The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Podcast with Ben Guest

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

For Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, being compassionate (to their teammates) was measured in teaspoons.

How did Jordan and Bryant go from individual scorers to NBA champions? The answer lies, partially, in a man named George Mumford (@gtmumford), a key figure in two of the NBA’s greatest dynasty’s, the Bulls of the ’90’s and the Lakers of the 2000’s.

In this conversation, author and journalist Roland Lazenby (@lazenby) and I discuss how Mumford’s mindfulness training served as a catalyst for peak performance.

Shaquille O’Neal (@SHAQ) said, “He’s our secret weapon.” Scottie Pippen (@ScottiePippen) said, “We’ve been ‘Mumified.’” Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) said he “saved” the Bulls’ season.

This conversation offers insight into what being “Mumified” means.

Roland Lazenby is a dean of NBA reporting. His book Michael Jordan: The Life served as one of the key texts for The Last Dance (@LastDanceBulls).

In this episode Roland and I discuss the following:

-George Mumford’s work with Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant.

-How Mumford helped Jordan and Bryant be more compassionate to their teammates.

-Phil Jackson on Michael Jordan: It’s those days between games that he’s really hard to live with.

-Phil Jackson versus Jerry Krause: He and Krause were in a war.

-Phil Jackson versus Jerry West: West said, “F**k Phil Jackson!”

-“There was a deep undercurrent of hatred of the Triangle.”

-Mike D’Antoni: They don’t teach the post anymore.

-Jordan: Man, I wish I’d met you a long time ago.

-The research and scholarship Roland has done on Black Americans in the South as a key component of his books about Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

-The state of the publishing industry.

-The story of Magic Johnson as a story of Black Power.

-Where would Kobe have gone to school?

-Tex Winter: The great difference between Michael and Kobe? UNC.

You can buy Roland’s books at all the usual places. In particular, I recommend Michael Jordan: The Life, which the New York Times called, “thoughtful, (and) extraordinarily well-­researched.”

If you are interested in the intersection of mindfulness and basketball, my book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, drops November 1st, as both print and e-book, exclusively on Amazon.

The “big idea” is the way we think about coaching sports is all wrong, coaching doesn’t have to be rooted in anger and intimidation and fear, and tools like meditation can super-charge learning and performance.

Here’s a photo of me coaching the team by not coaching the team.

Here are two “blurbs”:

You can read the first chapter of Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball here.

If you haven’t yet, please hit the “Subscribe now” button to stay up-to-date.

And please share this email/post with the coaches, players, and parents of middle-school and high-school athletes in your life. Thank you.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

It almost becomes innate how you tell a story.

Pete Croatto is a freelance writer and “idea vendor” (a term he borrowed from author Taffy Brodesser-Akner), based in Ithaca, New York.

His first book, From Hang Time to Prime Time, was published by Atria Books in 2020.

The New York Times writes that Mr. Croatto documents the broader cultures and social tensions of the modern NBA well.

In this episode Pete and I discuss the following:

* Why finding an agent and publishing a book is like falling in love.

* The benefits of joining the American Society of Journalists and Authors (@ASJAhq).

* “The dirty little secret (of marketing) is that you’re doing a lot of the work when the book comes out.”

* How he made his local, independent bookstore, Odyssey Books, his home base.

* The process of cold emailing media and podcasters. His “hit rate” from cold emails was 30%.

* How Larry O’Brien taking the job as NBA Commissioner in 1975 would be like Elizabeth Warren taking over the National Lacrosse League today.

* How O’Brien handled NBA owners by delegating and how David Stern served as O’Brien’s lead blocker.

* Our mutual appreciation of Robert Caro.

* How telling a story is like coiling a garden hose.

* How Leon Huff, of the legendary “Philadelphia Soul” musical production team Gamble and Huff, gave Pete a great metaphor for writing a good scene. Huff said, in song production, “that ding (of a bell) can be the difference between a good song and a great song.” It’s the same with the little details in your scene. Was O’Brien smoking Winstons or Camels? Did David Stern have eggs or oatmeal? The little details immerse the reader.

* You can find Pete on Twitter (@PeteCroatto).

* If you order directly from Odyssey Bookstore you can buy a signed copy of Pete’s book, From Hang Time to Prime Time.

Pete goes into detail about the process of finding an agent and getting a book deal. Here are the steps Pete took to publish his first book:

* Was a freelance journalist who wrote articles for various outlets, including a piece on Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.

* In his reporting for the article Pete started unearthing a bigger story about how the NBA went from a “rinky-dink” league to a global brand, primarily due to Larry O’Brien, Commissioner of the NBA, from 1975 to 1984.

* Pete’s editor at Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly), Mark Rotella (@MarkRotella), suggested Pete put together a proposal and Mark would send it to his agent.

* Spent a year on the proposal, which included an outline of each of the ten chapters, two completed sample chapters, and comparable books like Jeff Pearlman’s (@jeffpearlman) Showtime and Jonathan Abrams (@Jpdabrams) Boys Among Men.

* Agent never replied.

* Pete joined the American Society of Journalists and Authors (@ASJAhq).

* Attended an in-person 2017 ASJA event and pitched his book to a roundtable of agents

* One agent, John Bowers (@John_W_Bowers) at The Bent Agency (http://www.thebentagency.com/), was interested and agreed to represent Pete.

* A month later John left the agency BUT passed Pete on to a more experienced agent, Louise Fury.

* Louise shopped the book and it was acquired by Atria Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

* From proposal to book deal was five years.

Here’s the cover of Pete’s book:

Speaking of sports writing, my new book, Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, drops November 1st, as both print and e-book, exclusively on Amazon (it’s not available for pre-order as I want to maximize first day sales).

Pressure plays, buzzer-beaters, and mindfulness meditation: A team of teenagers goes for the championship in Namibia’s professional basketball league....

Here’s a photo of our team captain, Sepo Libana, 19 years old.

The “big idea” of the book is that he way we think about coaching sports is all wrong, that it doesn’t have to be rooted in anger and intimidation and fear.

Here’s the cover:

If you haven’t yet, please hit the “Subscribe now” button to stay up-to-date.

And please share this email/post with the coaches, players, and parents of middle-school and high-school athletes in your life.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Apple/Spotify

Every choice is a chance. Subscribe for weekly interviews.

The emotion is real. The logic is not.

In this bonus episode Andrés “Dre” Alvarez and I discuss the Season 2 Finale of Ted Lasso (and reference Ted Lasso fans Chris Yeh and Marshall Ramsey).

Dre and I talk:

-How justified is Nate? Has Ted actually neglected him?

-Keeley and Roy

-Sam and Rebecca (ugh)

-What can I learn here?

-Every choice is a chance.

-Cry because they existed. Cry because they’re gone.

And now, the interminable wait for Season 3 😢

You can follow Dre on Twitter here and sign-up for his newsletter here.

My book Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey, which Dre and I mention at the end, comes out Monday, November 1st, in both print and e-book.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Links: Apple/Spotify

The biggest lie we’ve been told is that playing from a place of anger improves performance.

Today’s episode is a conversation with Andrés Alvarez. Dre first came on the show way back in Episode 11 where we discussed meta-cognition, group think, poker, chess, and basketball.

Today’s conversation with Dre started when I posted an article about Ted Lasso. Dre suggested we do an episode where we discuss what makes a good coach and/or teacher, to which I readily agreed.

Like all of my conversations with Dre, on and off-air, this one took us to some fascinating places. We discuss:

-Why do coaches punish players by having them run laps, sprints, etc.?

-If the coach calls a play, and the players don’t execute the play, is it the fault of the coach or the players?

-The teaching philosophy of Dave Berri: Your job is to explain things.

-Chris Yeh’s thoughts on Ted as a knowledgeable soccer coach: Ted Lasso is unprepared to coach football.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Dre:

-Being stoic when things are going wrong is really good at pissing people off.

-If you’re going to be doing something highly emotional, highly volatile, lots of moving parts, you have to keep yourself calm.

-It’s really hard to grade someone on a task without knowing how difficult that thing is to do.

Dre has a Substack to which I encourage you to subscribe:

If you liked this episode Dre and I are going to record a Ted Lasso Season 2 recap that will drop Monday, October 11, 2021.

Please forward this to the Ted Lasso fans in your life and/or share on social media as that helps bring in subscribers to this newsletter.

Speaking of coaching, my book Zen and the Art of Coaching Basketball: Memoir of a Namibian Odyssey launches on November 1st.

A team of teenagers competes for the championship in Namibia’s professional basketball league... And a basketball coach discovers the power of meditation.

It will be up on Amazon on November 1st. If you’ve enjoyed the content here I hope you will support my work by buying a copy :-)

Podcast Links: Apple/Spotify

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

I was a zero in the literary universe.

Rwandan-born, Namibian-based author Rémy Ngamije (https://twitter.com/remythequill) shares his journey from “zero” to acquiring a literary agent and a worldwide book deal with Scout Press.

Rémy’s debut novel, The Eternal Audience of One, was published in August of 2021.

Here’s are the steps Rémy took to go from zero to published author:

* Wrote a novel.

* Googled literary agents AND Africa literature. Didn’t find anyone.

* Googled agents AND world literature.

* Submitted query letters.

* Rejected by everyone.

* Reached out to a South African author on Twitter. The author put Rémy in touch with a local South African Press, Blackbird.

* Blackbird agreed to publish Rémy’s. No advance.

* Blackbird encouraged Rémy to publish short stories in literary journals to get his name out there.

* Wrote several stories and submitted to various journals.

* Stories started getting picked up.

* “If you create an audience for some of your work you’ll find an audience for all of your work.”

* In his bio for the literary journals Rémy mentioned that he had a completed novel.

* Two years after having his query letters rejected Cecile Barendsma of Cecile B Literary Agency read one of Rémy’s stories and contacted him on social media about his novel.

* Cecile became Rémy’s agent and shopped his novel to US publishers.

* Because of his publishing history in various literary journals, Scout Press had the confidence to buy and publish Rémy’s debut novel from Blackbird Press.

* Rémy signed a book deal with an advance from Scout Press.

* Scout Press published The Eternal Audience of One, Rémy’s debut novel, in August of 2021.

Rémy is also the editor of the southern African literary magazine, Doek!, for African writers and those of African descent.

Podcast Links

Apple here.

Spotify here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Jasper “Julio” Johnson died on July 27, 2021, far too young at the age of 38. He left behind three children and one grandson.

I first met Jasper when he was a senior at Simmons High School in Hollandale, Mississippi. I was an English teacher and the assistant basketball coach under legendary George Willis.

We won a state championship that year and Jasper was a Dandy Dozen. He would go on to play at the University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University, and have a long professional career overseas, most notably in South Korea.

As great a basketball player as Jasper was, he was a far better person.To help process his passing, several of his teammates from that championship year and I got together via Zoom. My idea was that we could share memories of Jasper that his family, especially his three children, would appreciate. From there we started reminiscing about that championship season and Mr. Willis, who passed away in 2018.

My guests for the conversation were Larry “LB” Brown, Ricky Johnson, Pat White, and Jeremy “Me-Me” Smith.

Podcast Links

Apple here.

Spotfity here.

YouTube here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

This generation is more diverse and less tolerant of intolerance than any generation in the history of the United States.

Author Dave Zirin’s new book The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World is out this week.

In this conversation we talk:

* Did Jay-Z sell out when he partnered with the NFL

* The role of WNBA players in progressive movements

* The NBA response to the shooting of Jacob Blake

* Barack Obama squashing the NBA players strike

* Steve Kerr’s advice to let the youth lead

* Megan Rapinoe on the role of white people in activism: If someone is getting arrested, you should too.

* Eric Reid asking himself, “Am I living how Christ would want me to live?”

* Meeting Prince

Apple/Spotify

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

LeBron had a thirst for knowledge.

This is Part 2 of my interview with Scott Williams. Part 1 is here.

Scott played four years under Coach Dean Smith at The University of North Carolina. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning three championships with the Chicago Bulls.  In this Part 2 of our conversation we discuss:

* Why Allen Iverson is his least-favorite teammate of all-time

* The differing approaches LeBron James and Allen Iverson took as young players

* The questions LeBron James asked Scott about Michael Jordan

* Grant Hill and the playdates their daughters would have at Chucky Cheese

* Shaq offering to teach high-schoolers the art of free throw shooting

* Scott’s current job at Grand Canyon State University

Podcast Links

Apple here.

Spotfity here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

My life would have gone in a different direction had it not been for Dean Smith.

Scott Williams played four years under Coach Dean Smith at The University of North Carolina. He played for 15 seasons in the NBA, winning three championships with the Chicago Bulls.  In this conversation we discuss:

* Who is the GOAT, Michael Jordan or LeBron James?

* Is Phil Jackson racist?

* Scottie Pippen’s dunk over Patrick Ewing

* New UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis

* After a big UNC win, Scott’s favorite places to celebrate on Franklin Street

* The incomparable Dean Smith

Podcast Links

Apple here.

Spotfity here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

Children are being sorted into their place in the economy by the schools they are able to attend.

Buck Cooper is an 8th Grade math teacher. In this conversation we discuss:

* The behind the scenes work of teaching

* How leading a class conversation is like Tetris

* Seeing kids as the best version of themselves

* The Wire Season 4

* Our shared love of whiteboards

Podcast Links

Apple here.

Spotfity here.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com