Saturday, July 24, 2021

How to Become an MVP

 I suppose it is possible that you do not know that the Milwaukee Bucks are National Champions.  And I suppose it is possible you do not know that this was made possible in large part by the efforts of one player, Giannis Antetokounmpo (whose name, I am very happy to report, is so famous it even is corrected by the spell-check software). If that is you, please know that Mr. Antetokounmpo is a man gifted with a very unique combination of physical attributes and skills making him one of the very few human being on planet Earth who can play basketball at an elite level.  For this reason, he is a multiple winner of the Most Valuable Player award. He is an MVP of the highest order.

What makes him a person that we mere mortals should listen to is not his athletic prowess but his mental approach to the game and to life. I suggest it is his life perspective as much as his skills which make him an MVP.  The attitude he brings to his work is one that can make anyone an MVP in God’s eyes:

“Antetokounmpo’s news conferences were must-see events, and my favorite moment came midway through the Finals when Sam Amick, a national reporter for The Athletic, asked him a great question about his lack of ego. 

‘I figured out a mindset to have that when you focus on the past, that’s your ego,’ Antetokounmpo said. ‘I did this. We were able to beat this team 4-0. I did this in the past. I won that in the past. When I focus on the future, it’s my pride. Yeah, next game, Game 5, I do this and this and this. I’m going to dominate. That’s your pride talking. It doesn’t happen. You’re right here.

‘I kind of try to focus on the moment, in the present. That’s humility. That’s being humble. That’s not setting no expectation. That’s going out there, enjoying the game, competing at a high level. I think I’ve had people throughout my life that helped me with that. But that is a skill that I’ve tried to, like, kind of — how do you say, perfect it.’” (Jim Polzin | Wisconsin State Journal July 22, 2021)

“Humility. Humility. Humility.” (John Calvin) The stuff of which MVPs are made.

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