There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
Malcolm JenkinsRead
Once you look up, and it's Week 14 or 15, and it's crunch time, you can't all of a sudden turn on a switch and say, 'Hey guys, we have to step up and be brothers, be family.' That's stuff that is developed in the offseason, training camp, or throughout the season.
Interpretation
Building strong relationships takes time and cannot be rushed during critical moments.
Malcolm Jenkins emphasizes that the bond and camaraderie within a team are cultivated over time through consistent effort and shared experiences. Relying on sudden motivation or unity in high-pressure moments, such as during important games, is insufficient; true teamwork requires preparation and connection developed long before crunch time.
In practice
In a team meeting to discuss performance improvements heading into the playoffs.
There is nothing that says you can't be active and love your community and fight for your community and still do your job.
I grew up playing in the streets. We played two-hand touch from street pole to street pole. That's how I learned the game.
Our biggest thing is, any player who's protesting will tell you that the only reason we use the anthem is because it's a platform like no other. We use it to draw attention to other issues. We've heard from many people, 'Use a different venue. Use a different platform.' Quite frankly, this is the most effective one.
When I look at our communities, our country, our justice system, those are things I want to change and I'm committed to changing, and that's going to take sacrifice. Laying the foundation is the hardest part and requires a lot of sacrifice and time.
The people who have been unjustly disenfranchised by our criminal justice system and the people who daily fight for them always have, and always will be, the inspiration and focus of my efforts.
Communities of color have also had to watch video after video of unarmed black men and women being handled without regard for their lives or well-being. As a black man, I see these images, and I see myself; I wonder whether this will happen to me or one of my loved ones.
Basketball is a great mystery. You can do everything right. You can have the perfect mix of talent and the best system of offense in the game. You can devise a foolproof defensive strategy and prepare your players for every possible eventuality. But if the players don’t have a sense of oneness as a group, your efforts won’t pay off. And the bond that unites a team can be so fragile, so elusive.
The point of the game is not how well the individual does, but whether the team wins. That's the beautiful heart of the game, the blending of personalities, the mutual sacrifices for the group success.
I think that's the way we play our best cricket, when we're aggressive, we're in the fight together, we're hunting as a pack as one and we're working for each other and backing our mates up on the field. That's part of being an Australian, in my opinion.
I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.
My teammates have put me in all different kinds of positions to score goals, and I can't say it enough, and I really through and through believe it in my heart that I'm only as good as my teammates allow me to be.
I'm a part of a team, and I'm no better or any worse than any single player on this team. That's the approach I've always had and will continue to have. It's not about me. It has never been all about me. If it had, this would have been a really lonely journey.
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