To be the best doesn’t mean you’re flawless. Sports’ biggest stars have reiterated that time and again, with Michael Jordan dropping one of his most iconic lines regarding the same, one that has been used as inspiration by countless looking to adapt a similar winning mentality. NBA stars over the years have followed that mantra, including Shaquille O’Neal.
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MJ’s quote doesn’t include his success. But his failures. It was part of a Nike commercial, and it said, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
It’s something the best in the NBA can relate to. Stephen Curry hasn’t made every three he’s ever attempted. He’s roughly missed more than 50% of the shots taken, but still, he’s regarded as the greatest shooter ever. Those missed attempts are to be taken as lessons, and Shaq, 26 years after Jordan’s Nike mic-drop, said something on similar lines.
The Lakers legend, in a conversation with Thought Economics, stated that before succeeding, one must be okay with the idea of failing. That’s what great athletes do.
“If you keep repeating the same thing, you’re always going to fail, you need to adjust… what people like about great athletes is that we adjust on the fly,” O’Neal said. “We adjust on the fly, and we learn to adjust. We have to look at failures and use them as an educational tool.”
O’Neal had a simple advice that not only athletes, but anyone chasing a goal can use as motivation. “Why did you fail? … oh, you did this, this, and that…. Next time, do it differently!” the big man said.
Superstars like Jordan and Shaq faced their share of challenges and roadblocks. They’ve not succeeded at everything they’ve tried. Jordan, for instance, after conquering basketball, wanted to become a pro-MLB player, but couldn’t make it past the minor leagues. So he returned to the Bulls, swallowing the fact that he had failed to realize that dream, and added to his legacy in the NBA.
Perhaps that’s why the “failure” commercial made by Nike made so much sense with Jordan as the face. It was shot in 1997, when MJ won his fifth ring. The following year, he would add another to his collection.
Shaq, too, has had to deal with his own demons. He was as dominant a center as they come, but not everything always went his way.
Drafted overall by the Orlando Magic in 1992 and later traded to the Lakers in 1996, O’Neal got swept five times between 1992 and 2000 — once in the Finals. He was an All-Star and one of the league’s best but that ring he so desperately craved, remained out of reach until the 1999-2000 season.
Shaq won the MVP, the Finals MVP and also his first NBA championship. He would add to his ring collection again in 2001, 2002, and then 2006 (the last one with the Miami Heat). How did he overcome adversity? He remained patient, and learned from it. That’s a lesson we could all use.
