Saturday, December 27, 2008

The gift of a book

Read where MIA coach Erik Spoelstra gave Heat rookie Michael Beasley a couple of books recently.

One was Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" (see post here); the other was "The Last Lecture" by the late Randy Pausch.

The idea is that Beasley might crack one open on a plane sometime.

Does Coach Spo expect Beasley to read the books from cover to cover?

Probably not. If that happens, it's wonderful, but it's not the point.

The point is that if he reads even three pages and is able to get one nugget from those pages that he finds interesting or valuable or changes the way he thinks, then it's been worth the investment.

And Beasley might not read the book today or tomorrow or next week. He might pick it up this summer or next season. That's okay.

It also demonstrates that Coach Spoelstra is thinking about his guys, looking for ways to help them improve, both on and off the basketball court.