Practice Matters: not to become perfect, but to become prepared.

When questioned by reporters recently about missing team practices, current NBA star Allen Iverson gave a disdainful five-minute tirade on the pettiness of practice.  "We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice.  I mean, listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game... but practice!  How silly is that?  I mean it’s just practice, not a game, but practice!" 

For many sports fans, Iverson's comments were emblematic of the arrogance and me-first attitude of an athlete in the NBA.  If nothing else, his words revealed his underlying attitude: I'm an NBA superstar; I've arrived; I'm good enough to skip practice; practice doesn't matter, it's my performance on game day that counts.

In many ways, we can often find ourselves with the same mindset.  Have you ever felt like Iverson (?) trying to justify your lack of effort or poor attitude in practice by thinking that “it’s just practice – it doesn’t matter.  I’ll play with 100% effort in the game, but this is just practice.”

If you prepare properly, you may be outscored but you will never lose.  You always win when you make the full effort to do the best of which you're capable.

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