How You Look Vs How You Play

Too much emphasis has been placed on those things about competitive sports that do not mean anything. How you look? What or who’s shoes you wear? Accessories: headbands, elbow sleeves, socks, legging sleeves, under amour body padding etc. Basketball is a team sport and over the years athletes have embraced their individuality within the sports. Appearance, in the case of many young players, has become more important than their actual performances itself. It takes me back to the days of Michael Jordan, when he and Spike Lee jokingly made the notion that, ‘It’s gotta be the shoes.’ He was mocking the very idea that I am now addressing. It must be the shoes that makes him play so hard, work so hard, jump so high, make all those shots, win all those championships. In todays’ society oh it’s more than the shoes, it’s the socks, the undershirt, the compression padded tights, the arm sleeve, and even the headband.

Make no mistake about it, shoes are a very important piece to the game and ensuring that it is played the right way. However, the comfort, safety and protection of your feet and ankles during play no longer seems to be the objective of basketball shoes. Those things have now been replaced with the most popular styles, brands, and fashion trends. Many athletes now claim to be unable to play in high top shoes based on what?…I am not sure. While we have seen many injuries to ankles and long lasting damage to feet in recent years, I have no data supports any correlation between the changes in shoes styles and injuries to ankles and feet. However, I do know that the average professional athlete of the MLB, NFL and NBA have top notch doctors and trainers, whose job is to work with those athletes daily to help manage their bodies throughout the long season as well as off season. Most young athletes do not have the same luxury as pro athletes, but they will follow in the trends of their favorite athletes regardless of how it may truly affect their bodies. Many of the fashion influences on our young competitors come from the world of professional athletes, whom many young people look up to and admire. Rightfully so, I mean these are the world’s top athletes, who better to look up to and admire, but let’s be clear on what to admire about these phenomenal athletes. Start with the things that actually make them great like their tireless work ethic, unmatched desire, and fearless determination. These are the things that are worth admiring in anyone not just athletes, but too many times this is not what we admire because these are not the things we see in media and social media. Many young people tend to admire the behavior or perceived personality (swag) their favorite professional athletes. These things are reflected in what their wearing, what they do on social media, their in-game antics, their on the court accessories, or off the court/field shenanigans. These are what the young folks admire because this is what they see. So they tend not to see the work that comes with greatness, because that happens early in the morning when the cameras are not on, when no one’s watching and you are all alone. It’s never what you wear, where you’ve been, how you look, what you say, what you post, what you tweet that make you great…..Its what you do when you are all alone, just you, your mind, and your heart.