In this episode Jon Gordon interviews Coach George Raveling. Quoteables below.
George, in his 80's at the time of this recording, is a living legend. He is Nike’s former Director of International Basketball and the first African American head basketball coach in the PAC-8 (now PAC-12).
Coach Raveling has held head coaching jobs at Washington State, The University of Iowa, and USC. Following a prolific basketball coaching career, he joined Nike at the request of Phil Knight, where he played an integral role in signing a reluctant Michael Jordan. He’s also been inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as well as the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
During this conversation George shares his perspective on winning in sports, business and the game of life... as well as a fascinating story of how he came to possess the original copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Connect with George on Twitter @GeorgeRaveling or at CoachGeorgeRaveling.com
A few quoteables from this interview:
- Some people say "I don’t have time." No, all you have is time. It’s how you prioritize your time that matters.
- The problem is… we get into WHO is right and WHO is wrong vs WHAT is right and WHAT is wrong.
- Don’t be so focused on winning on the court that it blinds you from helping those you coach win off the court.
- The minute you think you’ve won, you’ve lost. - Phil Knight
- Every day I remind myself I am traveling on a path to BETTER.
- I ask myself every day: "What did I do today to make myself a better person today than I was yesterday?”
- I’ve always had this theory that, if you help enough people get what they want, you’ll always get what you want.
- Information = Knowledge Knowledge = Wisdom Wisdom = Opportunity