Coach Eric Musselman is always working to find articles for us that help us as coaches and like Kobe -- he has great range -- find this article in a Korean newspaper. It is a great article to share with your players because it talks about how Ron Harper became a championship player by understanding, learning, and accepting his role.Here is part of that article:
Through the first eight seasons of his career, Harper was a good player on two bad teams with the Cavs and later the Los Angeles Clippers. Ron Harper eventually decided he wanted to play for a winner, even if it meant a reduced role. Harper joined the Bulls just as Michael Jordan returned to the court after a brief retirement. When he arrived, Chicago coach Phil Jackson asked Harper to focus on defense.
"I lost a lot,'' said Harper, who saw his points-per-game drop from 20 to 6.9 when he left the Clippers for the Bulls in 1994. "But I wasn't disappointed about changing my role ― never, ever.''
Harper explained that he had matured as a player, and his goals had changed.
"When you first start playing basketball, you play for yourself at first. But as the years go on, you want to win a championship. As a kid you watch every team that wins a championship… and ultimately it's not about what you do, it's what the team does.''
"I knew that I was a good basketball player but I did not win a lot of games,'' Harper said of his time with the Cavs and Clippers. "To win the championship was my dream when I was growing up. But the only way to win a championship was to get to a good basketball team. You can score all the points you want on a team that's not going anywhere, but I wanted to go somewhere.''
As a player on teams with prolific scorers like Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan, Harper didn't get the chance to take a lot of shots.
"I could score but it wasn't my role. My role was to pass the ball to the good players. You learn that it's all about playing team basketball. I didn't score points, but I helped the team win.''
"I played with the best player of all time. He's going to shoot more than me. I know I have to get the ball to him.'
'Harper remembered his first meeting with Jackson.Phil asked me, "how am I going to help this team" and I said "my job is to be a defensive player." and he said "you're going to play a lot then," Harper said."I knew what he wanted me to do, and I did it."
Here is the entire article: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2009/05/136_45621.html
