Haven't we all fantasized about being the one to hit the game winning shot just before the buzzer sounds?
Lebron James did that in real life when his Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Orlando Magic in the third game of their battle to be the best in the East in the NBA playoffs. With only one second left on the clock, James caught an inbounds pass from teammate Moe Williams, turned just a tad to avert an opponent, and sank a 3-pointer. Nothin' but net! Game over! But that turned out to be the Cavaliers only win against the Magic. No title for the Cavs this year.
Still, each time I watched a re-play of that miracle at the Q Arena, I got goosebumps. James' poise (and Williams', too) under pressure was incredible. Inspiring. How does someone so young ---he's 24 and went directly from high school to the pros 5 yrs ago without missing a beat--remain so fearless, so cool?
Well, I could put that same question to LA Lakers guard Derek Fisher. At 34, he's 10 years older than Lebron and considered "the old man" of his team. But it was Fisher's 3-pointer with seconds to go in the Lakers 5th game against Orlando that sent the game into overtime, and still another 3-pointer in OT that put the Lakers a game away from the NBA title.
"Old man" Fisher has something like 40 career 3-pointers in NBA Finals under his belt. In other words Fisher's had lots of successes--- the result, for sure--- of lots of practice. Everyone has heard that old saw "practice makes perfect." In his book, "Outliers" writer, Malcolm Gladwell, one of my writing heroes, examines the makings of success. He cites the successes of athletes, software developers and musicians---all of whom posess innate talent and who have had opportunities. But it is practice, practice and more practice that separates the most successful in their fields. Up to 10-thousand hours or more of practice.
Let me say that again, ten thousand hours! I calculated that to be 1,250 eight hour days. Now, I'm thinking, "What have I spent that many hours practicing in my 70 years on the planet? Worrying, maybe. I have lots of practice in worry. Procrastination? I'm practiced in that, too. I can't say I've put in a whole lot of hours getting good at the things I profess to want to get good at like writing, thinking, playing the flute, cooking, drawing, gardening, playing a jumbe drum, mastering Microsoft Word, sufing the internet. Just today I gave up in frustration trying to set tabs for a My Documents work.
I do talk about practice, though. My Buddhist practice. The writing practice that Natalie Goldberg, one of my favorite teachers teaches. I'm fascinated with practice---that is the idea of it. Even the idea that one can practice something incorrectly and get good at that. Something a long-ago flute teacher picked up and pointed out to me when I went home from a lesson and practiced the wrong note for a week! Even Malcolm Gladwell failed to point out that it's not just a matter of those ten thousand hours of practice that make for success. It's the right practice!
I was rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers and their star, Lebron James (we're from the same hometown, Akron, Ohio) to make it to the NBA Finals. Had the Cavs gone up against Derek Fisher and Kobe and company I wonder if the Cavs relative youth might have undermined them in the end. Would they have been still too young to have put in all the needed practice time?
