Nick Graham's Blog

As a basketball coach, trainer, and mentor, what breaks my heart the most is when athletes quit because they don't want to handle the smoke that stands between them and their goals. 

It saddens me and moves me to tears because I know that if they choose to be tougher than their tough times, they have enough God-given talent and ability to overcome any smoke that any haters on earth or devil in hell throw at them. But, I also know by giving up prematurely, they have made it much more difficult for those close to them who are coming up behind them. 

On the other hand, if they were to hang in with hope and fight through the pain and shame, they would succeed and, more importantly, be someone's much-needed Elizabeth. Every uNderdog needs an Elizabeth to stand tall and push through to comfort and convict them as they apply their God-given abilities to produce miraculous results. 

In the book of Luke, Elizabeth was old, had no kids, and was believed to be too advanced to birth a child. Her never having children caused her great shame and pain.

 Much like He did through Sarah in the Old Testament, God performed a miracle pregnancy through Elizabeth. Elizabeth would go on to birth John the Baptist, who was "great in God's eyes even before his birth." 

Later in Luke, Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, visits Mary, the virgin. His visit was to assure her that the Lord was with her and that she was chosen to give birth to the Son of Man, Jesus. 

As Gabriel gave her the news that she was going to miraculously birth a Miracle, Jesus, she was terrified. To convince and convict her that the Lord was with her and working through her, Gabriel shared with her the miracle God was doing through her relative, Elizabeth.

God had performed a similar miracle through Sarah back in the day, but Gabriel did not mention that. Instead, with intention, he referenced the miracle performed by one that was close to her, Elizabeth. 

After sharing her homegirl's miracle, God's messenger, Gabriel, told Mary that God's word will never fail. The combination of her seeing what God was doing for her friend, Elizabeth, and Gabriel sharing that God don't miss, it was enough to remove any fear or doubt from Mary. She went on to birth a miracle that had never been seen before and has not and will not be replicated after, in birthing Jesus despite being a virgin. 

As mentioned, Elizabeth's journey had a purpose: to endure the stages of pain and shame to eventually birth a miracle that would inspire her relative Mary to push forward and be used to forever change the world.

If you are going through the smoke, and it's so tough that you are considering throwing in the towel, don't! As mentioned earlier, I need you to be tougher than your tough times, and do you know why? Because your ability to endure the pain and shame before God performs His miracles through you is your Elizabeth moment! Our Elizabeth moments are not for us but done through us to provide our teammates, friends, family, co-workers, and social media followers with an example. Our Elizabeth-inspired model will fuel them to keep going with courage and conviction and not give up on their miraculous God prematurely. 

Keep going, y'all, God is using you, and He is with you and through the Holy Spirit, is in you. I'm so proud of us, and we should all be honored that God sees past our flaws and failures to allow us to be Elizabeth's in the lives of those we ❤️.

Power 💭:

*Behind every Mary, there is an Elizabeth.

*Have you recognized and appreciated the Elizabeth-like people that came before you? Those people, who, if not for them, you would not have had the courage and hope to push through? Have you expressed your appreciation for them? If not, there is no time like the present!

*Are you accepting your assignment as God's chosen trailblazer so that you can be used as someone's Elizabeth, so God can refer to your journey as their blueprint so that they can push through full hope and conviction, like Mary as she gave birth to a Miracle?

🔗 Tap In ➡️ and  read `Luke 1: 1 - 38

When we listen to gossip, we risk knowing and defining someone by their worst action without any context.

*Even if the gossip is true, it probably isn't accurate*  - I firmly believe that good people have bad moments, just as evil people have kind moments. So when you open yourself up to receive gossip about another, even if it is true, you could simply be hearing about the absolute worst moment of an absolutely amazing person. And because you allowed yourself to listen to the gossip, you mislabel them, which prevents you from adding value to your life by doing life with an extraordinary friend.

As a sports fan, I know it's hard in our world, but imagine if sports were not televised and there were no highlights to access. Let's say I could not go to the Warrior's first playoff game this past season. They played the Nuggets and Steph Curry only played 22 minutes, did not start, and was 5 of 13 from the field. 

If I were to have someone who went to the game tell me about Steph Curry's performance because (for example's sake) I had never seen him play in person. He'd probably tell me that Steph was nothing special, just a solid bench player. If I were to tell my friend who went to the game that I had read, Steph was one of the best to do it and the best shooter of all time. After laughing in my face, his response would be that there's no way he is an all-time great, he's not even the best player on the team, and he's a bench guy. Otto Porter Jr. plays more than he does (Porter Jr. played 25 minutes to Steph's 22), and he saw with his own eyes that he's just another solid NBA player.

As a result of what I heard, I would never attempt to go see Steph play. Instead, I would probably take what my friend told me and accept it as law (and share it with others as well). My friend did not share with me in this example that this was Steph Curry's 1st game in over a month. He still was not 100 percent from a nasty foot injury. He was on a minutes restriction to avoid reinjury, and being the team-first player he is, he did not want to start and disrupt the team's chemistry. 

Steph went on to lead Golden State to the championship, which was his fourth. He won the Western Conference and NBA Finals MVP and averaged 27 points per game. 

Circling back to the point, I want to make that what was told to me was not a lie but inaccurate because the context was not attached. My imaginary self in this fictitious story would have missed out on witnessing the greatness of "Chef" Curry. In real life, I wonder how many people we have missed out on experiencing the awesomeness of due to receiving inaccurate gossip without context? 

To all that I have allowed, the toxicity of accepting gossip to prevent me from seeing, appreciating, and benefiting from you and all of your love, kindness, joy, peace, goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness, I am so sorry; thank you in advance, for your forgiveness. I will also forgive myself and accept the mercy provided to me as I learn from my past mistakes, and I pray you do as well.

🥊Going through it? Just know you are fighting from victory and not for it! 

🥊God’s favor is our cheat code.

🥊I’m old enough to have played an old-school video game called Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out.

🥊Obviously, it was a boxing game, and with each match won, the next match was more challenging. 

🥊In the first match against Glass Joe, everyone won. Like most kids my age, I spent a lot of time playing Punch-Out, and I have never seen anyone lose to Glass Joe. 

🥊As you advanced, however, there were some fighters that when my friends and I fought them, we played rarely won. 

🥊During the rare times that we could win against the tough opponents on Punch-Out, we’d advance to the title bout against the most feared boxer of all time, Iron Mike Tyson!

🥊No one ever beat Tyson; in fact, no one came close to beating Tyson. So, similar to Tyson in his real matches at the time, we were just happy to make it out of the first round. 

🥊All that changed for my boys and me when word got around school that someone had secured the cheat code to beat Tyson. 

🥊Once the word got out that there was a cheat code, we were willing to risk it all to get the code. If we were late to class or got caught talking in class and got in trouble, securing this cheat code was well worth it because we had no chance to conquer the game without it. 

🥊Once I secured the code, as I played the game, my mindset shifted from playing for victory to playing from victory. With my code, victory was already promised. 

🥊As we navigate through the challenges, mistreatment, darkness, and adversity that living life aggressively presents itself, I want to remind you that we, like me and boys playing Tyson’s Punch-Out, have a cheat code that empowers us to fight and live from victory and not for it.

🙏🏾I pray that you open your hearts and know that you serve the same God who was with His oppressed people of Israel in Isaiah 43. The Lord who created you says this: Don’t be scared. I got you! I know you personally; in fact, I made you; you are mine! I am with you when you are in over your head, and the waters are deep! Your troubles will not overwhelm you. In the midst of a fire, you will not be burned. The most challenging trails can’t break you, and do you know why? Because I am your God. You are precious to me, and I will do whatever is required to save your life simply because you mean that much to me. I know it is a lot to take in, but I, the Lord of the universe, love you that much - so don’t be afraid because I am with you!  

🙏🏾I also pray that you know the power of the Holy Spirit; Jesus gifted you that lies within you is the same spirit that was in Him when He endured and overcame death! This is why it matters not what battle you have to fight. Your victory is already secured, so long as you activate your cheat code. 

📖Philippians 2:13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

📖John 14:20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

📖Matthew 6:33 Seek the Kingdom of God[ a ] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

📖Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.

📖Galatians 5:16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

📖Galatians 5:22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

📖Romans 5:5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

- Cheat Code activated!!!

God sees you getting overlooked and wants you to know that it matters not if the whole world overlooks your commitment, loyalty, talent, and positive energy. Be assured that while they overlook you, He will never stop looking over you, and as long as He's looking over you, you won't lose.

Dame Lillard, aka Dame Dolla, once told a story of when he was playing on his summer team in high school. Dame was matched up against the top players in the country while playing in front of the nation's top coaches and scouts, including Roy Willams of North Carolina.

Dame cooked the other team's top players, which is a surprise to none of us now; however, at the time, he was an unknown hooper from the bay and was frequently overlooked.

After the game, he assumed that because he cooked, there was no way he could continue to be overlooked. I'm sure he thought his phone with be blown up with coaches and scouts trying to recruit him. Unfortunately, Dame, despite killing the competition, was still slept on, and his phone remained dry, as none of the top coaches reached out.

While Dame was disappointed and frustrated, he never stopped showing up; he remained 10 toes down and played with supreme confidence knowing he was him. Him being that dude known today as Dame Dolla, one the coldest point guards in the game, a multi-time all-star who and one of the top 75 players in the history of the NBA!

There is a temptation to lose confidence, downsize our dreams, and second-guess ourselves and our God when we get overlooked. When that temptation arises, remind yourself of Dame's story, which teaches us:

We are all capable of getting overlooked, even by competent people. Roy Willams is a hall of fame coach who coached Micheal Jordan, and Paul Pierce, amongst several other NBA legends, yet he overlooked Dame. If Dame can get overlooked, we all can.

Regardless of how many dismiss you, it can't stop you from reaching your destiny so long as you never lose hope of who you are destined to become and, like Dame, remain supremely confident knowing that you are that dude or that girl!

In the Bible, God frequently looked over the overlooked! But, what gave them the swag and hope to keep showing up despite near-impossible odds was that they remained tapped into God.

Because of their genuine, personal and frequent relationship with God, He'd assure them of affirmations such as:

- what He promised King Johsophat, I'll fight the battle on your behalf (2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

-what He promised Joshua, I'll turn over your enemies to your right hand like (Joshua 10:7-20)

-what He promised Daniel, I'll reveal secrets that will allow you to be promoted from a zero to hero. (Daniel 2:16-22) & (Daniel 2:27 - 28)

In each of these Biblical instances, they were all overwhelmed and overlooked. But when God gave them their good word, they, much like Dame, overcame being overlooked.

I want you to know that God has a good word for you, too. But, to hear, you must invest in your genuine, personal and intimate relationship with God.

2 Chronicles 20

Joshua 10

Daniel 2

Stay Encouraged--> Purchase God X Basketball on Amazon here Stay Tapped in with Nick Here If you need Nick's support athletically or otherwise his DM's are open!

😤 I don't lose. I learn.

🗣Talk your talk Ced!

⛹🏽‍♂️My boy and my former teammate Ced Clark, who is now a senior VP for Wal-Mart, told me that the other day.

🧗He told me that was one of the ingredients that allowed him to climb the corporate ladder, from an hourly employee to senior executive for one of the world's most profitable and recognizable brands.

🔑Ced told me his mantra allowed him to transition from being careful to being dareful.

❗️He explained that he knew to make the underdogs climb from where he was to where he desired to go required him to learn many lessons, and many of the lessons he needed to know required him to fail.

💡As long as he was being "careful," he'd never learn the lessons needed, but once he committed to being "dareful," he began to climb up the ladder. 

🤜🏾🤛🏾Let's all steal Ced's recipe for smashing success and commit to being dareful.

📶Drake rapped in Pound Cake, "you know you're real when you are who you think you are." Much the same, you know you're real when you are who you tweet you are (or post, tweet flowed better).

‼️ What I mean by that is that so many conform to what they may be called to change in the social media space.

🖨I refuse to be the ol' head that thinks social media is toxic and needs to be canceled. While social media is often harmful and can be a distraction, it can also be used for good such as inspiring, encouraging, and celebrating others along with expressing yourself by allowing your one-of-a-kind light to shine on the world around you.

🔦For that light to shine and for you to utilize your social media influence and platform, I encourage you to post you, the real you, the you that God made for you to be.

🗣The way I see it, when God made you, He customized you as His 1 of 1, and if that's the case when I see you be it in social media or in real life, I should see something I haven't quite seen before.

🤝Challenging and encouraging you to embrace the "1 of 1-ness" that God has gifted you with and calling on you to (positively) change what you have been conforming to.

😱I know it can be intimidating to be unique, but that's what you were created to be. So as you commit to pursuing your uniqueness, keep in mind what Deion Sanders said in his hall of fame speech. "People don't condone what they have never seen, and things I was created to do they had never seen."

🅿️If Deion had been bothered by others' approval, he would have never gone on to be the best defensive back in the history of the world. Makes me wonder what you could go on to do if you, like Deion, become your great and unique self unapologetically.

🥶4th quarter Kobe was sumn' different. The deeper the game went into the 4th, and the bigger the stakes, the more clutch Kobe was.

🐍It mattered not if Kobe was having a good game or not, if it were late in a pivotal game, Kobe would go into MAMBA mode and deliver when it mattered most.

❗️As you celebrate Kobe be comforted in the fact that 4th quarter Kobe translated off the court.

❤️When you look at the 4th quarter of Kobe's life, much like on-court Kobe, he went into MAMBA mode, and dominated not only when it mattered most, but also what mattered most.

Kobe spent the last years of his life:

 🏀mentoring athletes

 ❤️being a loving husband

 ⛹🏼‍♀️⛹🏽‍♀️⛹🏿‍♀️empowering young women through basketball

 👶🏽👧🏽👱🏾‍♀️👩🏽‍showing the world what it means to be a #girldad & raising 4 beautiful princesses

He spent the last 24 hours of his life thriving in the clutch:

  👸🏽He went on a daddy-daughter date with one of his young princesses.

  ⛪️He attended church

⛹🏼‍♀️⛹🏽‍♀️⛹🏿‍♀️He was en route to empower, support, & give his knowledge to another one his princess, Gigi, as well as her teammates.

 🐍🐍During the 4th quarter of Kobe's life He did what Kobe does, delivered a clutch performance when the stakes were the highest.

⏲As a player, Kobe had the luxury of looking at the game clock to determine when he needed to go into MAMBA mode.

🙌🏾In his life's journey, Kobe had no clock to indicate when the final buzzer would sound. Fortunately, he was doing what mattered most & what pleased God; loving his family, serving God's children, & spending time in the presence of God.

👀His fame, athletic achievements & net worth could not keep him on Earth for even a half of a second longer than when God arranged for Him pass over into eternity.

⚠️Same goes for us. Only God knows if you are in the 4th quarter of your life, or not. To ensure we deliver in the 4th, we have to operate every day in "Mamba mode," so when the buzzer sounds, we, like Kobe will be clutch when it matters most doing what matters most, which is, living in a way that's pleasing to God.

And 1: Throughout the day today, call a few 'timeouts" and devote time to enjoying life with the people in your life that matter the most.

Drop a dime: Find a friend and develop a plan that will allow you both to commit to your grind, but also make time to enjoy life with your friends and family.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that we, like Kobe in the 4th quarter of his life, dominate what matters most. It's so easy to get carried away with the daily grind and compromise making quality time with our loved ones. We ask you, God, to give us the balance needed to make time for what matters most. Also, we remain in continued prayer for the healing, strength, and comfort for the families of; Kobe and Gianna Bryant, John, Alyssa, and Keri Altobelli, Sarah and Payton Chester, Christina Mauser, and Ara Zobayan.

❗️Experiencing the fruits of a God-led life is similar to playing with a great player.

⛹

Don’t be ashamed of your emptiness; instead, view it as the ideal condition to be filled with God’s peace.

⛽️You cannot put gas in a tank that’s already full!

The greats are wired different. 

Despite all they have accomplished, they have a humble spirit within them that reminds them that they will never become too great to be coached. 

Peyton Manning is one of the best QB’s to ever do it. In the enclosed clip, Manning makes it clear that he wants to be coached. 

He passionately states that when he does not get coached, it frustrates him.

God has blessed me to be exposed to many great athletes and, like Manning, the embrace being coached up.

As it relates it you, are you frustrated when you get coached hard, or have you tapped into your great DNA and expect and embrace hard coaching like Manning and all of the great athletes I have been exposed to?

Statment of humility: No matter how much I accomplish, I will always need my coaches to push me.

And 1: When great people reach greatness, they aspire to be even greater.