Mike Penberthy (Part 2) Los Angeles Laker Champion - Episode #4

Summary

Mike Penberthy, former Los Angeles Lakers champion, shares his journey of balancing intense competitive basketball with his Christian faith. Reflecting on playing alongside legends like Kobe Bryant and facing skepticism as an underestimated player, Penberthy discusses the mental and physical challenges of the sport and how he reconciled his aggressive play with his spiritual beliefs. Through mentorship from figures like his father and a man named Ash, he learned to view basketball as a form of worship and a way to grow closer to God. Now as a coach, he talks about imparting wisdom to upcoming players and finding work-life balance while staying true to his faith.

Highlights

• Mike's journey reflects the essence of pushing through adversity and staying grounded through faith. 🌟
• The intensity and physicality of basketball was a test where faith played a guiding role. 🏀💥
• Talking trash and competitiveness are part of the game, but personal growth comes from knowing where to draw the line. 🚫🗣️
• Mentors like his father and philosopher Ash were pivotal in his spiritual journey. 📖👥
• Balancing a demanding career with family life requires effort, communication, and, oftentimes, technology like FaceTime. 📱💕
• Transitioning from player to coach, Mike continues to impact others with his sports and life philosophy. 💼🏀
• Prayer, podcasts, and daily commitment are keys to maintaining spiritual and personal growth. 🎧🙏
• Upcoming athletes can learn from blending hard work in sports with spiritual discipline. 🚀🙏

Key Takeaways

• Balancing intense competitive sports with faith is challenging yet rewarding. 🏀🤝🙏
• Embrace the work, pain, and growth process in both sports and spiritual life. 💪😇
• Mentorship and supportive relationships are crucial in balancing professional and personal life. 👨‍🏫👨‍👩‍👦
• Faith can enhance performance by providing a deeper sense of purpose. ✨🙌
• Continuous learning and humility are key to personal and spiritual growth. 📚🧘‍♂️

Overview

In this episode, Mike Penberthy opens up about his experiences in the NBA, from playing alongside Kobe to his time as a coach. He discusses the intense demands of professional basketball, both physically and mentally, and how his faith helped him stay grounded. This dedication and resilience are emblematic of his playing style—scrappy, fiercely competitive, yet spiritually anchored.

Mike shares insightful stories about facing doubts as a player labeled as the 'little blankety blank white boy' and how these encounters fueled his determination to prove himself. Beyond the court, his faith journey was deeply influenced by mentors like his father and Ash, who helped him see basketball as a conduit for spiritual growth rather than just a career.

Today, Mike thrives as a coach, mentoring NBA players and guiding them not only in developing their game but also in their personal growth. Whether he's on the NBA bench or FaceTiming his kids from the road, Mike embodies the balance of professional dedication and personal faith, always striving for excellence both as a coach and a disciple.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 05:00: Introduction and Early Playing Days The introduction chapter provides an insight into the early playing days of the subject, focusing on their tenacious and determined style of play. The narrative highlights the subject's competitive spirit, similar to that of Kobe, emphasizing their scrappy, aggressive approach. The discussion also touches on how the subject maintained faith and motivation amidst challenges in their career, depicting them as a fierce competitor with a relentless drive to succeed.
• 05:00 - 10:00: Balancing Faith with Competition The chapter titled 'Balancing Faith with Competition' discusses the challenges of maintaining one's faith while competing at a high level, particularly in sports. The speaker reflects on personal experiences, admitting there were times of struggle but also acknowledging the need to find a balance in order to play effectively. The narrative highlights the intensity of competition in leagues like the NBA, where everyone elevates their performance.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Spiritual Growth and Mentors The chapter "Spiritual Growth and Mentors" discusses the challenges of physical and mental toughness experienced in a game with no protective gear. The emphasis is on the resilience needed to endure physical confrontations such as scratching, bleeding, and bumping. Despite the intense nature, the game is ultimately differentiated from real life, emphasizing the ability to mentally transition from the aggressive mindset required during the game to normal life outside of it.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Role of Family in Personal Development The chapter discusses the challenges faced by individuals due to preconceived notions and stereotypes, particularly in the context of sports. The narrator shares a personal experience of facing instant judgment and lack of respect based on their appearance, specifically being underestimated as a 'little white guy' on the basketball court. Despite these challenges, the narrator highlights how these experiences formed a significant part of their life as a basketball player, influencing their personal development.
• 20:00 - 25:00: Transition from Player to Coach This chapter discusses the intense transition from being a player to a coach, highlighting the competitive spirit and aggressive mindset that is often adopted during gameplay. The speaker recounts an experience where someone provoked them, intensifying their determination to score and potentially harm the opponent as part of the game's aggressive nature. It emphasizes the 'win at all costs' mentality and how crucial it is to maintain such intensity in order to achieve success, despite the hard challenges faced.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Coaching Philosophy and Influences The chapter discusses a personal reflection on maintaining boundaries and ethics in competitive sports. The speaker shares their experiences from freshman year in college, emphasizing a struggle to balance competitive drive with personal and spiritual integrity. Despite the challenges, they convey a commitment to compete wholeheartedly, fueled by their faith and personal values.
• 30:00 - 35:00: Current Coaching Role with Pelicans In this chapter, the narrator reflects on his experience during his time at school, particularly in relation to his current coaching role with the Pelicans. He shares an encounter with John MacArthur, the school's president, who acknowledges the narrator's struggle with consistency in games. Despite sometimes performing exceptionally with 35 points and other times falling short with only 10 points, the president advises him to compete hard in every game instead of worrying about surpassing others or being overly focused on being a servant. This guidance appears to influence his approach to his coaching role.
• 35:00 - 40:00: Parenting and Personal Reflections This chapter explores the author's personal journey with basketball, reflecting on how the sport became a spiritual activity rather than just a competitive one. As the author matured, they recognized basketball as a means to worship and grow closer to God. The narrative underscores a balance between competition and spirituality, mentioning moments of introspection about crossing the line in competitiveness. The author acknowledges occasional trash talk as part of the game but emphasizes a major shift in perception from merely competing to engaging in a spiritually enriching experience.
• 40:00 - 45:00: Rapid Fire Questions The chapter titled 'Rapid Fire Questions' delves into the culture of trash-talking in basketball, especially during the speaker's formative years. It reflects on how trash-talking was a strategic mental tactic used to gain an edge over opponents. The speaker shares insights into interactions with players like Gary Payton and referees, hinting at the intense and often borderline conversations that took place. The chapter explores the delicate balance of using trash-talk effectively without crossing personal boundaries. The speaker also mentions a personal learning process in understanding the implications and limits of trash-talking, which came later in life.
• 45:00 - 50:00: Connecting Faith and Sports The chapter titled 'Connecting Faith and Sports' delves into the speaker's realization that their purpose in playing basketball is not necessarily to make God known to others since the existence of the universe serves this purpose. Instead, the speaker finds that engaging in the sport is a way to grow closer to God personally. As they shifted this perspective, their enjoyment of the game increased, and they felt a deeper connection with their faith.

Mike Penberthy (Part 2) Los Angeles Laker Champion - Episode #4 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 now I've seen your play I've seen some tape and I think you know you had to work obviously hard to get where you're at but I think you also the way you play you had this scrappy just no-holds-barred I mean talk about the way you you competed with Kobe yeah tell me how'd you own how do you own your faith through all that because it said you know there's there such this line like I think if we were to look at not know Mike and look at him on the court be like man that guy he's he's got a screw loose you know that edge I was how
• 00:30 - 01:00 did you balance that with with kind of hone in your faith and hey I got it I think this is way I need to played it to be effective yeah good question well there were times when I didn't do it well you know I was I think when I think back to him and there are times when you obviously when you when you play at that level from for a guy like me and for all the NBA players really when everybody raises their game it is a little bit crazy
• 01:00 - 01:30 there's an element of physicality with no pads that you've got to be able to push through there's scratching and bleeding and banging and bumping so there's a there's a mental and physical toughness that has to be in there and there's a there's a desire to want to take somebody out if you have to now it's a game it's not life you know so to be able to walk off those lines and know that I'm not I don't need to do anything
• 01:30 - 02:00 at but it all stayed on the floor like that was pushed to meet a young age so when you walk on the floor and most of my life I would say 80% of my life as a basketball player when I walked on the floor the comment was I'll guard this little blankie blank white boy so there was never a instant respect and it happened even in my ninth year in Europe where I'll take this little blankety-blank white guy so not hard to
• 02:00 - 02:30 have a chip on your shoulder somebody said to me I'm guess what I'm gonna score on you you remember this blankety blank white boy and you might end up on the ground okay yeah I've got no problem that so it raises your intensity to a point where I didn't have any problem trying to hurt you no problem it's part of the game and if you don't make it you don't make it out that's your problem so but I'm still gonna I'm still gonna do what I can to win and so it was it when you it's hard
• 02:30 - 03:00 it's again this is hard to explain that but like that's I didn't feel like I was crossing any lines because it was a game and I was that was told to me I'm never playing I remember having a hard time my freshman year in college with that battle you know yeah and the only way I was going to be able to compete with all my heart with all my soul with all my strength for the Lord it was gonna have
• 03:00 - 03:30 to be all in and then I was gonna just mature as a person mm-hmm and then I remember John MacArthur was our president of our school I memory called me to his house he said I see you're struggling a little bit cuz there were games when I play 35 points in the next he might have like 10 and I would think well I'm just gonna past everybody and be a servant you know I'm gonna just love everybody you know and I would have these like pathetic games and he goes Mike it's a game like just compete as hard as you can and as I
• 03:30 - 04:00 got older I learned that basketball was was a form of worship to God for me so that changed that that pursuit as well was that God created basketball for me in him to grow me closer to him not to pull me away from him so there was a competitiveness there like I said there were times when I felt like okay I should I cross the line here but there was never a feeling like unless I went intentionally or I said something you know trash talk cuz trash talk was part
• 04:00 - 04:30 of the game when I grew up it's not now nobody trash talks anymore but that was a part of the mental edge that she played with and you could say some things that were you know borderline crazy and and have them set back in these conversations was Gary Payton in referees and like that it's just you know the the lucky can imagine could go on there that I said at the highest and worst possible thing those things are being said and how do you navigate that and not cross a line I didn't learn later until later in life that you know basketball
• 04:30 - 05:00 was there not so that I can make God known he doesn't need my help with that there's billions of things around the world galaxies stars he doesn't need me to help with that he made it for us for me in him and I'm gonna grow closer to him through basketball when I saw that my game elevated I enjoyed the game more I did draw close to the Lord I got to know him better mm-hmm and I was able to see it in that perspective interesting I hadn't heard
• 05:00 - 05:30 you heard you share that before I don't have to heard that at all that perspective but I like that that that is that that's something that is drawing us near because it sports is a great way and this is what I always share with people about you sports is it gives kids a chance to fail and we just don't have that enough you know we're the the coddling and you know I think and it's not only the failure but it's how we respond to that and you know and I think having God as part of that because you like you said I don't want anyone to
• 05:30 - 06:00 miss that like you made mistakes oh you know like that there's there's no doubt like we can look Lord you get between the lines and we have went too far with that yeah I shouldn't you know I shouldn't get into it with Gary Payton you know yeah yeah so that that's a that's a great a great perspective to look at it as a game and I think you know people that know you off the court obviously is it you know you're right in time to be a different person right I think I can be hard for celebrities professional athletes because we see this persona that the television gives us it's not who we
• 06:00 - 06:30 really are for Sean but I think social media in a way has helped a lot in that because you get to see behind the scenes good how popular sports are I mean the NBA is more popular than offseason now than it is during the season because all the drama and different things that unfold and getting to know the person so I think that I think that helps in today's game get to know somebody just like just hear your heart now it's great so I know your your journey has obviously been a roller coaster you know some NAIA college ball you know you you
• 06:30 - 07:00 make the NBA you win a title with the Lakers you know you get if you get cut you're playing in Italy now you're back coaching in the NBA so really a roller coaster but as you look back on this on your basketball I know there's a a testimony that goes along with it and so often we look at Mike penber that we've been talking about Mike Penberthy the basketball player mmm but who who came along who was the person or persons that came along it was really that kind of mentor disciple
• 07:00 - 07:30 shift and help you with that owning your faith in your games it really sounds like you took that serious is something you thought about yeah yeah who was that person well it started with my father I mean he was a pastor's kid basketball coach teacher you know so he came out of the church so my mom was you know that's where the name Duncan comes from it's remain names okay and he actually started the master's college so that was that was kind of his you know gift to the world was he started it was
• 07:30 - 08:00 led Baptist College and it turn of masters when he moved on but he you know I grew up as in the Christian home so for me my father and mother instilled in me just the importance of daily time in the world your daily prayer making it you know a discipline in your life that started there that was the foundation from from there after that a guy named
• 08:00 - 08:30 Ashley know became a very important person in terms of the perspective of worship to God and that Christ is your all Paul satisfying person that you were pursuing nothing else matters because I had reached the top of the mountain with the NBA and I wasn't satisfied and feel anything because the next day I had to go make the team didn't matter the ring what's the ring mean nothing I got a ring it's nice it's great but I I still got to make the team that I'm gonna pay
• 08:30 - 09:00 the bills I ain't gonna you know move on from 25 years old with a ring you know NBA champs you bring so I reached the goals but you're at the top of the mountain and there's nothing there and I remember just thinking okay Christ is everything I need and now I got to pursue that and then I bumped into this guy and he he changed everything for me just understanding that God doesn't need me to make him God needs you he wants you Mike that's what he wants he doesn't want anything but you he already knows about your gifts he already knows all
• 09:00 - 09:30 that he wants you and he wants the pain in your life that you talked about glad you brought that up because I don't think there's anything there's no growth without pain mm-hmm none of that and there was a ton of pain in my life we you know all those years there's more but my dad passed away that you know the year after I made the Lakers have won the championship so you know you're going through difficulty there's only pain there's soreness in everything in life that's oh that was the life of Christ right I mean the perfect model is Christ he what happened he ended up having to die there's pain
• 09:30 - 10:00 there you know in order to have that blessing so I was getting nervous when things are going well because I'm thinking okay there's some pain coming here because that's how you grow you know and so my father my mother and then this guy ash really helped me and he threw these questions on me and I'm I'm big into philosophy and thinking and theology that was my major was a Bible exposition so I would read I still read you know a lot of the great thinkers and
• 10:00 - 10:30 study that in Ashe came out of that he was a fellow at Oxford and so we had some he would say why he played basketball and now I'm like my head spinning welcome to glorify God no he would just go no okay and it would take me you know took me months to come up with an answer so you know we would just work through that and he became a big influence in my life that's cool in Ashe Africa and shoot of three to save his life I fell he could swim in a pool
• 10:30 - 11:00 and he could he couldn't throw a ball anywhere near bats yeah yeah that's great and had a big impact on somebody who's spent his life around basketball that's cool so as you look back I mean you you know obviously saved at a young age and grew up in a Christian home and that how far you've come probably in your personal walk we've heard a little that was there anything else that that really am it sounds like basketball and a few these people in your life anything else that really kind of had a big impact and
• 11:00 - 11:30 you growing closer to the Lord and just that journey that you've been on with with God yeah I mean having kids you know changes your perspective on God you understand what it means that he's your father mm-hmm because you get what he sees in you you see in your kids so good yeah so I see God differently because I have kids being married and and figuring out how to work and love and sacrifice and
• 11:30 - 12:00 give of myself and die to myself yeah I how do you die yourself you know when when the world maybe has put you on a pedestal but you come home you guess what you better they don't matter yes you don't care she knows everything about you so that's a big part of it my Bible major in college was a huge part of that there's a knowledge there that's necessary I think to grow an understanding of how it works and who Christ is and the pursuit of that is
• 12:00 - 12:30 important daily podcast now yeah but I listen to I listen to John Piper and Francis Chan and Matt Chandler and and Ravi Zacharias and our sister also I have podcasts on daily basis because my schedule can be crazy with it sometimes I don't make it a church but you know I think God for podcasting yeah so those are big influences in my life currently yeah that's great I'm glad you you hit on next I think it is not to glance over but you're still pursuing
• 12:30 - 13:00 that nope like we're talking about you know you today but you're still pursuing the knowledge the growth and I think that's an important aspect no matter where we're at there's been that constant in your life and you realize that about yourself but you know I am I'm safe you know I'm growing I'm learning doing all that stuff and yeah we're going through that and how you know how like you said how Christ said you would use the word sacrifice is what I was thinking you know with family and kids and all that even your game so am I going to go hang on my buddies or am I going to go to bed early cuz I got to get the work out
• 13:00 - 13:30 you know there's you know to be prepared for for what God has for you next which you're next whatever that dream is whatever God's put on your heart so important so important okay so you've gone from player yeah to coach let's talk about current day a little bit yeah so you're with the you were coaching with it actually let's go back to to kind of your coaching cuz I think you were it's important to guys know like oh man he's in the NBA now you just he was a player and kind of now
• 13:30 - 14:00 he's in the coach in the NBA that's not really how it went for you you were doing a lot of personal training helping guys with their with their shot walk us through kind of what that those couple years were like and then kind of really you know with the Timberwolves and now now with the pelicans just just your niche and what you've been which we do with the coaching yeah it's uh Terry development it's I mean I I worked basically with the help of a couple of guys in terms of like steering me in certain directions in terms of player
• 14:00 - 14:30 develop my own personal player development and then I practiced you know eight nine hours a day so everything I learned and built I took Mike Penberthy did know nobody out of high school to an NBA championship team like there's a skill set that was developed there and kept developing so you know you I would leave I would shoot every day and I would leave I wouldn't leave unless I made a hundred in a row there's not many guys maybe I can do that now so there's there's very few so that was that was a normal day for me so I've worked to that point so I I just
• 14:30 - 15:00 have now taken those daily disciplines and now I'm putting them into India players now started with kids I started a little youth program and that was how I made my money by working kids out and youth and so I started young I was with I was training I started when I was 16 working out you know twelve year old kids trying to figure out a way to get them to shoot the ball better and then so I learned how to teach and communicate and and trial and error you know a lot of those things and so the breeding ground like if I get if I can
• 15:00 - 15:30 teach a 12 girl how to shoot I can teach an NBA player you know if I can't teach a 12 year old I probably can teach 8th or the reality is like the simplicity of explanation in terms of the mechanics has to be easy for a 12 we roll so that an NBA player is willing to say I'm willing to forego what I know and abandon what I've taught and listen to you it has to be that simple and that clear if it's not he's not gonna trust me even if even if I'm a great shooter but I can't communicate that clearly in
• 15:30 - 16:00 a way that is obvious where I'm in his head before he gets to those moments like I'd do that now that's how I got Paul George Chris Middleton Kyle Korver Reggie all these the NBA players to buy because I could get into their head before they got to those points and I would say okay right now you're gonna feel this because I know I did it I know I wasn't a great shooter in high school I became one you know I wasn't born one year nobody's born that's your good hand-eye coordination is great but I wasn't a great shooter and I'd be killed
• 16:00 - 16:30 myself into one so I knew what they were doing ahead of time someone from little kids and maintained doing that got him with Andre Iguodala did do anyway and then it started to build Reggie Jackson and Paul George and then just more guys sort of coming Okafor look at Dante she's now been with me for four years and so you start laying in good good good players and now you realize you holiday you know probably one of my favorite people on earth like you've learned how to talk to a guy who's a superstar and in can your message can
• 16:30 - 17:00 you communicate your medicine convey your message to help not only had 12 year old kid but a superstar becoming better so shooting became a niche it turned into more because obviously I wasn't what I was doing in Europe I was doing more pick-and-rolls and driving kicks and more complete skill sets so it became more ball handling and passing and reading and understanding defenses and the seven levels of a pick-and-roll and how to develop those issues so it gets deeper and deeper deeper as we go but the only those superstars only a
• 17:00 - 17:30 superstar can can understand those things because I can't tell 12 that yeah you say I'm gonna shoot it or I'm gonna shoot it guys this is only option but you know drew Howard is gonna say okay there's seven options here and it's pick and roll how we're gonna figure this out and I can help them navigate that because I had to do it so that's where it's going to now that's really cool so what's it like now sitting on an NBA bench you know you with the pelicans the last few years and and helped in kind of more the team what's the join that yeah yeah I mean you're learning the NBA game and
• 17:30 - 18:00 kind of what what would my system be mm-hmm you know so I'm trying to put those pieces in place so that I can become a head coach hopefully someday get that opportunity just need to get interviewed and see where I can find me to fail yeah you know it's an interview I need to fail at some some you know applications you know and so I'm studying under a great guy who really knows his stuff Chris Finch I've studied under fields accident we ran John Wooden's office that's waiking or practices in college
• 18:00 - 18:30 so I've learned a ton from him so I know that UCLA I know I know a number of offenses really well and now it's just kind of figure out what I would do you know so you've seen the game you know 82 games it's a lot of games so you do that for a couple years you see how the game flow out works what would what would what wouldn't work so you're just John Paul okay so hopefully I'll get the opportunity to do that there's a book to be written about that too there's a lot of information that you're trying to chop down to you know and then simply say I need you to turn the corner on the
• 18:30 - 19:00 next play you know like it was what came through that filter is just a ton of information and you're doing it in in so now with Drew I you know Drew holiday Anthony Davis it right from me and I and I just personally coached him he should do this every time they touch the ball I have a comment so when you do this she should have done this you shouldn't that what did you help me do there what do you think about that's like so we're in game making adjustments your first pivot on the catch don't don't front pivot front pivot on him go right he's forcing you left break through his over arm and
• 19:00 - 19:30 get to a step back through you know get some more step backs tonight there's too many guys crowd the paint get off the ball really play on your second touch you know 80 you got a kick out repost get to your fadeaways so there's there's always new information coming yeah at a deeper level that now that the relationship is built close tight I can have a direct influence on the game and they're so good they really don't need me but it's nice to to be able to say you know hey think about doing this and all the times they look at me go what should I do just dribble right Adam has
• 19:30 - 20:00 he shoot at three got it you know and so they're so good that can do that yeah you know so it's really a tribute to I know you enjoy that yeah yeah what's breaking down that game it's fun I think people don't they sit and watch you know they love basketball they might understand some stuff and when you when I hear you talk and breaking it down you know like that how deep the game goes and and what these guys are thinking about on the court so you're the pelicans general manager now you have you have the first pick who you
• 20:00 - 20:30 takin this year I mean Zion it depends on what happens with Anton Davis you know I mean if I'm if I'm sitting that chair I gotta know what he wants to do and if he wants to stick around great then we'll that may that may change what you do with that pick maybe it's ready to get more guys getting maybe some more veterans maybe we try together I'll start with that maybe we keep it and we try to build it around that who John Moran so phenomenal player you know I mean so you got some RG Barrett's a
• 20:30 - 21:00 really good player you got you got some guys there that the league is turning to a more skilled league it's not a super athlete League it's a super skilled league so do you take him to consider in that generation those guys I'm glad it's not my decision what I would do but I can only imagine they're probably feeling thousands of phone calls from teams with different proposals on how can we get that yeah we have the two most wanted players in NBA right now we have Andy Davidson we have valuation like that that's what we have yeah so
• 21:00 - 21:30 everybody's gonna want to get those guys so why not I can only imagine that phone is probably ringing off the hook yeah some glass not me all I know is I'm glad rue Holliday for sure next year yeah yeah that's funny okay so I know you have you got a couple boys playing ball mm-hmm they still listen to you oh yeah yeah I mean I've tried not to be the guy who like I told him all along you guys can do whatever you want I'm gonna support love if you don't play
• 21:30 - 22:00 basketball then that's fine yeah let's really do play I'm gonna clap and cheer and when you make mistakes I'm gonna give you a hug so I'm not interested in being the guy like that was barking orders at them I said if you want to know something from me you know I've done this my whole life yeah there's a lot of trial and error and that I've gone through to get to what I know if you want to know just ask me yeah so now the relationship is a good one you know we're never was bad it's just now they wanted more they want to
• 22:00 - 22:30 understand more so that the relationship is really good yeah that's great so if your your your oldest is how old 18 in your middle 16 16 so if you're 18 who wins in a shooting contest between me and him yeah well I don't miss so when you're 18 no not now Oh at 18 or 80 so he be be I'm 18 yeah and he's 18 no he beats me okay I wasn't that good I'm not six years old for sure he's better than both of them he's brought their anti and me that's fine at eighteen now
• 22:30 - 23:00 I was not I wasn't okay okay take us back before the hundred and twelve straight threes at masters and I think I know the the answer to this but who is the biggest influence not just spiritually or basketball but but in your life thank you since most of my life yeah from my father yeah touched when he passed away yeah yeah so how do you deal with you know
• 23:00 - 23:30 traveling now with your schedule it's crazy you got three kids at home and yeah you know get they're getting older so I know that is it important to you as a father and the husband to be there so what I know that I know you wrestled with that how do you yeah thank God for FaceTime I mean my kids and I talk more when I'm away then I'm when I'm home because they again call me at any time so I know I'm always available to them my wife and I we talk every day FaceTime it's it's a running conversation there's never a time we set
• 23:30 - 24:00 we just continue to to do it and I use FaceTime so that's that's how we do it and it's constant it's work to communicate you know it's work to keep a relationship it's work to make it better it's not something that just evolves and there's something good we're falling and and selfish and so we'll go our separate ways but we have to work to maintain it so the truth about our relationship is that she's the key so she's amazing so I couldn't do what I do without my that's awesome that's awesome all right so we'd like to do something on the show
• 24:00 - 24:30 we do a little rapid-fire go okay so all right we'll do we'll do slow fire okay if you didn't play basketball what sport would you play baseball most memorable shot you've ever made probably in Europe game-winner against the number one team in Europe from about 30 feet I just I
• 24:30 - 25:00 just held the ball for ten seconds and has each from about 30 feet it was it was Steph Curry before Steph Curry I just launched it okay what's the the shot that still haunt you that you missed free-throw to win the game in in Berlin in the championships I missed it the guy got the rebound and made a 3/4 court shot to tie the game so if I'd made it that had been a four-point yeah we would have want I missed the free throw I was shot 91 percent that year and I missed a free throw and he made the three-quarter court shot and they beat us in overtime
• 25:00 - 25:30 yeah that's a fresh wound still okay what's your favorite thing to do on an off day oh all right I figured with your favorite all-time basketball player yeah okay who'd in the last 20 years since you broke in a league who do you feel like he's been the most dominant player that you've played with her or a bit back yeah question nobody could guard shack nobody never and I saw some bonus 350 pounds you know
• 25:30 - 26:00 there were big Tim Duncan Dave Robson he mowed through Devo he mowed through all these guys every single one of those guys he destroyed tell us about was it the Western Conference Finals you guys finally lost a game mm-hmm yeah we won the in the finals we lost in the finals yeah to fill in and then Shaq comes back yeah yeah boys is that it admit I mean he I was like 14 20 yeah after that he just took over yeah okay we we played against here's a good story
• 26:00 - 26:30 we put against uh David Robinson and Tim Duncan and he said in the in the timeout to us just the balls corn every time and every time you scored he called de drums in the name every time and he dumped it four times in a row in the first quarter like there was literally nothing he could do to stop him so yeah he'd destroyed in the Tumbo you know I mean these are 7-foot guys that are 250 300 pounds yeah you just
• 26:30 - 27:00 embarrassed him Wow all right favorite city you lived in while you're played overseas oh Naples [Music] mr. temas Italy I still dreaming Italian really yeah I speak it fluently I was there seven years okay Naples you guys the backs would you stop playing no I haven't been back I'm looking forward to going back to go favorite golf course you ever played um favorite golf is cold ah I think that's
• 27:00 - 27:30 in in Hawaii I think it's called ko allow it was well the hardest courses ever played anything off the fairway went into the jungle it was like it was like yeah built into like a volcano and every shot you hit you could see off the volcano Mountain it was an absolute beautiful photo Lakers in training camp okay it was fun favor of course you want to play that you have it yeah Pebble Beach for sure all right definitely all right can I come let's do it so current day Pelican pelicans who's
• 27:30 - 28:00 your favorite player to coach true Holly yeah he's he's uh he's like a superhero he's like a cartoon you know he's body can do anything you want like his body can you can move and jump and eat like anything I tell him to do he can do so I feel like I'm like playing video game one player that you really felt like you had a huge impact on helping them like develop their game their last six years six summers with him nice why the bow
• 28:00 - 28:30 tie I like it yeah we want to know uh the story behind it is I was in Minnesota I was getting ready to get dressed and flips on her says hey you know you're kind of the professor of our team like guys go to you for questions and you have watch you you're kind of the professor and I was like all right I'll try to figure out how I worked out I got a dress and he goes how about you were a bowtie I mean Flip Saunders was amazing he was
• 28:30 - 29:00 an amazing man and he goes put a bow tie on so I brought aboard bow tie the first day and he was like yeah there you go on his son Ryan now new head coach was like oh the professor so he was he was the one that kind of point that name but not the professor as you're an are our friend the professor but in a different light was because the players were always like hey Mike how do I do this or how do I do this I was kind of how to guy I still am a team so that's that was kind of my role so that was how it
• 29:00 - 29:30 became hey it's the professor and now then we won our first preseason game of course we only won like 14 games a year and I was like I'm not sure this is working he's like you gotta wear one in every game now so I ended up having to buy you know more bowties and then people started sending him to me so like 80 bowtie thanks mike Penberthy the basketball guy so as a coach as an
• 29:30 - 30:00 athlete like you've really dealt in both of those both of those spaces what would you tell somebody in that space that's listening and watching about how you've connected God to your game and we spoke on a little bit but what would be what would be some advice some encouragement that you would you would want to give somebody in that space trying to own their faith mm-hmm within their game you know is it as difficult as that is even obviously an NBA level but even a high school level yeah I think as in order to
• 30:00 - 30:30 grow closer to God in order to improve and grow at anything it takes work and a lot of work so hard-working basketball hard work and you're in your spiritual life hard work in your relationships like it takes work and and then that is pain and that is suffering and that is growth and it's a cycle that continues to grow
• 30:30 - 31:00 throughout your life so if you want to grow closer to God through basketball you have to work at both God and basketball and then they merge and where they merge in your life you find you know new revelations of both you know so I think that's with any sport it just takes work it takes sacrifice taste discipline it takes effort it takes pain and take soreness it takes growth it takes work it's exactly that just keeps going you know and your spiritual life
• 31:00 - 31:30 is exactly the same way and like I said before Jesus Christ example is the way to see it dives in with people lives a hard life loves others dies you know and then comes back to life like there's a cycle there that happens again and so I believe it's the same with us and I think that's how God set it up but it takes it takes a ton of work and in it and being willing to go through difficult times knowing that God is in control being willing to work at your
• 31:30 - 32:00 game knowing that you're gonna come out on your side as a better player even though you may suck or sling for a while but knowing you're gonna get better and pushing through that I think I think that's part of how God put it together yeah that's good I think we got to work at it and you know and the eternity sports is a big big part of what we want to do is that give people a platform to learn to glean from someone that's that's been through there and obviously been able to define to find success and
• 32:00 - 32:30 and I would encourage people find somebody to help alongside I mean we should be helping people along the way but we need to make sure that we are being fed you know whether it's podcast being in church another another believer on your team you guys are you guys are in that together I think doing that alone can be hard I walked through that alone for a while when I first found the Lord and finding away with your sport coaching playing whenever that is but I think that that word work in other words
• 32:30 - 33:00 you you really were hitting almost sacrifice those are those are real valuable things for us to not forget you know because we can get caught up in the way I'm feeling right we forget about up here and the things that we know and the promises of God so that's really good all right as we wrap we'd like to ask everybody to turn us on to somebody you know that's that's playing for eternity that's a professional athlete and that we can have on the show what you got for us uh yeah I'm gonna try to talk to I think
• 33:00 - 33:30 and I lose you need a guy alcohol okay PGA Tour twenty years on the tour so yeah okay there we go we love we'd love to have him yeah and I know uh I know you got a big golf tournament coming up yeah good luck that work well recording this in the offseason hmm so you're not skipping practice yeah Mike Mike can hit the ball the time is he's an amazing amazing athlete amazing
• 33:30 - 34:00 athlete I appreciate you sharing today being on the show just letting people see you know I know everyone wants to talk basketball and Shaq and Kobe and Anthony Davis and Drew holiday but I think you run so much deeper than that and I think guys and look at you and I think they see the authenticity and I think they they see a guy who loves the Lord and and they want to be around and and I want to keep to keep doing what you're doing man thank you
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