HUMILITY

PLAY CALL: PROVERBS 11:2 Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

DEFINITION: The quality of not thinking you are better than other people; modest view of one’s own importance.

STORY: The San Antonio Spurs acquired Kawhi Leonard’s rights in the 2011 NBA Draft after the Indiana Pacers had selected him with the 15th pick. The move cost the team George Hill, the well-regarded backup point guard, but in return the Spurs got a talented but unformed piece of basketball clay that the team molded into one of the top-five all-around players in the NBA. Leonard personifies the humble and quiet star who internalizes nearly all his emotion and just outworks everyone, despite his enormous talent. Many people questioned whether Leonard would ever be good enough to warrant the cost of trading away Hill, so he went to work proving doubters wrong. He broke through in the 2014 NBA Finals when the Spurs won the championship and Leonard earned MVP honors at the young age of 22. After seven seasons with the Spurs, Leonard was traded to the Toronto Raptors in 2018. In 2019, he led the Raptors to their first NBA championship in franchise history and won his second Finals MVP award. Leonard is a three-time All-Star and has two All-NBA first team selections. Nicknamed the "Claw," or "Klaw," for his ball-hawking skills, he has earned five All-Defensive team selections and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2015 and 2016. And yet, no one knows much about Leonard, and that’s just how he likes it. Humility, hard work and a constant hustling ethic make Leonard not only a top-five player, but also one of the most admired superstars in the NBA. HUMILITY

QUOTES: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. C. S. Lewis. "True humility is staying teachable, regardless of how much you already know.” Anonymous “If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are.” Mother Teresa HUDDLE UP: 1.What is one thing a coach, a teacher, a parent, a leader in your life has been teaching you that you have ignored? 2.What is one thing you can learn from a current teammate? What is something you could share with a teammate to help them be better? 3.Is it possible to be humble and confident? How?

BREAK THE HUDDLE: You may think you are the best at what you do, because that is what you have always been told. You may think you are not very good at anything, because that is what you have always been told. The truth is, there is always somebody better than you and you are always better than someone else. However, it is best to not compare yourself at all. Just be you! And when you know you, you know what to work on. To be coachable is to know that there is someone out there who cares about you enough that they are willing to help you in those areas in which you need improvement. It shows great honor for you to allow someone else to come alongside you with their knowledge and teach you. In reality, we need otherpeople. People see things in us that we can’t see in ourselves. And who knows,maybe one coachable moment will lead to a lifetime of people wanting to“walk in your shoes.”

RUN THE PLAY: If you combine humility with your passion in life, you’ll rise to the top and overcome failure.