Jamy Bechler

Providing Insights on Leadership and Success. Coach Bechler is a John Maxwell Leadership Team Member.

The Greatest Champion

photo credit: Nonstop Sports (YouTube)

“Bill Russell was the greatest champion in all of team sports.” (Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner)

When the great baseball Hall of Famer and African American icon Jackie Robinson died in 1972, his widow called Boston Celtics player Bill Russell and asked him to be a pallbearer at her husband’s funeral.

Click here to listen to the 6-minute version of this article on the “Success is a Choice” podcast network.

When asked why, she responded that Russell had been Jackie Robinson’s favorite athlete.

All of the pallbearers were Jackie’s former teammates with the Brooklyn Dodgers, except for Bill Russell.

It’s likely that Bill Russell was Jackie Robinson’s favorite athlete – not because he was so athletic or talented – but because he was a champion, both on and off the playing court.

Many consider Bill Russell one of the greatest teammates of all time.

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Episode 170: Jake Kelfer, Professional Basketball Combine

Jake Kelfer is the 2x bestselling author of Elevate Beyond and Elevate Your Network, as well as a motivational speaker and the founder of Professional Basketball Combine. His first book Elevate Beyond, released in 2016, originally began as a series of blog posts for his friends and is a real-world guide to standing out in the job market and discovering your passion. Elevate Your Network, his follow-up book which was released in 2018, is all about how to build extraordinary relationships in life and business. His company, Professional Basketball Combine, provides NBA draft prospects an opportunity to raise their draft stock and achieve their dream of playing pro basketball through private workouts, combine testing and team interviews.

Click here to read more about Jake Kelfer.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • The greatest Laker of all-time
  • Who was the player he pretended to be for last-second shots
  • Being more important than Jerry West for 14 seconds.
  • Retiring on the same day as Kobe Bryant
  • What it takes to be an NBA player
  • … and much more!!!

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Basic Training

My friend Alan Stein, Jr. is considered one of the top performance coaches in the nation. For years he has worked with some of the best basketball players in the world. In fact, when I was a basketball coach, I used many of his conditioning drills for my teams.

He once told me about his first encounter with Kobe Bryant back in 2007 when he was in his prime and considered the best player in the world. Nike flew Alan out to the Kobe Bryant Skills Camp.

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Episode 144: Ganon Baker, Basketball Skills Trainer

Ganon Baker is regarded as one of the premier basketball skill coaches in the World. He has been around the game of basketball, the skill training business and the coaching world for over 30 years.

Since June 2001, Ganon has been traveling all over the globe impacting the game of basketball via player training, coaching clinics and coach mentorship. He has delivered knowledge filled with energy, passion, and love for basketball and people in 48 US states, 47 countries, 5 continents – while reaching over 10,000 coaches and players a year.

Ganon has trained players from the Professional level (NBA, WNBA, CBA, Euro League and more), collegiate level (NCAA, NJCAA, U Sport and more), high school and middle school levels. He also been a part of coaching clinics in front of over 20,000 coaches globally and his Ganon Baker Certification process has been earned by over 2,500 coaches worldwide.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • How kids can develop their game
  • What made Kobe Bryant so great
  • What coaches can do to better reach kids
  • … and so much more!!!

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Episode 141: Adrian Griffin, Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach

Available on 4/6/20

Adrian Griffin won a World Championship as the lead assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors in 2020. He played in the NBA from 1999-2008 after a stellar career at Seton Hall University. In 2010 he was inducted into the Seton Hall athletic Hall of Fame. Prior to serving as the Raptors lead assistant coach, he also spent time on the sidelines for Oklahoma City, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and the Milwaukee Bucks. Next year he’ll have each of his three children playing Division I basketball (Duke, UConn WBB, and Syracuse).

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • Winning the NBA Championship
  • Integrating a superstar into an existing team
  • How he got his start in coaching
  • Building a team that meshes and accepts their roles
  • What makes Coach K such a good coach
  • … and so much more!!!

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Episode 129: Pure Sweat Basketball’s Jon Beck

Jon Beck is a must-follow on twitter for coaches and athletes. After his stellar playing career at Division I Arkansas State University, he went on to have a successful career as both a boys and girls basketball coach in Tennessee. He has been trained at Nike Skills and Pure Sweat clinics and coaches academies and has worked Nike Elite camps and completed a summer internship in Los Angeles, CA for Drew Hanlen of Pure Sweat Basketball, where he has worked with several NBA players.

He now offers skills academies and team clinics, as well as individual and team training to players as a Skills Coach for Pure Sweat Basketball. Throughout his career, his focus has been on player development and skills coaching. His passion is to help players reach their full potential on and off the court. He is continually working to improve his craft as a coach, while developing great relationships with coaches and players.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • How to coach today’s athletes
  • What the best players do when they work out
  • Building a strong culture
  • Pure Sweat Basketball
  • … and so much more!!!

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Just Bring The Ship In

“Don’t tell me how rough the water is, just bring the ship in”.

I first saw this quote on Kobe Bryant’s twitter feed a few years ago as a “Mambo-ism”.  I don’t know who originally said this but I have said similar things for years.  Among them is the one quote that my players always rolled their eyes at ‘Don’t tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby.’

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