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Real Teammates: Who’s Your REAL MVP? · Pass The Rock: Real Talk

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: All right, what's up, people?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to PTR Pastor Rock Real Talk, where we talk about faith, basketball, culture, obviously Jesus, and how to integrate him into our life every day.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm Lawrence.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be with my boy B D Aka Brian Daly.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get into it.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, what's up, man?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: What's going on, brother?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Good to see you.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: We've had some exciting news going on.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Let's let's start this episode, this time off, obviously with a quick prayer and let's share some good news.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: What do you think, man?
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: All right, I'll jump off.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: God, thanks for the time to be my boy Brian Daly.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for everyone tuning in.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_02: We love you.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: Help us to have great conversations.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Just plant seeds and water it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: You make it grow, Father.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: But thank you for the game of basketball.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Love you.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus now pray.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: All right, man.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: So a couple good things.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think you should go first, bro.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: You share your good news first.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, I got some good news, man.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, let's see.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of Jesus and sports, uh, I'll throw this picture up.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: My uh one of my good friends, he's a young man in the faith.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, his name is Coach Key.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's short for Key Marion Croft.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he got baptized into Christ on Saturday.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Go.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And uh he's 20 years old.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's from Lacey, Washington.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: He played football.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: So Key's on the left, and my son Luca is on the right.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so the way that I met Key is I went to my son's middle school football game last year, and you know, they're getting ready to play.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's public school, L.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you know, public school.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're out here in Washington State.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: But before the game, all the players take a knee, and I see this slim young man, Key, stand up, start praying.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like DMX prayer, like what?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yelling out, praying, praying to God, like arms all the stuff.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm like, who is who is this guy?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So they finish the game.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: I go, Luca, who is that guy?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, That's Coach Key.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I go up to him, Coach Key, you gotta come out to church, man.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, uh uh uh uh.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he's like my turn tables.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: All right, cool.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So uh he's like, I'll come out, I'll come out.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So doesn't come out the next week.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, Key, you should come out.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, comes out.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: So he comes out to church, takes him a couple weeks.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but man, he's got a great story.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh his his girlfriend came out, she had a prayer for him to kind of find a spiritual home, spiritual mentorship.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so, long story short, he's been studying the Bible for about a about probably 10 months.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go and uh he got baptized into Christ last Saturday.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go, Key.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: Come on, man.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's so funny.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: He went from a D-Mex prayer to be like, I don't know if I'm gonna go to church, but I'm sure there's a deep reason there.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: I would love to hear it one day.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that's my news, man.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So that was great.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh, you know, it was cool that that Luca played a little role in that, and uh Key has a vision to build a youth football program in this area, so please be praying for that.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But L, yeah, it's a big news, man.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta get a get everyone updated on that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: No doubt.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: Real quick, shout out to your boy Luca for doing something so positive to help out an adult to think about God.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so great job, Luca.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, man, PTR, the biggest goal, one of our main phrases, and the biggest goal we have in Christianity is to win souls, right?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: So amen.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: You know, man.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to put this out there.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: My daughter was oh crap, oops, at the stage.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: There it goes.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, sorry, a little technical difficulties.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm 45.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: There it is.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: So that's my daughter as she's going underneath the water, and that's my beautiful wife in the red shirt there.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, we baptize our oldest daughter, and huge shout out to her because uh for about a year she was staying the Bible and really had to learn a lot of great things about God and love.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: And shout out to all the sisters who stayed the Bible with her, and uh, yeah, so she got baptized, and uh, I was gonna share one more thing here, Brian, if that's okay.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, all the all the listeners here, this this all ties into our conversation today about how basketball is relational.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, I want to share one quick image of one of my favorite moments in my wife, my daughter's baptism.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, hey, so the the gentleman in the back is Vince Hawkins, who trained and helped me and Brian be definitely the men who we are today.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, and so Brian was on Zoom all the way in with Washington while I was in St.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Louis.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Alex Bryant, who's in the back there, great team leader.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh yeah, so we had that moment together where I feel like my closest friends, men who I love and trust, and men who that my daughter admire, got to have that moment together.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a quick highlight, Brian.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: Love you, man.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just podcasting and hoops, man.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: We it's something deeper than that.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: That was a cool moment, man, to see your daughter get baptized, to to hear you share, hear your wife share.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you had the merch on, making it look good, Lawrence.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I gotta do you mind sharing that story though.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: You shared one story in um when you're talking about her about the prayer during the game.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Bro, okay.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: So hey, so real quick, this this is why it's so profoundly me.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_02: So I grew up in a religious home, but I have I was never gonna talk about God in high school because I was too interested in girls and my popularity, and I was voted as most athletic, play multiple sports, so I just felt like I don't want to lose my reputation.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I was a fake gangster too, so you know, I you know, anyway, so anyway.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: So my daughter, she's on the flag football team at Luce, Lutheran South High School here in St.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Louis.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out to Luce, so great school.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so she during a football game, kind of in a hood, and she's a private school girl and public school, and like you know, it's kind of hood, but it was all it's good.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so uh the school she's playing is a little rough too, so they really getting into it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: So uh our team started to lose, and Ellie, I could tell she was getting upset.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: So, bro, I wish I had the picture.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_02: She in the middle, she's on the field, she gets on her knees, and I see that she's praying.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, what high school kid does this in the middle of a game, gets on her knee and pray?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was blown away by her faith or confidence to be like, hey, I don't care where I'm at, uh, I'm gonna pray.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I asked her, Hey, well, I saw you praying.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, super cool.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: She was like, Yeah, I was getting angry in my heart, and so I needed to pray, but she was also like, I wanted us to score a touchdown, so that's why I was asking God help.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Both, both.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Let's go.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: But it's just but it's just cool that someone that young is like, I don't care why man, I'm gonna get on my knees and humble myself before God.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: So that was good.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out Ellie Willis.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Love her, she's the best.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great story, man.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Congrats, bro.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Praise God for that.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so today, guys, you know, we try to keep it while in 20 minutes, so we're gonna try to make this really good and important, guys.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, relationships.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Brian, I got a story um that we're gonna recap real quick from um James Naismith and the creator of the game of basketball, and then from there, I want I want to ask you some questions of is basketball really relational?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so quick story.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: So, James Naismith um you know was playing the first game with the what they call the incorrigible guys.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: So apparently there's two previous instructors that quit teaching the disruptive group of young men.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: I think James Naismith referred to him as unruly men.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: The chaos was so James Nay said recalled that the very first match turned into a violent free-for-all.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: It ended with one boy knocked out, several of them had black eyes, and one had dislocated shoulder.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: Sounds like the bad boy pistons.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So to stop the injury, Nay Smith wrote 13 basic rules that ban running without the ball and excessive physical contact.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: So our last episode, you guys got to go check it out.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: We're talking about the soul, we talked about the soul of basketball, which is so important.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: So I wonder why did James obviously for safety, but there is a I think a spiritual principle of having to pass the ball to somebody else, that we need teammates.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, Brian, my question to you with this is um would a team with better talent be the team that has pretty good talent, but they have better relationships?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I've never I've never been asked that question.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So a team with better talent be a team with um not as much talent, but good relationships.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, I definitely think it's possible.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I know coaching-wise, I'd rather coach the one with some talent and better relationships.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um because you know, basketball provides shared joy.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And usually when you when you have shared joy, you're gonna play better.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so um I think a team that has stronger relationships is gonna play together um and and ultimately be better in the long run.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I mean I even think of uh, you know, shout out to my San Francisco 49ers who went down to Australia and played against the MVP Miles Garrett, and everyone's talking about the Rams undefeated, 16-0, all this stuff.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so we're back.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's my fault.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a middle class guy.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_02: My Wi-Fi, it's not cricket, but it's it's not the greatest.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: So my fault, bro.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, bro, when it ended, you were time outing me.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: Was it because your computer was crashing?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, I'm timeouting you, bro.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: So this is you start you was talking crazy a little bit about the Rams and the score with the 49ers.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: So, on behalf of St.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Louis people that are still hurt that that the Rams left and the Rams Miles Garrett apparently had a tore ligament or something, so yeah, your 49ers did great, but we didn't have the Rams were hurting, bro.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to put that out there.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: That went the 100 Rams, okay.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I'm just I I find it interesting.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't hear anything about about um we didn't hear anything about thanks for joining us on Pastor Rock, real talk for more inspiration.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: I will edit that out, bro.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: I will edit that out, bro.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: No, keep it.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_02: Who cares?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, this we're being authentic, man.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I guess yeah, yeah.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're learning, it's not it's not cricket, but we're learning.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I was just gonna say, uh, you know, it's funny we didn't hear anything about Miles Garrett having these problems until they got their butts kicked by 20 points, and then and then the knee hurt.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: So wow, but it but um but but I digress, thanks for bringing me back.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I do think there's something there's like a there's a a famous coach's quote that says, um teams that work hard be hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I think if if you take that through the lens of relationships, connected teams will beat talent when talented teams aren't connected.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I definitely think there's some truth there, and so I'm sure our listeners and lover ball players can think of examples.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: I think of the the Heat the first year that LeBron was there versus the Dallas Mavericks, easily Heat way more talented, right?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: But couldn't be the team that was unified, humble, they knew everyone's roles and they worked together.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Totally Lakers.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about your Lakers a little bit.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Oh four.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know, hey, you know it.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Who was the team?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: Who was the team?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: Say it, say it.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: We had GP, Malone, Shaq, Kobe, D fish, and we lost in the finals to Detroit four to one.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, gentlemen's sweep, gentlemen's sweep, bro.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: That was embarrassing, yeah.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I wonder because that was their first year.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: I wonder if they had those, they had been they had been rivals, and so I wonder how the relationships were when they all got on that team, you know.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_02: Good, good, good call, but still, you had arguably some of the best players ever, Shaq and Kobe on the same team, just them two alone, right?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, so you can have all the talent, but if you don't have a relationship, you're not gonna maximize.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, let's just clarify real quick because sometimes before I became a Christian and someone says relationships, I would think, oh man, you solve you talking about that emotional stuff, man.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, and so let's let's just define relationships real quick for anybody that's critical out there, or just not sure exactly what we're talking about.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_02: When we're talking about relationships, what do you mean?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: What do we mean by that?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Be that's a good that's a good question.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think when it comes to sports connection, connection, right?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so different levels of sport, you're gonna have different levels of connection.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: For example, in junior college, you travel everywhere together, you share hotel rooms with you, you got roommates, you're always together.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you're humbled because you're in junior college and uh you're trying to figure out how to be successful as a team.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, MBA now, you got your own room on the road, not as much time, and so you may not have that, you may not have as close a relationship as you would in high school or junior college.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: However, there has to be a respected connection that you're really drawing from, and maybe you do, maybe you have tight relationships as if you were in high school or junior college, but even if it's if it's professional, there's a respect, there's a connection, there's an iron sharpens iron, and that makes up the culture of your team.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas if you don't have that and if you have a break in that, it comes out.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, who's gonna take the last shot?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, who's gonna be on help side?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Who's gonna have your back getting back on defense if you go one-on-one and miss your shot?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: So all that stuff gets exposed if you don't have a healthy connection.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, and one thing that I love, one of the things I love about Stephen Curry is that everyone said about him as a teammate, superstar on one of the highest levels, but he's so humble, one of the hardest working guys, so it makes it easy, and obviously, ball distribution.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: So, it to your point, it creates culture, a high level of trust, respect, and everyone can fill a role.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: So, good point.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: So, I want to explore this.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, what are some things that you can do as a ball player individually, but then you miss out if you don't have the relationship?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: So, because yeah, it's an individual, there's some aspects, it's an individual sport, but what do you miss out if you don't have relationships?
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's there's um so much you can do on your own, and so much you can't do.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, I have to view it like you're sharpening the blade every time you're working on getting shots up, you're working on your shot, you're sharpening the blade, uh, you're working on your handle, you're sharpening the blade.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Strength and conditioning is controllable.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you may not be able to control how how great your jump shot is or your three-pointer.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can get reps, but there's certain things you can't probably change.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: But with your strength conditioning, you can control that.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can control uh the shape you're in.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, if you can run forever, not get tired, if if you can have the stamina, you can control your strength.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but again, these are all things to sharpen the blade where you're preparing yourself to play.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And um, there's a quote from Kelvin Sampson, old school coach.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: He got on somebody's interview, and he goes, We got we're teaching our kids to like make 5,000 shots on a machine, but they can't make one shot in play with defense.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a difference between you're a drill all-star, you're really good in drills, you're really good one-on-one, but can you apply it to a team?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: And there is a lot of guys that they can shoot the ball well, they can handle well, they're strong, they're in shape, they even have moves, but they don't know how to play on a team.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're on a team, only one guy can be leading scorer.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: You got to fill a role, and so you can fail to be able to play on a team and be really good by yourself.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a limit with what you do on your own.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's dope.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sharing that.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_02: You made me think about I think it was Kevin Garnett or someone had a podcast, I can't remember who, where they were like, Hey, if you take the world's best five one-on-one players versus mid-level NBA guys or even low level, but they play team ball, the best one-on-one guys won't be able to beat the team ball guys, right?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, so to use spiritual integration now, I think spiritually you can know your Bible in and out, you can pray an hour a day, you can be fasting once a week, you know, you can have your spiritual practices in tune.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: But if it's just you and God, which there's an element you need that, but if you don't have a connection to a church, other fellowship of brothers, you're gonna miss out on some things.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: What comes away?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: What are some things spiritually you can think of, Brian, that an athlete, especially if they're college pro, that they're gonna need you're gonna need some people around you.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: What are some things that spiritually people can miss out on, even though they know their stuff that without doing on your own, you're gonna miss out on you know what are they gonna miss out on?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: I I think about so when I think about teams a lot, I think about what the Bible teaches about churches, and so um uh the exact scripture, I forget in Corinthians, it's it might be 2 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 12, but talks about a church, which uh Corinth is a church in Corinth, the Corinthians is a church in Corinth.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you mourn when others mourn, and you rejoice when others rejoice.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so on a team, when your team wins, no matter what how how good I did, at the end of the day, I want to be encouraging and excited that my team won.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and when you when your team loses, and let's say we didn't play not just lose, but we didn't play the right way.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say I drop 40.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't want to be like, hey, let's go.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is you know, I did it.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Timothy.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, y'all lost, I won, you know, you don't want that.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So um, I think that's one thing is it's you you put the team first, and when it comes to our church team, that's how it is.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we have a joke, we're a small church, Pullman, Washington, but we have a joke that goes when one person gets a new car, everyone gets a new car.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like we made it, you know.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: We're rolling, we're rolling, and then I think probably something that's overlooked that you know, churches can get a bad rep, and and some of that when people sin and fall short, there's things that damage people, but uh I should say simultaneously, one of the greatest things about church is people mourn with you.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: So when someone goes through something hard, if there's a loss, if there's a death, if there's you know whatever it is, it may not be me that's experiencing that, but because that's my church family, I'm gonna go there, I'm gonna cry tears with them, I'm gonna sit with them, I'm gonna listen, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna hope because that's my teammate, that's my my family, and so in that way, your experience with your church can actually help you be a better teammate, and then the the physical endurance and things you go through as a as a player or a coach can help you to be willing to stand in there with your church family.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, and then how about because we got to be roommates in college, which was awesome, and so I got to see your life from being a player and then to being on a coaching staff at Mezu and just really supporting each other and really kind of being there.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: So you shared from a church perspective, coach perspective.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: Can you talk a little bit more about a teammate's perspective?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: On you know, because I'm sure on when you play professionally, you weren't super close to everybody.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: You probably had a couple of guys that hey, these are my handful of guys that I'm really close with.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, maybe we get we do extra workouts, you know.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: I tell them that I'm afraid to shoot, I don't think I'm good enough to hit the three-point shot and clutch situations, and you know what I'm saying?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_02: But can you shed some light into having real conversations with a select few and why that's really helpful and important athletically and also spiritually?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think um, okay, so the best teammates are the ones that are gonna speak truth to you and hold you accountable.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, one of my teammates in college was my my I had great roommates.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I had you, uh, you know, Nick, Ken.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Before that, I was I was with um a basketball player, Lennis Claza, and so from a basketball standpoint, he was like, Let's go get shots, let's eat healthy, um, let's go late night.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then he always had a vision of greatness, he was always working towards being great.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he wouldn't be afraid to call me out on stuff, you know.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, BD, this, BD that.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, another another story for another time.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: One time he shot me with a BB gun, uh because it was on an accident, but uh so you know he was that type of teammate, but I think some of my favorite moments were being at that time the Hearn Center, uh, you know, midnight, shooting, getting up shots, and having a vision.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then spiritually, I got to live with guys that were the same way, just in a spiritual mindset.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Nick Shells, we call him OTG.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: He was uh, you know, we call him that because he was always in his Bible, he knew the old testament really well, so it stood for Old Testament Gangster.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but he was always like, What'd you learn about Jesus today?
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and so that was accountability because some days I wouldn't retain the information, some days I wouldn't read my Bible, and that was a reminder hey, are you in your Bible?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are you learning things?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, L, I think in our household, like when you as a teammate and as really as a leader, but you would you would bring us together, you would coat, you would coach or huddle us up because um, you know, if you're if you're a young man out there watching this, we don't communicate very well, yeah.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so you had a way you're gonna huddle us up, we're gonna have a meeting, we're gonna have some food, everybody's gotta bring something, whether it's a fish with the skin still on it, the head still on it.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you probably made some rice wasn't meat.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: You had your rice cooker, I was leftover pizza.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, can Ken was whipping up the wings, he was the only one that really, you know.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, um delicious.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you had a way of saying, like, all right, let's get everything out on the table.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and to this day, man, that that skill alone is vital to survive as a disciple in a church.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get together, let's get it all out on the table.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Mac Strong was in our church for a decade, and he used to call it, let's flesh it out.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right, we're gonna flesh it out.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna, hey, I gotta get out the good, bad, and the ugly.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: If there needs to be apologies, we'll have it, forgiveness, we'll have it, and we're gonna pray and we're gonna move forward.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, no, I love that.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: You know, it makes me think it takes teammates, relationships to help dreams come true, and even to pursue a dream.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_02: You and Linus, for those that don't know, he played with the Nuggets, Lithuania is Michael Jordan, in a sense.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, everyone that's from Lithuania was like, Hey, I know Linus Clans.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I don't know him, but I know of him.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, Oh, like anyway.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: So, but it took you having that relationship, that teammate for you guys to both pursue a dream and do radical things together, talk about the ups and downs.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_02: So, spiritually, the same thing.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_02: It takes other men, or if you're a woman having deep sisters in your life to really talk about your hopes, dreams, and fears.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_02: You cannot you can't do it alone.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: So, um, yeah, man.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: So it makes me think of the scripture where Jesus says, Apart from me, you can do nothing.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_02: No matter how talented you are, you cannot do it alone.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's impossible.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: Even Jesus didn't do it alone, right?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: He had 12, and then he had his three best friends, closer friends, that he went to Gethsemane and confided in them, some deeper things that he was feeling.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: But even Jesus relied on people.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, man.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: So one thing I want to talk about here, if that's okay, one thing that I'm passionate about is because when I went, I went to go play baseball at Norfolk State University, and that was one of the hardest times of my life as a freshman.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so, man, thank God there was a guy, Howard Henry, shout out to him that wasn't afraid, to your point, to sit me down and just flush it out.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: Let's have real conversations about real life.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess I want to just spend a little time, Brian, on the importance of talking about hard things because we all go through some deep hard situations, and it's harder, I think, for those that's in a public light, like athletes.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: Everyone looks at me, everyone knows me.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: I I you know, I've got to maintain this image or perception of performance.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: Who how should they find, and I guess if someone wants to talk about spiritual deep matters, but not just spiritual stuff, but things that also deal with like heartache, worthlessness, I mean the painful only feelings, who should they go talk to about that stuff?
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, hopefully on a team you have people you can you can trust.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we talk about iron sharpens iron um as athletes, same thing as as men, as women, who is someone you respect, you look up to, you can trust.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: But I also think that's why there's a need for godly men, you know, and godly women that you can have a conversation with someone, they can listen to you.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, because just because someone is a warrior on the field or on the court doesn't mean they are off.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean they're not going through stuff.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and for some, like they might be more fear fearful having a real conversation than they are catching a pass in front of 20,000 people, you know, and and having been on teams, been a coach, served as chaplain, I've seen that.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like some of the toughest men have trouble having these conversations.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think number one is have the conversation with somebody.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Number two is we have a we have a need, we have a call for godly men, godly women to to not just hear somebody and be like, good luck with that, or I'll pray for you.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: But okay, where can I send someone into the Bible that inspires them?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, am I willing to have the faith to invite them alongside me as I live a life as a Christian, as I go to church, as I go to get a meal after church, as I go to campus events, have the courage to invite someone to come alongside too.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so I think we got to have the conversation.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, we got to know where to send people as far as uh God speaking through the word.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then thirdly, is bring them alongside of us as we do life to to navigate things, to talk about things, um, and to see what it looks like to make mistakes and still be faithful to be dedicated to relationships.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man, you just took that question.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: You you answered it on another level.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: I love the challenge that don't pass it on to somebody else.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_02: Ideally, you could be the one to help that person.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: So we're at 19 minutes now, and our goal is to be like 20 minutes.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: So I got one more question here, yeah.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Because of what you just shared.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the MVP in basketball is the most valuable player, it's the best.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_02: So when I think about term of relationship of connection, yeah, is and then in PTR, we're trying to teach people past the rock when souls for God.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_02: So is the MVP in relationship someone that can help you get to God?
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, bro.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think just like a good MVP, who got MVP last year in the MBA?
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: Wasn't Joker, I think it was SGA, yeah.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: So just like that, it was SGA, and then Wemby got the and then Wemby knocked him out.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: So he understood his personnel to say what is needed and what do I need to do.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I think someone that is gonna be valuable relationally on a team, number one, that's gonna outlast any accolades, yeah.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then number two is you're gonna have an idea what does this person need?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's that part in Job when all this catastrophe happens to Job.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, if you haven't read Job, check out Job.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: The first two chapters are gonna be action-packed, then you're gonna have about 36, 34 chapters of conversation.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then the last two are gonna be action-packed.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: But before after the catastrophe, his friends come and they just sit with him for seven days.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: They don't say anything, they don't tell him what to do, they don't say this is why it happened.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: They just sit with him, and so we gotta under we gotta pray and have discernment.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: What does this person need?
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_00: Do they just need me to listen and sit and be with them?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, or you know, an MVP would say would know, hey, this is what they need.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: They they need to pray right now, they need a kick in the butt right now, they need um encouragement, you know, they need a a vision of what God is doing here.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I think you're right, bro.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think that is a real MVP is someone that will know their teammates and what their teammates need and be willing to be used by God um to relay a message, you know.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, one more, but off on a tangent.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think about the rich young ruler all the time because the rich young ruler approaches Jesus, right?
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he's got these questions how how do I inherit um eternal life?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus starts saying, you know, you know the commandments, and he's like, I've done those.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then says Jesus looked at him and he loved him.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think about that because he loved the rich young ruler, and then he spoke the truth of what the rich young ruler needed to hear.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, which was go sell everything and give what you have to people that need it.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that was a unique message that just he needed to hear.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and then it said it said he left down cast.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I like to think that maybe he had like two or three days, prayed about it, came back, repented.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: We'll find out in heaven, but but also like as as men, I want to I want to think, okay, just like Jesus did.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: What does this guy need to hear?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Not what do I want to say, what what do I want to be heard saying?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, I need to pray.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, what do you want this person to hear?
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then try to try our best to do that for one another.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely, and to piggyback off that challenge to men, especially calling out the men that are talented, alpha leaders, or just leaders.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_02: What are you missing out on because you don't know the truth about God and you can't help people in the best way, and so yeah, so my challenge is to them figure out how to give people the ultimate treasure, the the supreme blessing, what that what could last forever versus just now, and so find that that that's worth giving everything for.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that, bro.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because yeah, if if you're doing just like in hoops or in in whatever sport, if you're doing all the training, but you can't function on a team, then what's the point?
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it's spiritually the same.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't think we can read this New Testament and say, I'm not supposed to be in a community and a church and on a team.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, all the stuff we learn on our own is so we can live and help others in their faith on a love it, and bro, one little tangent for me too.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta pet people, religious people that hey, you can say all the right things, you can do the right things of pray, fast, and but man, who have you really helped?
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, you know what I'm saying?
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: Like, who have you really loved, spend time with help heal broken hearted and you know, repair things?
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, who have you spent time with to restore what has been broken?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so, yes, call out to religious people like who have you helped recently, not just in prayer and moved on, but got in their lives, in their hearts, love them, and with God help them to become who they needed to be.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, bro, I think um it's worth it to go a little long on this, but yeah, that question you asked, right?
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, if I'm if I'm filtering that through my younger self, if you told me that and I'm at 19 years old, uh-huh, I would feel challenged because for me to care about my teammates and have that relationship and that conversation, it also means I'm helping someone else, meaning I'm not advancing myself.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm taking I'm stopping from doing my own training that's gonna make me better, and I'm investing in someone else, yeah.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's a challenge.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a great challenge with what you asked.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's not about us, there's a bigger picture.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's super hard, especially at that age.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm pursuing my dream, I got my NIL, I'm I'm trying to get to college or whatever it is, but I gotta take time away to give it to somebody else.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: What I'm gonna be missing something.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: You're absolutely right.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_02: That is really difficult.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_02: But that's the call of discipleship.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's the call, man.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, every day is a good day to die, like we said last episode.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, man.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: Die to ourselves, live for God.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so yeah, if you feel challenged, man, pray.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_02: I want to encourage you to pray about it.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Ask God if you feel challenged, ask God to give you some more truth.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us on Pass the Rock Real Talk.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: For more inspiration, make sure to follow us on Instagram at underscore pass the rock and on Facebook at Pass the Rock Jesus through athletics.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: You can also get your newest PTR merchandise at pass the rock.shop.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: And PTR is brought to you by the Youth Athletic Recreational Development.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's a 501c3 nonprofit in Pullman, Washington.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Any proceeds from anything we do, including uh PastHock.shop, will go towards our mission for our nonprofit to build a youth sports facility in the Pullman region.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh until next time, don't just pass the ball, but pass the rock.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: And don't just win the game, but win souls.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: Peace.