Check thy ego once in awhile

It doesn’t take long when a season ends, or even when the playoffs are going on when the conversation takes place as to who is the very best player of all time. There are enough players out there that really believe they are better than everyone past and present.

We don’t have the ability to time travel and I don’t care how many movies or TV shows are made that show things that might have been it just won’t happen

We can’t send LeBron James back to the 1950s and 60s to see how he would do against Bill Russell or any of the greats of the day.

He can’t go back to see how he would fair against Magic Johnson or Julius Erving or Kareem Abdul Jabbar or even Larry Bird.

Most everyone would say that he would dominate every one of the people listed above. That most likely would happen only if today’s LeBron went back to the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s or 1980s.

But what would a LeBron version look like if he grew up in any of those decades?

Guess what? I have no idea.

But I think that he would look a little different physically and his skills may be a little less dominant. But the game is different and a lot more physical and there is a lot more weightlifting going on than ever before.

I was at a middle school basketball camp last week and saw kids that had dribbling skills that were impressive. When I was that age there was no pee wee basketball or even basketball camps for us to attend therefore our skill level probably wasn’t as good as the kids of today.

Does that mean that we weren’t as good as these kids are? Again I don’t think it matters.

I played with and against some very talented individuals and if those people were 11 – 14 years of age and had the opportunities the kids of today get I think there would have been an improved skill level from the same athletes.

We have improved athletic training, and access to more televised sports that impress kids to want to improve their game or at least it should. When I was in high school we didn’t have a weight room. Imagine that!

I also need to tell you that I had a lot of old school coaches that weren’t easy to play for. Several kids quit during the season because they didn’t like the coaching tactics which at times were borderline abusive.

A coach using those types of tactics would not last long today and would also have no place coaching young athletes.

We will always see a lot of parental involvement sometimes positive but too often negative. Nothing to the LeVar Ball extreme but enough to make coaches wonder if the extra time that is invested in coaching and less time at home with family is worth it.

Some parents are not always realistic in how good their kids really are. Wouldn’t it be great if all kids were as great as their parents’ think they are?

I know there is that class that is coming through in a year or two or three that get us excited about what might be.

There are disappointments as well, but there are enough great kids around that make coaching worthwhile. And few if any of these kids would ever dare say they are the best player of all time because there are enough people that have seen a lot of former athletes that impressed fans over time.

The best advice I could give to anyone is to be the best athlete that you can be. Be the best teammate that you can be. If you try to be the best of all time there is a good chance you will come up a bit short when it comes to expectations.

So check your ego at the door and do your best to help your teammates become better players. That is a true sign of a great player.