THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING GREAT

I really believe that your best player, and how you coach your best player, is critically important to the success of your team. Coach Don Meyer has told me more than once "when your best player is your hardest worker you've got a chance." I would also add that when you best player is your most coachable you are in business. At LSU, we've been blessed with some special players including Marie Ferdinand, Sylvia Fowles, Temeka Johnson, Allison Hightower and Seimone Augustus. They were great players but they were also our team's most dedicated players and all were extremely coachable. Among that group are five Final Fours, 3 SEC Championships -- while all are competing in the WNBA with Seimone and Sylvia owners of Olympic Gold. Those women got it -- they understand what it took to be GREAT...not good, but great.

Along those lines, here's a great post from Kevin Eastman on this subject:

Every team has a best player. Some of these “best players” understand the responsibility that goes with that and others don’t. We have found that those who do have two things in common:

..... --they have earned this designation (not just been given it)

..... --they understand it’s an everyday responsibility

Kevin Garnett made an interesting comment on the bench the other night when he was talking to a teammate about consistency. He said, “an All-Star has to be a pit bull; he has to bring it every night!”

Everyone wants to be Michael Jordan or Paul Pierce or Tim Duncan or Steve Nash, but they don’t want the responsibility that goes with it. What Kevin was saying is being the best is not a one time thing. It is an everyday commitment to excel as a player who gives maximum effort every time he hits the floor. That means every game, every half, every quarter, every minute, every second, and every possession!

And this will be the case for anyone in any field who is — or wants to become — the best. It is a personal commitment that takes incredible daily focus. I encourage you to use Kevin’s statement with the player or players on your team who may be taking this for granted. You can tell them that Kevin not only talks the talk on this but he walks the walk. He understands that being the best requires more!