I Retired From Basketball And Here’s Everything I Gained In Life After Sports

A few weeks ago I wrote an article talking about everything that I lost when I transitioned into life after sports.

I was very transparent about my struggles, and the obstacles that I have experienced so far as an athlete trying to navigate through the real world.

I realize that I didn’t give you everything though…

I mean yeah, I talked about dealing with those specific issues and how just about every athlete will lose at least two of the four things that I mentioned (significance, income, identity, purpose), but I didn’t talk about the positive side.

I didn’t talk about everything that I had gained while transitioning into life after sports because there is always two sides to any scenario.

Even though sometimes I felt like I’d lose everything I had if I didn’t have a ball in my hands, I’ve been able to prove myself otherwise within the past year or so.

In every situation you go through, there is something you can learn or take away from it that’ll benefit you going forward.

That’s something that I always keep in mind.

Even when it seems like things aren’t what you want them to be, there’s always a brighter side.

Here are 4 things that I gained when I transitioned into life after sports.

What I Gained When I Transitioned Into Life After Sports

1. Vision- Part of the reason why I felt reassured that I would be able to go on without basketball was that I had a bigger vision for my life. I always wanted basketball to be apart of my story but I knew it wasn’t the end of it. My entire plan was to become a professional athlete, but at the same time, it was to use basketball as a tool for whatever the next step in life was. I always talk about how I never wanted sports to define me because that’s how serious I was about it even from a young age. I think my upbringing had a lot to do with it, but it helped me see that there’s more to life. It allowed me to see that I could be more than an athlete even though I didn’t know exactly what that was. I wasn’t able to fully see what I could become once basketball ended for me, but my vision was always bigger. As I redesigned my identity outside of being an athlete, my vision for my future became bigger and more clear. Having a vision for what you want to do or where you want to go is extremely important and gaining this has given me more belief in my future.
2. Faith- I am a huge believer in faith being the driving force for anything that I do in life. When I transferred my last year of school, I let faith lead me. When I went to play professionally overseas in Japan, I let faith lead me. Almost 99% of the actions that I’ve taken in life, I was uncertain about what will happen, but I put my faith first. It was no different when I told myself that I was done playing basketball. I had never gone without basketball in my life and this level of uncertainty was as high as it had ever been. But when you place your faith first, it’s funny because things start to happen without you having to do much. It’s because faith and worry cannot exist in the same space. You can’t trust the process and be anxious about the results because those are two disparaging concepts. I’ve learned to not worry also because I know it doesn’t do anything to help any situation. It doesn’t comfort you. It can’t change anything. It just places unrealistic pressure and stress on you to control something that you have no control over. Faith and intuition have driven everything that I have done since I finished playing basketball. I have no idea where I’ll end up or whether this blog post will actually help me or anyone else in the grand scheme of things, but as long as I have faith I know I’ll be good in time.
3. Discomfort- This is by far been the most uncomfortable past few years of my life. The past several years I’ve have been forced to step out of a structure that I have been used to forever. For years my routine pretty much consisted of me, going to class, going to eat and working out or some variation of those things. While those things still somewhat play a role in my life, now it less structured and requires more discipline on my part. With me being a student-athlete, most of my day was already planned out for me. Even as a pro, we had mandatory workouts, practices, and schedules that we had to abide by. As an adult, or even a step further as an entrepreneur, ain’t nobody out here holding your hand. I’m learning on the go and feeling more uncomfortable each day as my obligations pile up. But this has been one of the biggest factors in why I’ve been able to achieve my goals. Putting myself in these uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations as an entrepreneur as given me the luxury of having opportunities and figuring them out as I go. I have learned more than ever and more importantly, I have become comfortable being uncomfortable so I always look for situations where I might be unsure of myself, but still do it anyway.
4. Patience- Patience is the air cover that has given me the ability to take risks with my life. By nature, I am a risk-taker. I usually act first and think later which can be a blessing and a curse at different times. What comes along with taking risks is being patient enough to realize if something will come out of them or not. Being patient has always been something that I have had but as I’ve gotten older and transitioned into the real world, I have a much better understanding of how important it is to be patient career-wise. Nothing worth having happens overnight. We all get anxious sometimes and want what we want when we want it, but life hardly works that way. S*#@, basketball didn’t work that way so I know that life and your career will only reward you with the results when you are truly ready for them. Staying patient has allowed me to fall in love with the process of becoming a successful businessman and trusting in what I do every day instead of focusing on what it can give me when I finally reached my end goals. When you’re patient and you love the process, then you’ve really won.

Value Your Wins, But Learn From Your Loses

Everything that I’ve gained from basketball has made me the person that I am today, but writing this also makes me see that everything that I lost contributed to that as well.

I’ve learned more about what it takes to compete and succeed in this world through basketball than anything else that I’ve experienced.

Through every practice, game or team that I’ve been a part of I’ve valued every single one whether negative or positive.

I want other athletes to really understand that sports are to be used as a platform.

It is something that you learn from which propels you in other areas of life.

Life after sports is really just starting for me, but using the lessons from the game has given me what I need to continue pushing forward as a businessman and entrepreneur.

I know that I lost a lot when I stopped playing, but I realize that I also gained just as much.

Malcolm Lemmons is a former professional athlete turned entrepreneur, author, and speaker. He is the founder of Players Point Agency and host of Players Point Podcast. He has been featured in the Huffington Post, TVOne, ABC & WJLA. To check out more from Malcolm, visit his website at www.malcolmlemmons.com or connect with him on Twitter & Instagram.

Want to see how I went from being a professional athlete to becoming an entrepreneur? Click the link to get your free ebook of The Pivot Game: https://eepurl.com/c7hiP9