| Here’s a story I like to tell to illustrate just this point…
When Mark Eaton was in college at UCLA, he was 7’4” but struggling to contribute on the court. His playing time was down, his numbers were down, and his moral was down. He was about ready to quit.
Then one day while Mark was playing a pickup game at UCLA, he had a chance encounter with NBA legend, Wilt Chamberlin.
Wilt approached Mark and offered some advice. He said “stop trying to run up and down the court like a guard and instead focus entirely on blocking shots, grabbing rebounds, and passing to teammates.”
Wilt went on to say, “You’re 7-foot-4. You don’t have to run up and down the court. Just stay down by the basket, block shots, get the rebound, and hand it to the little guys.”
With that advice in mind, Mark stopped trying to be a traditional scorer, and instead, embraced his role as a defensive anchor.
Mark Eaton went on to play 12 seasons for the Utah Jazz. He became a two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (1985, 1989) and still holds the single-season record for total blocks (456 in 1984–85) and blocks per average (5.56 per game).
The moral of the story is this:
The answer isn’t always just “try harder.” Sometimes, the better advice is to find your role and play to your strengths. |
