 2024
The Difference Between Steph Curry and Kevin Durant

This will be slightly out of brand for my blog. I love basketball so it’s surprising this is the first true basketball commentary I’ve written.

Anyways,

Kevin Durant is without question one of the best players in the NBA right now (when healthy), and one of the most talented players of all time. He is an extraordinary basketball player. It was big news a couple weeks ago when he requested a trade from his current team, the New Jersey Nets. It was especially relevant in Arizona because Durant listed Phoenix and Miami as his two preferred destinations.

A quick history on Kevin Durant for those that don’t know –

Durant was on an off-the-charts talented Oklahoma City team that had 3 future MVPs on the roster. That Oklahoma City Thunder team gave a record breaking 73-win Golden State Warriors team all it could handle. The Warriors came back from down 3-1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That Warriors team then lost to the LeBron led Cavaliers in the finals.

After the Warriors lost to the Cavaliers, and beat Durant’s Thunder, Durant left his team to join the record-breaking Warriors. A true, “if you can’t beat em, join em.” I didn’t hate this move by Durant like a lot of basketball fans did. As a lover of basketball, I could see that Durant hated playing with Russell Westbrook. From watching Durant play with Westbrook, I could understand Durant’s frustration. He wanted to play with a real team. Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Steph Curry made basketball look so fun. If I could play with any NBA team, it would hands down be the Warriors. They play basketball right. I understood Durant’s decision.

Fast forward some years. The Warriors win two more championships in 3 years. Durant is the Finals MVP both times. Here’s the thing though. The Warriors were never Durant’s team. It was always Steph Curry’s team. No matter how phenomenal Durant was. He couldn’t be loved in the Bay Area the way Steph was.

This led Durant to leave again. Always looking for the greener grass. He joined the Nets and hitched his wagon to a known enigma: Kyrie Irving. I won’t go into all the details, but the Nets experiment went disastrously. About as bad as it possibly could. Durant wanted to go to New Jersey to make it his city, the way San Francisco was Steph’s city. It exploded in his face.

So here we are, full circle. Durant is wanting out again. Looking for greener pastures, again.

Here’s the amazing thing I’m sure the casual NBA fan has missed.

What were the two teams Durant said were his two most desired destinations to be traded to? The Suns and the Heat. Who was the number one team in the west last year?… the Suns. Who was the number one team in the East last year?…the Heat. Interesting.

When Durant left the Thunder, he got destroyed in the media for leaving to join a better team. Despite being the player that took the Warriors over the top, potentially making them the best team in NBA history, he was never satisfied. He always seemed jaded by how he was bashed for the decision, and the perceived lack of love and appreciation he received for his basketball brilliance.

Here we are. Years later. He’s making the same decision. He went to a team to make it his own. It was disastrous. So, he’s trying to go to another team that already has leadership and join them.

How does Steph Curry tie into this?

Steph Curry is a leader of men; Durant is a lone ranger. Durant is not a leader of men.

Durant thinks because he can recruit talent to play with him, that makes him a leader. Recruiting talent doesn’t make you a leader. Elevating those around you makes you a leader. When has Durant elevated others?

The dichotomy of Kevin Durant is wanting to be a part of good culture, then ultimately wanting to be the good culture himself. But you can’t be the good culture by the simple fact that you want to be the good culture. Good culture is humility, self-sacrifice, team before individual. Durant acts like that’s what he wants, but then he leaves the greatest team of all time because he wasn’t getting the credit he felt he deserved. He went somewhere else thinking he could have it all. A talented team and a city that loved him.

Look who he gravitated towards in his recruitment efforts– another lone wolf, unique, kind of weird individual – Kyrie Irving. Look who else he brought in – a strip club attending, come in out of shape, (selfish), James Harden. These aren’t culture builders. What happened in Golden state doesn’t happen every day. And it does not happen by accident. It’s not every day that you find immensely talented people that are willing for it not to be all about them. Kevin Durant was never interested in it not being about him. That’s the dichotomy.

Steph Curry brought Kevin Durant in and embraced him. He didn’t care about the limelight. He cared about winning. He proved that. Two MVP trophies that did not go his way. Why? Because he had the humility to say, definitively, “it doesn’t have to be about me.” With Steph Curry, it’s truly about the team.

Steph Curry doesn’t try to be humble. He doesn’t try to be a uniter of men. He just is those things. They come naturally to him. He is a leader. These things don’t come naturally to Kevin Durant.

This isn’t an indictment of Kevin Durant as a person and definitely not as a basketball player. Not everyone is a born leader. It may be unfair to compare him to the most selfless superstar in NBA history, and I don’t think it’s even close. Who has a higher combination of talent, accolades, and humility than Steph Curry?

That said, Kevin Durant brought this comparison on himself. He had it all. Championships. A great team. Great teammates. He left that because he wanted to do it himself. When things got hard, he bailed ship faster than Kyrie bails a vaccination center. Is it any surprise that his two preferred destinations are where there’s a solid team, solid culture, solid comradery, and solid leadership?

Durant thought he wanted to be a leader of men. He quickly realized he only wanted to play basketball. That’s fine. Hopefully, though, he doesn’t go to Phoenix or Miami, win championships, and then realize he’s still not happy. Even though, if that were to happen, it seems like a foregone conclusion that would be the result.

Always seeking greener pastures.

July 21, 2022