When you watch NBA games and see the best athletes in the world battling against each other, yelling out R-rated insults and doing anything to win a basketball game, you tend to laugh it off when they say sometimes that they’re all brethren.
Yes, they all are getting NBA paychecks and can be traded for one another at any moment.
But do they really consider themselves brothers when they are hacking the bejabbers out of an opponent rather than allowing a cheap basket?
What happened over the weekend in Springfield, Mass., is proof that, yes, they consider themselves as teammates, no matter how bitter the rivalry might be between them.
When you see Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade hugging and laughing, you know that they forged a lifelong bond through their competitive fire.
“We were all linked together already,” Wade said of Dirk, Tony Parker, Gregg Popovich and Pau Gasol, all members of the 2023 hoop-hall class. “But being on this journey together, getting to know one another as men, not as competitors, has been hella dope (using the urban synonym for extremely cool).”
And then, he added: “For Dirk and me, it’s been therapy.
“Who would have thought that we would be on the same team after all of our battles. But here we are. And it’s one of the greatest teams I’ve ever been on. Thank you, guys.”
For Wade, life will move along with him as a game-show host and a celebrity in the entertainment world, as well as an alumnus of the NBA.
For Dirk, nobody’s quite sure what direction he’ll go from here. Or if they do, they’re not saying.
But you suspect that he’s not done having an impact in the world.
With the 12 enshrinees that were inducted on Saturday night, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame now has 448 members.
What they did over the weekend was provide one more memory after a career built on them.
And every speech seemed to get better.
Popovich spent more than half of his speech talking about the people who have impacted him in his 27 years of coaching San Antonio.
Like the other inductees, he thanked everybody he could remember and especially his family.
“People think I just do basketball,” he said. “I don’t really like it that much. Basketball doesn’t love us back, does it? We use it like a bar of soap, right? It pays our bills. It gives us a wonderful life. But I don’t remember it saying: I love you, Pop.
“It’s the family that’s the deal . . . relationships. That’s what’s important. Everybody knows the O’s and X’s. It’s not brain science. When was the last time you had a new pick-and-roll play. It’s all the same damn stuff. So that’s all baloney. The wins and losses are all crap. It’s illusory. It doesn’t really exist. What exists is seeing these guys (pointing at his players), and their kids, those relationships with your assistant coaches, your colleagues, your friends. That’s what you take with you as you move along. All those wins and losses, they fade away. But those relationships stick with you forever. And that’s where the self-esteem and the self-satisfaction comes.”
In many ways, moving along in an NBA career is the same as moving along in life.
You might move to a new city. Or out to the country. And while you won’t miss the restaurants or the supermarket from where you moved, you do miss the people.
And that was the point that the newest hall of famers tried to emphasize.
Nowitzki said he learned something from all the people who mentored him along the way: parents, his sister Silke, the dozens of coaches he had, Holger Geschwindner, trainers, strength coaches, everybody.
Then he turned to his kids and said:
“Stay curious and hungry. Find your passion and work hard. I shared some stories that I learned from my role models and I wish the same for you. Find your role models that inspire you along the way.”
“I’ve had so many great lessons taught to me by incredible teachers. And you will find them, too.”
Strong words to live by, regardless of age.
Twitter: @ESefko
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