The Virtues of Being a Point Guard

Last weekend, I took my daughter, my sister, and her husband to the
National Constitution Center, where there is a special exhibit on
Benjamin Franklin, in honor of his upcoming 300th birthday. It was a
fun look at a fascinating man (or was it a fascinating look at a fun
man?). Everywhere you turned, you found out about something he
invented or founded or somehow helped get started – universities,
hospitals, insurance companies, fire stations, and the list went on
and on.

Another interesting aspect to Franklin's life was his sense of
morality; ironic, given that he was probably the sauciest of our
Founding Fathers. But everywhere you turned, there were quips and
sayings about things like temperance and honesty and thriftiness.

I didn't realize how much of a chess nut Franklin was. There were a
lot of chess references in the displays. I found online an essay he
wrote called "The Morals of Chess," in which he upholds chess as a
virtuous pastime because it teaches us so many things about how to
live a good moral life. The essay, though high-minded about morals,
is written in Franklin's easygoing manner. It extols chess as a way
to better living, and instructs chess players to play the game of
chess and the game of life in an honorable manner.

I found myself resonating with Franklin on a lot of things, including
his love of chess, his keeping of a scorecard on morality, and his
drive to always be productive with his time. In honor of Ben, I'd
like to pen a little essay of my own, in the same vein as "The Morals
of Chess." I call it "The Virtues of Being a Point Guard."

***

Basketball may seem like a trivial pursuit, or a physically beneficial
one at best. But it can do your mind and soul good, too. Since high
school, my natural position has been the point guard. At first, it
was because I was always the shortest person on the team. But later,
I learned that the point guard position suited me for more reasons
than my lack of height. And so I give you the virtues of being a
point guard.

First, the point guard is the extension of the coach on the court. Of
course, the players have to execute, but it's the coach that comes up
with the strategy that will determine if the team will win or lose.
And the point guard is the conduit between the strategy on the
blackboard and the success (or lack thereof) on the court. He or she
calls the plays, sets the formations, and even does some intangible
coaching on the floor – exhorting a teammate to trust her jump shot,
or chewing another teammate for being out of position. For those of
you who are God-believing, this is not a bad way to view your role in
life – to translate a winning strategy from on high into well-run
plays in between the lines, and to speak on God's behalf words of
encouragement and rebuke.

Second, the point guard has to see the whole floor. Other players
have to, too, but the point guard more so. In fact, the game to the
point guard is just a series of snapshots: where are the other nine
players, where are they going, and what are they going to do when they
get there. With each action that a point guard takes – passing the
ball to the left, dribbling the ball to the right, or simply standing
still waiting for other players to move – he or she is looking ahead
at what the snapshot will look like after the action is completed, so
that the next action can be performed. This kind of vision – to see
the whole floor, and to see snapshots of the future – is a pretty
useful skill in life and leadership.

Third, the point guard's job is to set other people up. I still
believe in this kind of point guard, not the kind that uses his or her
control of the ball to hoist up shots or drive wildly to the basket.
I love setting other people up: getting to know where they are going
to have the most success, and then helping dictate the sequence of
actions that will lead to me getting them the ball in that place and
time. The neat thing about this seemingly unselfish attitude is that
it is the most fulfilling thing. Even better, it becomes contagious:
everyone on the team, not just the point guard, starts to work to set
up each other for success. Teams in life would be much more effective
and fulfilled if they approached their work in this way.

So don't pooh-pooh b-ball playing as a waste of time. It might just
teach you a thing or two about life.