:05:00
And my advice would be
let them just enjoy the game.
:05:12
I think what they have to learn
more about at that young age...
:05:16
is their love for the game.
:05:18
And once they've developed that,
then the mental par is easy.
:05:32
I didn't really get instruction...
:05:34
until I was a junior in high school.
:05:37
First, I just loved the game
and I let my skills develop.
:05:45
So I believe in learning late...
:05:48
playing early, but learning late.
:05:52
Michael's love of the game was born...
:05:55
in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina.
:05:57
during long afternoons on the play grounds.
:06:02
His older brother, Lary,
helped Michael hone his game...
:06:04
in their epic battles of one-on-one
at their backyard hoop.
:06:07
But Michael's first hard lesson would come...
:06:09
when he tried out for the
varsity team at Laney High.
:06:12
When I was a sophomore in high school...
:06:15
like most high school kids...
:06:18
you get all the energy and all
the motivation and excitement...
:06:22
of making your varsity team,
which is a big thing.
:06:25
Status is a lot when you're in high school.
:06:28
So you can imagine
the disappointment that I got...
:06:31
when I felt like
I should have made the team.
:06:33
but then didn't make the team.
:06:35
I'm cying,
I lost my emotions totally.
:06:38
My mother came to me
and said,"Use that energy...
:06:41
"to prove to the coach and to your peers
and your classmates...
:06:47
that they made a mistake."
:06:48
You give it your best.
:06:51
You try so hard and you get to the point,
:06:53
"I know I can do it"
:06:54
And if you try one more time,
you are able to achieve it.
:06:57
It's going
one step farther.
:06:59
That's not giving up,
it's giving your best.