This Will Be Hard to Read

Doc Rivers explains why friends and family can become the “peripheral opponents” every championship team must overcome:

“There are a lot of guys who say all they’re trying to do is win. I say, ‘Yeah, not really.’ You’re trying to win as long as you get to do whatever you want to… pic.twitter.com/dwBdoFmBOJ

— Josh Chambers (@JoshChambers) July 27, 2026

Sports teaches a lot of lessons, many enduring and exceptional and others valuable yet hard to hear. 

Everyone doesn't want you to succeed. Everyone cannot or will not put the team first. Sometimes it's selfishness and sometimes it's human nature. I call it WII - FM radio (What's in it for me?).

Hard conversations are, by definition, uncomfortable. Especially in basketball, some players are "stat hounds." They want stats because that earns them recognition, more minutes, and even more shots. They say they want to win, but they want themselves to win first. 

MVB has not had the same "Me, first" reputation as some sports. It's hard to win and harder to "win happy" when there are selfish players. Part of the reason people enjoy MVB is the culture. When teams radiate joy, it ripples. 

I've known multiple, multiple teams collapsing under "internal politics." I don't know if that was an issue with the Celtics. I doubt we'll ever know.

And if you watch sports, you will see players who don't succeed because they're more concerned about what goes on off the court than on it. 

Some stories can't be shared publicly...to protect the guilty. 

In "Why the Best Are the Best," Kevin Eastman shares some of the words that separate the best from the rest. 

The complete list is:

1. Truth
2. Action
3. Intentional
4. Preparation
5. Accountability
6. Trust
7. Sacrifice
8. Discipline
9. Commitment
10. Belief
11. Unrequired
12. Choices
13. Circles
14. Competition
15. Passion
16. Habits
17. Urgency
18. Standards
19. Courage
20. Curiosity
21. Respect
22. Adjustment
23. Humility
24. Investment
25. Talent

Here's what Chat GPT thought would appeal to me:

Eastman Word	Why it fits your philosophy
Truth	"Tell it. Live it. Take it." Coaches are truth tellers.
Preparation	"Outcomes are not predetermined, but preparation is."
Accountability	One of your three pillars: Teamwork, Improvement, Accountability.
Habits	Daily behaviors create long-term results.
Standards	"The standard is the standard."
Curiosity	Your reverse-engineering process, reading, Gardner, Housel, Go, military history.
Adjustment	Find answers for that match; don't miss twice.
Humility	Learn from history; ego blinds judgment.
Investment	Coaches invest in players; players invest in teammates.
Unrequired	Perhaps Eastman's signature idea: champions consistently do what is not required.

That last word—Unrequired—may be the most uniquely "Eastman." He argues that average performers do what is expected. The best look for the extra film session, the extra repetition, the handwritten thank-you note, the extra sprint, the difficult conversation, the attention to detail—things nobody can force them to do. Those "unrequired" actions compound over years.

The word from the list that appeals to me most is sacrifice. The teams that will sacrifice the most are those who share and care the most about each other. Be that type of team.