 Back where I grew up, sometimes to some people, hey it's some of my new video, welcome, sometimes to some people, their school is like something they dreaded and I did dread school in terms of the classroom and things and so the people was just their school. They had a community outside or friends outside or sports outside, families outside, things like that. For me and my family this school was our entire life. It was our sport, it was our community, all my friends were here, I didn't have friends outside. Everything I've learned, 80% of what I learned and who I am today was built in that basketball court. 60% of what I learned as a man was from my dad and my mom. The other 40% was probably from my basketball coach, Dean, who you guys just saw a little bit of. So Dean reached out to me probably a month or two ago asked if I could come speak. We have a basketball camp here every summer. It's been going on since I've been in like third grade. For most of you as I know, I played basketball my whole life. I played 15 years still like my first true and only love. I like lifting weights. I love coaching people. I love helping people. I like fitness, but I love basketball. So yeah, I think he asked me last year, but I want to say me and Connor were on the road in Texas or something. So I had to decline this year. It worked out perfectly the day before we're heading down to LA. He asked me to come out. I was nervous to be honest. Even those kids and kids don't really judge you. They don't even know like what a good speaker is or not a good speaker. I want to make an impact on Dean, want to compliment Dean. I want to maybe touch one of the older kids to let them know whatever they're going through is going to be okay. You know, they're probably some six, seventh, eighth, maybe some freshmen in high school. Let them know some of my lessons and maybe they can take something from that. I had, I learned a lot of hard lessons in basketball, you know, the normal stuff that people preach about, but I truly learned it like discipline, balance, teamwork, leadership, coaching, communication. I all learned on basketball. This school taught me a lot. I'm very, very grateful even though I absolutely hated school. That's why I dropped out of college, but Dean was literally the first one to ever even put it in my ear about consistency, about discipline, about showing up, about being something greater than yourself. Be a part of something greater than yourself. Just trying to be a part of something greater than yourself and all these things just have to do with intent and you trying. It's not always possible to be the leader. It's not always possible to be the star. It's not always possible to even be a part of some of the bigger yourself, but as long as you're trying to be a part of something bigger than yourself, that's as small and as direct as being the rebounder on a basketball team, being the point guard or the shooting guard on a basketball team, but it's so much broader in our day and age. Just trying to come up with solutions rather than problems, trying to not live in an echo chamber and trying to relate to other people, having empathy, having to be able to communicate properly with multiple people from multiple backgrounds or multiple whatever. Basketball and lifting are so similar in that nature where you literally it's the same. Weights are the same here as they are in Russia. A basketball and a hoop are the same when it is in Russia. I've played with people that don't speak English and just based on hand signals or just knowing basketball we could play together just fine and play great and that's something awesome about humans and communication and sport in general and then the next level is if you can take that sport, the discipline, the work day in and out, the grind and I know that's overdone on YouTube now. It's sad that you know people butcher the shit out of motivation and the grind because there's something so pure raw and true about the grind coming in and doing the work day in and day out, doing things the right way day in and day out, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, year after year, long term, year after year, good will come. My kind of talking there was similar to the podcast I had with Jim McD. I think you guys should check that out and how he was talking to me about this stuff and the questions Jim really made me reflect on these times is I was so into me going to the NBA and that's all I ever had in my mind and I guess Dean stated it better for myself than I did because he knows me so well. He coached me for four years varsity level and then I coached with him for five years but he knew me for about 10 and he knew me through really crucial points in my life. High school years are really crucial and then what I didn't want to talk too much in there is my best friend passed away and he was the best player on our team with me and his jerseys in there hung up. That happened right as I graduated college and then a couple years later my dad passed away who Dean was very close to and was very close to the community. My best friend's mom passed away who worked here and was a big part of the community. Another teacher and one of my best friend's dad who was the principal of the school passed away and then one of my favorite players that I coached here ended up committing suicide and passed away. So we just had a years like probably four years right there where we lost so much in this community and I lost so much in my life I had I don't know I don't want any pity and I don't want anything I'm just saying like I don't know how many people have gone through something like that so it really changed my perspective and it brought the community so much closer even though I haven't talked to Dean in six years it's like I never left and basically what he stated about me is what I understand about myself is I'm such a weird mix of setting the bar so high for myself you know shoot shoot through the moon and land on the star or some shit like that but like I literally only thought I was going to the NBA I had no other oh I'm gonna be a veterinarian if I want or I'll do a businessman or oh I'd like to be a teacher I never had that in my mind I was going to the NBA yet I was so scared um I wasn't scared to commit or put in the work I was just so scared of failure so it was like this weird like I'm all in but I don't know what what what's going to happen and I think that's a little bit of everything and for me it kind of comes with an unsatiable need for success and to grind and to be the best and to prove that I'm the best and that's just me being a self-aware that's not even bragging that's where kind of the ego and whatever comes in that I I still deal with to this day but it used to be so bad it used to be so bad make me a dickhead and I'm grateful for Dean obviously my parents but this school is community my best friends parents all my best friends for dealing with dickhead Mike for over the years and allowing me to see that allowing me to grow through that about to turn 30 in a couple weeks and I'm I joke about being old I'm not I don't feel that old I feel great still physically and mentally but it does have me reflecting a lot and coming back here I think was the perfect wrapped up to my 20s to be able to come back feedback to these kids reminisce a little bit about my childhood and what the school meant and taught to me what it still means and hopefully it means that to a lot of people basketball was the heart of the school is the best sports program at the school and while the rain I was there we were some of the best teams that have ever come through the school and hopefully that can really still thrive in your community or this community and you guys can hopefully learn a little bit about the grind through living it living it you can't talk about the grind you can't I can't even express it to you which every other YouTuber tries to do and every other fitness entrepreneur but we really try to I live it and I try to lead by example and that's part of the lessons I learned here if I if I want someone to die for loose ball on this team I have to be the first one diving for every single loose ball and I was that's something I'm I can say hands down I'm proud of and I don't know I'm just rambling now but it's good to be back it's good to talk to the kids it's good to be around basketball see some of the kids I even coach a little Kara I don't know if she's on camera but she's someone I coached and strength conditioning on my very first gym when I started it as well as in basketball a little bit so it's really cool me and Connor are going to go get some food time to pack up the car and head to LA so appreciate everybody for kicking in with me appreciate little shot down memory lane my dreams and hopes here's a basketball player a lot of lessons learned I've even told Dean and it's truly what I feel on the inside is I'm still more of a basketball player than I am some powerlifter the culture the nature of it everybody here I feel like a basketball player and I always always live that always love that so appreciate you guys again new videos Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Saturday Sunday my name is Mike find me on twitch every sunday through Thursday silent my two k's and the number two we're out here catch the next one