What is greatness?

The Heat, led by Lebron James and Dwyane Wade with an awesome supporting cast, won the 2012 NBA championship. Last year was a different story. Last year ended in the pain of losing. Last year they could not reach their goal. But you have to remember that losing is a part of life. It does not matter that you lose because everybody has to lose sometime or other. No one is perfect. The UConn women’s basketball team had that long perfect streak but they eventually lost. The Bulls and the Lakers have both won back to back championships multiple times but they could not keep winning them. The Minnesota Lynx went perfect last year enroute to their first championship. They won 10 games in a row this year to start the season but they eventually lost. The New York Yankees, the team with the most championships in the history of sports, have won more than 3 world series in a row before. It took them 9 years to win their last world series but they have not won one since.

But the fact that you lose does not matter. What matters is what you do after you lose. You can pout, sulk or put in work. Lebron James said this after winning the championship, “Losing in the finals last year put me back in place. It humbled me a lot, and I was able to go back to the basics. A lot of people had a lot to do with it, but at the end of the day I just looked myself in the mirror and said, ‘You need to be better, both on and off the floor’. And I’m happy that I was able to put myself and our team in the position to win this.” After the finals last year, Lebron went to work. If any of you were following Lebron in the offseason you saw how much work he put in even when it was not certain when the season would start. Kevin Durant was working hard with him as well and you have to give him and OKC props for getting to the finals. They definitely put in work as well, and I enjoyed watching their high energy play. But sometimes it is just your time, and from their play and attitude, I knew this was the Heat’s time.

Coming into the season you could see a difference in the mentality and mindset of all the players, especially Lebron. They wanted it and were willing to do what it took to get it. Loss will make you rethink yourself and what you think you can do. Give Lebron and the other players credit for learning from the loss last year and readjusting themselves. They played hard, and it was not easy playing against OKC. But they fought every game and made the big plays when they needed to. This was a real team win, and I congratulate the team on their success and obtaining their goal.

What is greatness? Greatness is getting knocked down, losing, but saying, “Yes, I lost. Now what can I learn from this?”. Greatness is picking yourself back up, fixing your mistakes, strengthening your weaknesses and putting in the hard work to get to where you want to be. Greatness is working hard and giving it everything you have because you never want to feel the pain of losing again. Greatness is looking at yourself in the mirror realizing that you need to be better and that you can be better. Greatness is having nothing left and the satisfaction of knowing that you gave it everything you had.