Growing up, people will tell you that you have a better chance to become an astronaut than becoming an NBA player. So when you finally get to the NBA, you've beat the odds. So when you put on that jersey, everything else is downhill.
Interpretation
Success is achieved by overcoming difficult odds, and reaching your goals is a significant accomplishment.
Clyde Drexler's quote highlights the incredible odds faced by aspiring NBA players compared to other professions, like becoming an astronaut. It emphasizes that achieving a dream that many consider improbable is a profound success, and once that dream is realized, the challenges that follow seem less daunting in comparison.
In practice
During a motivational speech to youth aspiring to play basketball.
Going to the Portland Trail Blazers, who actually took the time to invest in me, was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me in my career. I got to a small market where I could focus on basketball, basketball, basketball. No distractions.
Every day, you're only as good as your last show.
I have seen business moguls achieve their ultimate goals but still live in frustration, worry, and fear. What's preventing these successful people for being happy? The answer is they have focused only on achievement and not fulfillment. Extraordinary accomplishment does not guarantee extraordinary joy, happiness, love, and a sense of meaning. These two skill sets feed off each other, and make me believe that success without fulfillment is failure.
But, hey I did everything the right way and earned my spot in this game, nothing was given to me.
When I talk about money. All you see is the struggle. When I tell ya, I'm livin' large, you tell me, its trouble.
Most years, if you were to ask me how much I make, the genuine answer is that I have no clue. I usually find out the answer to that question once a year, at tax time, when my accountant tells me.
Business is a game, and as with all games, the team that puts the best people on the field and gets them playing together wins. It's that simple.
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