The Point Guard Spirit 🏀
Leadership | Service | Kingdom Impact | Team Building | Basketball Faith
Power Thought: To have a servant's heart, you need to follow in the footsteps of the ultimate servant.
The Point Guard Standard 🎯 I have been blessed to faith-coach a handful of student-athletes at UC-Santa Barbara over the last few weeks. While I am not coaching, I have been able to watch the basketball team's practices.
Being that I was a point guard, that is still my favorite position. As you can imagine, when it comes to point guards, I have high standards for what it truly means to be a good point guard. When it comes to the position, I am old school, I like a point guard's point guard - Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Magic, Chauncey Billups, Stockton, Isaiah Thomas and from the new school, Mr. what-the-Hali, Tyrese Haliburton.
The Feel Factor 🔍 What those guys possess, along with the skills, is they have point-guard feel. There are a lot of people that can dribble and bring the ball up the court, hit an open shot and pass, despite those great skills, they are void of the point guard spirit and mentality.
Not that I was a great point guard like those NBA legends, but I did have the feel. I knew that my scoring wing had not touched the ball in three trips and if he did not touch it on the fourth trip he was going to check out, or, maybe even crash out. I knew that my big man was rim-running hard, and even though he did not touch the ball, he was the reason we scored three straight threes, so I made it point to acknowledge him in the timeout huddle so he would continue to fight for me. I knew not to advance pass it to my athletic teammate because he has two fouls and he lives in attack mode for better or worse and if I kick the rock up to him he is likely to pick up his third foul by driving out of control and picking up an offensive foul.
The Real Example 💫 As I have watched the UCSB team practice, what's been most enjoyable is watching Zachiah Clark, their freshman point guard. He is a point guard's point guard. Along with all the prerequisite skills, he has the feel! At the conclusion of one of our morning Bible studies, I asked him how he was able to develop the feel and spirit needed to play the position properly.
"ZZ," as he's called by his teammates, shared that like any other younger brother, he followed his older brother intensely and intimately growing up. His older brother just happens to be Skyy Clark, a decorated point guard that starts for UCLA. ZZ acknowledged that he followed the path of his brother which led to him developing his feel.
The Kingdom Parallel 👑 No different than a true point guard needs to have a point guard feel which is acquired by following the path intensely and intimately of a true point guard, like ZZ did in following his brother, a true servant needs to have a servant's feel - heart and spirit that can only be acquired by intensely and intimately following the footsteps of The True Servant.
Similar to a player that has the point guard skills, without following the path of an established true point guard, they will not develop the will and the feel. If we go out into the world and serve without following and being guided by Jesus, our acts of service will be hollow, self-serving and miss the mark!
The Divine Model 🙏🏾 Peep what Philippians 2:5 says, "follow the footsteps of Jesus… consider the example (of service) He set (as He served.)" If we are to follow Jesus' radical path of service, we will contradict the world's view on service, which is reactive, whereas Jesus was proactive.
Because of Jesus' feel for what we needed, no different than a good point guard in hoops, He knew He needed to serve us by sacrificing Himself beforehand and not after, as proven through Romans 5:8, that as it relates to us in 2025 says, God proved God's passionate love for us by dying in our place before we were even born because we are born lost and ungodly - proactive service.
The Proof 📊 As you digest this, consider what John 1:2-4 says, we prove we are intimately close to God, like ZZ proved he was close to his brother by walking in the footsteps of his big bro, Skyy, by following in the footsteps of Jesus.
If we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus, because we serve from a servant's heart and with a servant's spirit that gives us a servant's "feel" we will proactively serve, just as Jesus did.
The Application 🏆 What does it mean for you to proactively serve?
Maybe that means when you see your teammate missing shots in practice, you make twenty minutes after practice to get up extra shots with him, instead of waiting of him to sail the big game by missing the game winner, only to console him after the fact.
Maybe when your teammate goes through a tough break up, you make space and time and aid her to healthily cope, instead of her isolating and turning to substance, alcohol, a unhealthy, yet numbing rebound relationship.
Maybe you educate yourself on the signs of hidden depression and reach out to your teammate that is secretly crying out for help before it's too late and they take their life just as former LSU football player, Kyren Lacy did.
Maybe you notice your teammate struggling with their confidence before the coach does, and you start speaking life into them when nobody's watching instead of waiting until they get benched.
Maybe you see your teammate experiencing discrimination and you stand with them before they have to fight that battle alone, instead of posting support after the damage is done.
Maybe you're the upperclassman who helps freshmen navigate campus culture and temptations before they make mistakes, rather than judging them after they've fallen.
The Word For Today 📖 Philippians 2:5 TPT - Romans 5:8 TPT - Hebrews 12:2 NLT
And 1 💭 (Reflection)
Who are you following closely enough to develop their "feel"?
In what ways are you serving reactively instead of proactively?
What teammate needs your proactive service right now?
How can you better develop a servant's heart by watching Jesus?
What's one way you can be more like a point guard in your spiritual leadership?
Power Move Prayer 🙏🏾 Lord, help us develop the servant's feel that only comes from following You closely. Give us eyes to see needs before they become crises. Help us lead like point guards who understand every player on the court. And like ZZ following his brother's footsteps, may we follow Yours so closely that Your mindset becomes our motivation.
[Remember: A good point guard sees what's needed before it's asked for. A good servant does the same.]
The God X Basketball Impact:
