Larry Bird is my most favorite basketball player ever. He played for the Boston Celtics which was my favorite team for many years. But before that, he played for Indiana State.
Another one of my favorite players was Earvin “Magic” Johnson. He was probably one of the best point guards to ever play and he was voted one of the top 50 players of all time. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers but before that he played for Michigan State.
Which leads me to the greatest college basketball championship game of all times, when these two met in the championship game in 1979. Michigan State, and Magic, emerged the victors but I would be forever captivated by these two Hall of famers.
Oscar Wilde said, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”
Most people I meet embody this assessment. They live their lives to be like someone else, but Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were the opposite.
The both had individual styles that were totally unique. When you watched them play, sometimes it took your breath away. But they were not imitating anyone else, they weren’t trying to be like anybody else, they were uniquely themselves.
Do yourself a favor and watch some tape of these great basketball players. You will be inspired not to be like them, but to be who you are, to be authentic!
Kevin Durant takes a lot of flack for being different. He is another one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but he is also one of the most authentic!
I don’t necessarily keep up with the news, so I don’t know any of the scandals about any of these players if there were any, but we must respect authenticity and continue to cultivate it in our lives.
I say, “Be who you are.” Some people say, “Be all you can be,” but the mystics encourage us to “Become what we have always been.”
Think about the 10 people you admire the most in sports or in real life, and realize that the ones you admire the most are the ones who were uniquely themselves.
Be who you are, be where you are, and be at peace,
Karl Forehand
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