Have you ever been at a point in your life where you feel like you are overthinking things?
Perhaps you are just a person in general that tends to over think? You like to look at things from every angle, put yourself in everyone else's shoes, and try to predict all the possible outcomes in a given situation.
Does that sound like you at all?
Well, sometimes that is a great ability to have, but sometimes it is not...
Let me tell you a little story about my favorite sports team that helps drive home that point.
To fully understand the significance of this story, lets go back to 2011. The Phoenix Suns held the 13th pick in the NBA Draft at the time. A spot they had become quite accustomed to drafting in. At the time they were a fringe playoff team in desperate need of a star to carry the torch being passed by Steve Nash.
During pre-draft workouts they were intrigued by the measurements of a certain Kawhi Leonard (you may have heard of him?!). He had ridiculous physical measurements for a small forward. Huge hands and a massive wing span (long arms). The only problem was that he played Power Forward in college and was going to have to make the transition to small forward in the pros.
He also could not shoot the 3 ball very well. Those fears combined to cause some scouts not to place his draft stock very high.
However, his defensive ability was off the charts. Clearly the best defender in the entire draft. His work ethic was unmatched, and his physical tools, as mentioned above, were second to none. These things kept him in the mind of the Phoenix Suns with their 13th overall selection...
But Then...
Something very strange happened when they conducted their pre-draft interview with Kawhi Leonard. During the interview Kawhi started to sweat... not just a little sweat here and there, he sweat a lot! He was sweating so bad that it was showing up through his suit and dripping off his face.
The Suns' draft scouts got together and said this guy doesn't have the mental make up to be a great player if he gets this nervous in pre-draft interviews. Yes he has great physical tools, but we can't draft him because of all this sweating...
That was basically the conclusion the Suns came to. Great talent, but we can't pick him because of the sweat... he doesn't have what it takes.
Sure enough, on draft night, the Suns passed on Kawhi and selected Markief Morris with the 13th pick and let Kawhi Loenard drop to the Spurs at number 15.
Markieff was not a bad player per say, but Kawhi has turned into an all world player. One of the best in the league. He is currently leading his team on a quest for a potential Championship while the suns are sitting at home watching the playoffs on TV. A place they have been for the last 7 years in a row, ever since that draft...
Had the suns not put so much emphasize on how much the guy sweats, they may have taken him at number 13 and completely changed the history of their franchise.
After all, who ever heard of sweat being a deciding factor in how good of a basketball player someone will eventually be?! It's ridiculous.
Let this be a cautionary tale for all of us to remember not to put too much emphasis on the things that don't matter. Focus on the things that do matter and make sure we do not over analyze things.
Live well my friends!
Sources:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/05/nba-draft-combine-phoenix-suns-kawhi-leonard-sweated-through-suit-predraft
Image Sources:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/over-analyzing-trap-gina-gallagher
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/over-thinking-quotes/
http://www.slamonline.com/nba/report-suns-passed-on-kawhi-leonard-in-draft-partially-because-of-nervous-interview/#2C4c4hcJLJHJsMdW.97
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/suns-markieff-morris-throws-towel-at-jeff-hornacek-after-being-pulled/
