It was a complete breakdown of mental fortitude. Worse yet, it was the Bulls / Raptors game, it was happening on the grand stage of Air Canada, and the perpetrator was none other than noted Canadian celebrity (sometimes rapper) Drake.
With 25.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the Bulls up on the Raptors by 3 points, Bulls guard Justin Holiday was inbounding the ball on a crucial play that could potentially ice the game. Raptors power forward Patrick Patterson had full coverage on Holiday, and Holiday knew this. But the boy did not realize that he had another person “guarding” him from behind – The Boy, from the 6.
During the inbound, Drizzy was yelling sweet nothings in Holiday’s ear; it looked like one man deconstructing another man’s mental walls, brick by brick. And, sure enough, Drake’s defensive maneuvers worked, with Holiday seemingly distracted for more than five seconds, causing a violation, to the delight of the hometown crowd.
Watching the game on the television, I wondered how I would fare in that same situation. I looked at Justin Holiday – 6’6, 186 lbs, physically conditioned to be more superior than most of the world’s inhabitants – and realized that no matter how physically built he was, his mental build crumbled when it mattered the most. And there was nothing his body could do about it.
Athletes of all shapes and sizes find ways to display their physical toughness to the world. They have no problem with using their actions as a way to speak when their words cannot. But the intangible beauty of mental toughness is equally important. Because, let’s face it, Kevin Durant will use his hands and flowing jumper to make that game winning shot, but the mere fact that he decided to attempt the game winner in the first place is just as alluring.
Now, I can only reflect on the tenets of mental toughness from the only athletic activity I was ever marginally good at: running, specifically long-distance. Growing up in cross-country and sprints, my coaches always conveyed the idea of finding the “runner’s high”, and grasping onto it for dear life once one catches it. The runner’s high describes the euphoric feeling one gets when running – the point where one feels like a machine with well-oiled cogs and screws that turn in conjunction with one another for an eternity. Time slows to a crawl, the world turns into a series of blurs, and all one can focus on is the actual act of running.
The runner’s high can be achieved with mental conditioning, but a major factor is also chemically-based. According to Runner’s World, in 2008, German researchers scanned runners’ brains and found out that during long runs, their brains’ pre-frontal and limbic regions released endorphins as they ran. In addition to the endorphins, the body also pumps out endocannabinoids, which is a naturally synthesized version of THC. So much of what is happening when enduring the run is caused within the cranial spaces, as well as the joints and muscles.
But mental fortitude not only occurs during the runner’s high – it appears during the last 200m of a race, where one must not only compartmentalize their 100% effort, but somehow add in an extra 10% of effort to finish. It happens when a marathoner hits the wall, and it seems that quitting is the next logical step -yet they still run. This is where the physical athleticism ends and the mental athleticism begins.
From Derrick Rose to Kobe Bryant to practically every athlete – mental toughness is the answer to the athletic koan. Even for a young gun like Justin Holiday, having someone use words to get the best of you, especially from a non-athlete, can make all that sweat from conditioning nil. So, keep on pushing those weights, but always make sure to keep a mental flex as well.
