Jamy Bechler

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

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Jun 08 2023

Adrian Griffin’s Preparation Pays Off

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” (Thomas Edison)

Adrian Griffin was hired as the head basketball coach of the Milwaukee Bucks just two years after the Greek Freek (Giannis Antetokounmpo) led the team to an NBA World Championship.

His path to becoming the head coach was less conventional than we’ve come to expect, but there are some lessons from Adrian’s story that we can learn from.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, News, Personal Growth, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Adrian Griffin, Basketball, basketball coach, Basketball Coaching, Coaching Search, Developing Players, dwane casey, Fred Vanvleet, head coach, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Persistence, Seton Hall University, Success is a Choice, Toronto Raptors, University of Illinois, Work Ethic

Jan 12 2023

Emmy Award Winning Broadcaster Michele Tafoya

Michele Tafoya is a former American sportscaster winning four Emmy Awards. From 2011 to 2022, she was a reporter for NBC Sports, primarily as a sideline reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football. Today, she hosts the “Sideline Sanity” Podcast and makes television appearances on talk shows discussing the state of American politics and culture.

Click here to see more about Michele

Click here to watch the interview on YouTube

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • Broadcasting big events
  • Asking the right questions
  • Her “Sideline Sanity” podcast
  • What makes Al Michaels so good
  • Qualities that the best coaches share
  • How athletes should use their platforms
  • … and much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Personal Growth, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: CBS sports, Clark Kellogg, Dan Patrick, Emmy, ESPN, Jeff Hoffman, Kara Lawson, Kaya Jones, Mike Lombardi, MLK, Monday NIght Football, NBA, NFL, Nicole Arbour, Olympics, Rachel Cruze, Sports Broadcaster, Sue Enquist

Oct 20 2022

The Draymond Green Punch

You’ve probably seen (or at least heard about) the video of Draymond Green punching Golden State teammate, Jordan Poole, during a practice last week. There are lots of opinions about what should or shouldn’t have happened to Draymond.

🔊 Click here to listen to the audio version of this article

Anytime something like this happens I always wonder how would you respond and what would you do in your position.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Personal Growth, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Bad Teammates, Basketball Player, Culture, Discipline, Draymond Green, Fighting, golden state warriors, Good Teammates, Handling discipline, Jordan Poole, NBA, Punch, Punishment, Steve Kerr, Suspensions

Aug 04 2022

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.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Adam Silver, Bill Russell, Boston Celtics, champion, Championships, Hard Work, Jackie Robinson, John Wooden, kareem abdul-jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Legacy, mental toughness, mentality, MLK, Most Valuable Player, Motivational Quotes, NBA, NCAA, Olympics, Racial Issues, rebounding, Red Auerbach, San Francisco, Social Justic, Teamwork, Tim Duncan, Win the Day, winning

Jun 15 2021

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!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Personal Growth, Podcast Episodes, Sports · Tagged: Alan Stein, Basketball, draft, draft combine, G-League, Jake Kelfer, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, magic johnson, Melissa Agnes, Motivational Speaker, NBA, Networking, Pro basketball, professional basketball, professional speaker

Mar 18 2021

Episode 163: Bret Burchard, former G-League Coach

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Bret Burchard is the co-founder of the mindset development company ChampionShift and co-author of “Catching Confetti: Developing the Mindset of a Champion.” He helps athletes and coaches tap into mental states to improve their confidence and resilience. He coached in the NBA for 10 seasons, all with the Phoenix Suns, most recently as the head coach of their minor league affiliate. 

Click here for Bret’s Wikipedia page.

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • Ignoring Justin Timberlake
  • Why some players are in the NBA and some aren’t
  • What makes a great coach
  • How athletes can have a championship mindset
  • What “catching confetti” means
  • … and so much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Adrian Griffin, basketball coach, Bret Burchard, Clark Kellogg, dwane casey, G-League, Greg Tonagel, Indiana Wesleyan, Mindset, NBA, Phoenix Suns, Taylor University, Todd Gongwer

Jan 05 2021

Bet on Yourself

Fred VanVleet got paid. I mean HE GOT PAID!

FVV’s contract of 4-years $85 million might not be the largest contract in NBA history but it is the largest contract ever for an undrafted free agent.

Bet on yourself. That has been Fred’s mantra – his philosophy – for a long time. 

In fact, he even has his own Bet on Yourself apparel line.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Leadership, Personal Growth, Sports, Teams & Organizations · Tagged: Adrian Griffin, Basketball, Bet on yourself, champion, Contract, Demar Derozan, dwane casey, Entitled, Fred Vanvleet, FVV, Jamy Bechler, Leadership, Lorenzo Brown, March Madness, NBA, NCAA, Rex Kalamian, Salary, Toronto Raptors, Wichita State

Oct 26 2020

Episode 156: Outkick’s Jason Whitlock

 

Jason Whitlock is a longtime TV personality on both Fox and ESPN. He is now a partner with Outkick.com. The former Ball State University football player has been a fearless journalist throughout his career in sports media. He has written for such papers as the Kansas City Star and the Ann Arbor News, where he covered the University of Michigan. 

Click here for Jason’s bio on Outkick.com

In today’s episode, we discuss:
  • The state of sports media
  • Athletes using their platforms
  • Joining Outkick.com
  • Dealing with trolls online
  • … and so much more!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Sports · Tagged: Black Lives Matter, BLM, Clark Kellogg, Clay Travis, Colin Cowherd, Colin Kaepernick, Controversial, ESPN, Fox News, Fox Sports, Kaya Jones, Lebron James, NBA, NFL, Nicole Arbour, Outkick, OutKick the Coverage, Outkick.com, Protests, Social Justice, Social Media, Student-Athletes, Tucker Carlson, TV Personality

May 03 2020

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.

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Personal Growth, Sports · Tagged: basics, bored, chuck noll, fundamentals, Hard Work, Jon Beck, Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, Lakers, Leadership, Lebron James, Los Angeles, mamba, mentality, NBA, Nike, Practice, pure sweat, pure sweat basketball

Apr 27 2020

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!!!

[Read more…]

Written by Jamy Bechler · Categorized: Podcast Episodes, Sports · Tagged: Alan Stein, basketball coach, Basketball Coaching, Coaching Clinic, DI player, Ganon Baker, Grind, Grit, Jon Beck, Juco, Kobe Bryant, mental toughness, MJ Baker, NBA, NCAA, Nike, pure sweat, Skill Development, Skills Trainer, Student-Athletes

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