BOM - "Why The Best Are The Best" by Kevin Eastman

Our book this month is definitely worthy of the book of the month criteria. It's written by a gentleman who I had the honor of meeting about a month ago. The book is called, “Why the best are the best.” By Kevin Eastman.

Kevin has dedicated most of his working life to the sport of basketball. The pinnacle of his career was at the top of the coaching organization for two teams in the National Basketball Association. He was the assistant coach for the Boston Celtics when they won the NBA championship in 2008. Kevin was the assistant coach and Vice President of Operations with the Los Angeles Clippers.

When I spent time with Kevin Eastman I was struck by his ability to distill big ideas into very simple and clear beacons of light that can serve as a north star for those times in life when one is pulled off course.

How often lengthy explanations and excuses can be cut off with a few choice words that bring the ego back to earth.

Kevin is a life-long student. This is a phrase that I hear often. I suppose there are those who truly believe that they’re being a student. But Kevin is a student every spare second of every day. He speaks of a work ethic that is the work ethic of champions. But it’s one thing to say the words. It’s quite another to truly embody those words.

In Kevin’s world, success lies in simplicity, confusion lies in sophistication.

At the core of success are three elements:

1)  the work that goes into it,

2) the mindset that must be turned into habits and

3) the execution discipline.

It’s not about what the words will do for you. It’s about the what the words will do to you. If you’re not changed by the words, then the words have no impact.

The core of the book are 25 words. That’s it, only 25 words. You could think of the book like a dictionary of a mere 25 words. But unlike the Oxford dictionary which takes a word and provides a couple of sentences to define that word, Kevin takes an entire chapter to define a word.