I just finished reading a great book that I recommend everyone gets. Here is a story when David had an opportunity to talk to Magic Johnson that I’d like to share with you to show you how great a book it is …
Magic Knows Teamwork
One of the first things I wanted to know (when talking to Magic Johnson) was what it was like for him growing up. I mean, he was one of the best athletes in the entire NBA. I could only imagine what it was like when he was playing in high school.
Well,” he said, “when I first started playing as a kid, we’d win by these huge margins, like 80 to 20. And I’d score like 65 of those points. The problem was, even though we were winning, no one was happy. The other kids weren’t happy, their parents weren’t happy, and as a result, I wasn’t happy either.
“All of the sudden, I realized that the best way to fix things was to get more people involved. So I made the decision to become the best passer that I could possibly be. After that, we didn’t win by as big a margin, but we still won. The score would be more like 70 to 30, and I’d score only about 40 of those points while the rest of the team scored about 30. But everyone was participating, everyone was making shots, and everyone was happy.”
When Magic went to the NBA, his goal was to have more passing assists than any other player in history. He told his teammate on the Lakers Kareem Abdul Jabbar that he was going to help him become the leading scorer in the league, which he did. He told his teammate James Worthy that he was going to help him make the all-Star team for the first time; that happened too. Teammate Bryon Scott ended up with more three-pointers than any other player, and Magic set him up for a bunch of them. When Kareem scored the point that broke the record, making him the leading scorer of all time in the NBA, he went straight over to Magic to hug him. And he then said to him, “You told me you’d do it. You told me.”
“That,” Magic said, “was the greatest thing.”
David Novak – Taking People With You – The only way to make BIG things happen
Until next time,
Kevin Levine (Mister Self Help)
Learning Things School Never Taught Us On How To Live A Better Life ©
