29 October 2000

In his illustrious career which probably secured his position as the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan missed 26 potential game winning shots. He lost hundreds of games and missed many free throws.

Rocky Balboa, a heavyweight no-name prizefighter from the ghettos of Philadelphia lasted the whole match against champion of the world Apollo Creed. He was selected as a random challenger for Apollo to show what he was made of, especially in the city of brotherly love, and especially on the fourth of July.

These two men, when looked at closely, perfectly depict the many definitions of luck in our society. To some extent, they both are lucky as some would define it, but realistically, luck was irrelevant in their performances, the outcome, and better yet, their careers. Michael Jordan is not remembered by those shots he missed, Rocky is not remembered by his random selection. They both distinguished and determined their chances long before they walked on the court or entered the ring.

Michael Jordan put in countless hours out in his backyard training with his brothers. In fact, old photos of their court show how they wore it out over time. Jordan hit every shot, he practiced lay-ups, free throws, three-pointers, various dribbling styles, and anything else that pertained to the sport. Then came the games. He shot and made so many times that records broke and history was rewritten. He was worth approximately $50 million dollars to the American economy each year and became an icon to all, young and old.

His shots were not luck, they were not defined as lucky because he missed others. Rather people would watch him and claim that he "must be lucky." What they neglected to watch were the millions of shots and thousands of hours he worked to be able to put that ball into the basket with such finesse. People saw others shoot the same shot from the same place and miss while he would make it consistently and then state that he must be "athletically gifted." No, he was not lucky, just more disciplined than those who were so good at calling his skill "luck."

Same with Rocky. With regards to everything in his control, he was completely skilled. Given that his bid into the match was random, his performance was not. He was the only person to last all 15 rounds with the heavyweight champ, and that is not something which cannot be chalked up to luck. They were both fighting hard, and they both paid for it. Rocky was hit so many times, they had to cut his eye to release the blood so that he could see who he was trying to knock down. He trained and trained. He ran up stairs at 4:00 am, he drank eggs and hit the punching bags all day. He hit hanging cow carcasses and would break their ribs through the meat. He chased chickens to improve his reflexes and his quickness. He did everything, and then he fought, and then he was called "lucky."

What I am saying is that although some processes or some steps along the road to fame may have been chance, they are out of one’s control and thus irrelevant to that person’s authority. But, given the new opportunities and the circumstances, all these two men could control was their performance. And they maximized it. They worked harder than anyone who they played, they ran harder and longer, they shot more and jumped higher. They did everything to make them better. And in the end, they were "lucky." Interesting.