What makes Kevin Durant great is not just his skill but his mindset about basketball and life. In an interview, Kevin Durant responded to Shaq criticizing him of not winning any championship to have an opinion about basketball matters. His response was spot on:

There’s more to life than championships.

O’Neal told SI.com that Durant shouldn’t have intervened in the TNT commentator’s war of words with Warriors center JaVale McGee because Durant hasn’t yet won a championship. O’Neal argued that Durant “can’t talk to me like that” because he “ain’t in the club yet” and that the 2014 MVP was “outside in line with [Charles] Barkley, [Karl] Malone and [John] Stockton.” He added that Durant was representative of a “soft” NBA full of “sensitive” players.

(http://sportsillustrated.com.ph/US/nba/2017/04/01/kevin-durant-shaquille-oneal-podcast-championship-javale-mcgee)

The statement made by Shaq goes to show a human flaw we all have received. I am only as good as my last performance. No wonder we see a lot of NBA superstar cling on to the past because they have based their identity on their success.

There’s more to life than championships.

If you watch videos of ESPN, ALL commentators would praise a player for his game and even go on to consider a player the best there is and in the next month – retract their statement and say they got it all wrong.

Lebron James, before the finals, was considered the greatest player in the game. When CAVS lost game 3 of the NBA finals, commentators started changing their statements.

Here are some headlines:

LeBron’s legacy will change after Game 3 of 2017 NBA Finals vs. Golden State | UNDISPUTED

other headlines scream to us that in the world’s eyes – you are only as good as your success:

Has Kevin Durant Passed LeBron James As The World’s Best Player | June 7, 2017

Is The Best Of LeBron James Behind Him? | First Take | June 6, 2017

Will LeBron James Ever Win Another NBA Title? | First Take | June 6, 2017

Not only is the world telling us that we are only as good as our last performance but that our identity is tied up to our success. If you are successful then you are valuable, if you keep failing, then you are good for nothing. The case with Lebron is that we don’t care how many wins you’ve made in the past, how many championships you brought to Miami and Cleveland, your legacy fades with each loss you make today. (what a miserable and unfair way to analyze life, but that’s life)

It seems like that Solomon, the wisest man in the world was right – “Everything is meaningless” (book of Ecclesiastes). Apart from Christ, everything is meaningless. In this message, I shared how we as humans chase after the wind and still find discontentment. It’s a sad, rat race, constant pursuit of happiness – world if you don’t have Christ.

Question: Do you feel that you are only as good as what you bring to the table? That your worth is based on how successful you are in the world’s eyes? Are you insecure about your achievements?

Prayer: Lord, may we see that there is more to life than winning, success, prosperity, and image. May we find our identity and security in you and not in what the world offers.