The Teen Who Couldn't Find the Basket

Few of us really have the patience and the self-confidence to look bad at something we care about.

April 12, 2022

There was nobody in front of him, and all the awkward teen had to do was dunk the basketball or lay it in.

But instead, he took a dribble and clumsily wound up on the other side of the basket before pirouetting and throwing a wild pass.

Anyone at the game that day likely would’ve laughed hysterically and assumed the kid would be out of basketball within a couple of years, if not months.

But instead, the 16-year-old stayed at it, quickly developing a better feel for his new sport while adding strength and skill.

Joel Embiid, the teen who looked completely lost on that court over a decade ago, clinched the NBA’s regular season scoring title on Sunday — and his story has some key lessons for us.

We frequently like to believe that the elite in our industries have always looked good at what they do. We chalk them up as prodigies or renowned talents who then put in some hard work to reach the upper echelons of their fields.

But seldom do we see the embarrassing moments, the gaffes, the instances where they look anything but natural.

The monotonous, painstaking process of growth does not typically come with accolades and social media followers, and it frequently isn’t pretty. After all, few of us really have the patience and the self-confidence to look bad at something we care about.

Embiid was, however, and what he has transformed into is a credit to his work ethic, to his competitive stamina, to his mentality and also to his coaches, who seemingly kept pushing and working with him through what was surely a painstaking process.

His uncommon skill isn’t his elite jump shot for a center or his dizzying array of back-to-the-basket moves. It’s his mental resolve of years ago and his willingness to be bad at something and still staying after it.

Whether we’re presently struggling to improve at an interest of ours or are attempting to lead someone enduring similar hardships, let’s think of Embiid for a moment and remember that the top scorer in the top league in the world at one time couldn’t even find the basket.