July 11, 2016 - The Big Fundamental

The game of basketball has definitely changed a lot over the years and it makes it very difficult when comparing the great players. The problem is that most are known for attributes that are based upon the style of the game in the era in which they play(ed.) Yet there at times are players that transcend eras and styles… players that simply succeed based upon sticking to the fundamentals of the game….

This week I have to give a shout-out to Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan as he retires from one of the most (if not the most) consistent careers professional basketball has ever seen. For 19 years Tim simply played the game the way it should be played, relying not on overwhelming athleticism but instead on solid fundamentals. I love reading all the accolades as his peers state that he quietly just got the job done!

I can’t write about Tim without recalling a practice where one of my players informed me that he didn’t like the bank-shot drill we were doing. When I asked him why he told me his older brother had told him that “bank-shots are ugly”; so he decided he only wanted to try swish-shots… I told him that “Tim Duncan is an ugly millionaire then!”

Great career, Tim Duncan! You are truly one of the greats to ever lace them up.

So how is this a weekly devotion? The obvious question is to ask, what will people say of us when we are finished? Will we, like the Apostle Paul, be able to state that we have “fought the good fight …finished the race …kept the faith”? (2 Timothy 4:7)

This is accomplished via a commitment to the fundamentals! It requires being taught the basics that will help us stand in this world. The Apostle Paul, in his second letter the Thessalonians, said it very simply:

2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”

The “therefore” is there because Paul was letting them know that this world (the game) is changing and they need to be “big fundamentals”!