Ginebra rookie
Jean Claude Van Damme Keith Jensen is not just a baller. During his spare time, he loves to write.
The 24 year old was born in San Francisco on June 7, 1988. He’s bounced
around the States, growing up in San Diego and heading to NYU for
school. He first came to the PI in 2004 and got his first taste of PBA
action watching a game live at Araneta. After that game, he set this
goal that the next time he would come back to the Coliseum, he would be
playing in front of a crowd instead of being one of them. “It wasn’t
easy coming back home here but I met Banj Albano (who is Slam’s
Marketing guy) in New York and he and his family have helped me along
the way.” Jensen says. Born to an American dad and a Filipina mom from
Guadalupe, he is now living the dream and playing for the most popular
team in the country, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. Check out his first
masterpiece, “To Basketball with Love”.
To Basketball With Love
By Keith Jensen
As I look around the court, I can’t help but be overwhelmed with
appreciation. I’m in a rare position to play the game I love and have it
support my family for the first time.
Basketball has been important to me since I could dribble. In grade
school, it made lunch and recess fly by with intense competition and
joy. Soon it slowly began to establish my self-confidence and social
identity. In high school, basketball broadened my horizons and
introduced me to people from all over the United States, as I played on
different travel teams. Basketball then opened the door to an education
at New York University. And now, it’s offering me a comfortable
lifestyle and a career with the most-loved club team in Asia (and the
best fans in the world!).
As the whirlwind of being thrust into this new world of fame and
money settles, or rather I learn to navigate to the eye/I of the storm, I
find myself confronted with very deep and essential questions for the
man in the mirror. How do I respond to these flattering—but potentially
distracting—realities?
The fast-paced, intuitive nature of the sport, compounded with the
pressures of a large stage, reveals and develops character. There is no
time to think, or to put on a front. All facades are eventually
stripped, and people’s cores are exposed for all to see.
This causes for the unraveling of an incredibly intriguing drama.
True characteristics, on a personal level and a team level, intertwine
and dance, as the interplay creates a well-choreographed masterpiece.
Basketball is the ultimate reality show.
After watching and playing and studying and coaching this sport for
my entire life, I’ve seen all different types of personalities and
demeanors on the court. I have seen what results from particular ways of
approaching the game.
Some players have a short-term, individualistic mindset. These
players’ motivations are based primarily on ego gratification. Phil
Jackson, who has won the most NBA championships of any coach in history,
voices his challenge of coaching BJ Armstrong in his book Sacred Hoops:
“Like most young players, his personal agenda was clouding his mind.
Every time he got the ball he wanted to show the world what he could do-
to score, to make a spectacular assist, to get back at his man for
humiliating him on the last play… That kind of thinking was
counterproductive because it took him out of the moment and diminished
his awareness of what the team was doing as a whole… When BJ tried to
muscle his way to the basket through a swarm of giants, he looked like a
man on a suicide mission” (p 107).
Other players seem to have a wider perspective. While their goal is
to perform at high levels, satisfaction is completely derived from
collective achievement. This is basketball in its purest sense.
Happiness is the result of heartfelt appreciation and love for the
game—and for the team. Healthy competition breeds healthy mentalities,
which ultimately leads to a deeper sense of success.
I recognize that self-absorbed players have won championships. After
all, Wilt Chamberlain has 2 rings to accompany the most dominant career
stat line of all time. But Bill Russell, his physical match and
motivational opposite, ended his career with 11 rings and the record for
the most championships of any player in history.
The sirens of seduction are stronger for rookies, who haven’t
navigated the terrain long enough to decide what’s worth giving
attention to. I had a chance to speak with Mike Cortez and Willy Wilson,
a couple of veterans who’ve been in the league for over ten years,
about their own motivations.
“Winning makes everything better,” says Mike. “It feels good to work for a week with your team and end the week with a win.”
Willy says, “It’s fun to play the game with people you enjoy playing with.”
Both players speak to the intrinsic value of team victory, and the healthy competition that makes basketball so compelling.
Having said this, being aggressive on the court does not equate to
selfishness. I believe that players should know their role, and strive
to fulfill and exceed that role to the best of their ability. If that
means being scorers, they should aggressively look for their shot. If
that means being tenacious defenders, they should aggressively defend.
If that means being facilitators, they should aggressively look to
facilitate. The difference is the underlying motivation, which is to win
as a team as opposed to self-promoting.
The way this motivation rises to the surface isn’t necessarily shown
in the stat sheet. It can’t always be verbalized. But it is felt by
everybody that watches, and everybody that plays. Think Jordan versus
Lebron. Jordan plays with pure competition, while Lebron plays with more
ego. Although Lebron’s fan base is large, it doesn’t come close to
Jordan’s in his prime. A lot of people are actually disgusted by
Lebron’s attitude and antics. Therefore, paradoxically, a player that
lets go of wanting the fame will ultimately see more of it.
On the team level, if there is agreement for a collectively adopted
team-first mentality, a team’s potential is more easily fulfilled. These
teams are the most fun to watch. They solidify as a single unit and
usually defeat disjointed teams with conflicting personal agendas ruling
players’ decision-making. However, this only is effective if everybody
is on board. As Dennis Scott puts it on NBA TV, “As soon as the ‘we’
turns to ‘me’ for one person, it’s over.”
This motivational introspection is essential for all players, and
people in general, no matter what they’re doing. It’s a core life
lesson, among countless others, embedded within the game. This is the
most prominent impact basketball has had on my life. So, with more
devotion than ever before, I offer a resounding THANK YOU to basketball,
and in return I commit to playing with purity and integrity.- KJ
Photo c/o InterAKTV
