Written by Malak E, Edited by Dania Z.
*Writer’s Note*: “Letters To a Young Athlete had a great impact on my mentality and approach to the game. As someone who plays basketball with the goal of achieving an athletic scholarship, reading it helped me readjust my focus and gain insight on how to handle the stresses that come with being a student-athlete. What you will read below is my response to the three most impactful chapters as one reader of many who have benefited from the book.”
Chris Bosh is an overlooked hero whose attention to detail, balanced approach, and ability to be a team player led to his success as a two-time NBA champion and eleven-time NBA All-Star. Like many athletes, his life consisted of mental challenges that threatened to overpower his strength. His perseverance and self-control are a part of his formula of talent, hard work, and consistency that has proven to be the biggest success factors in his work as a professional. Despite his many career accomplishments, health issues pushed him away from his career, including blood clots that nearly caused his death and led to his retirement. Throughout Letters To a Young Athlete, Chris Bosh talks about controlling the controllables: managing ego, leadership, communication, and regulating your mentality as an athlete all in a unique letter format for every chapter.
“Letter 2: You Have to Find Your Why (And it Can’t Be Fame or Money)”
Dear Chris Bosh,
“Why”; a motivator to keep pushing through the obstacles that emerge in the life of a student-athlete. Simple aspects of basketball, such as the swish of the basketball net, the rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins before a big game, or your teammate's hand lifting you up when you fall, all contribute to your "why." When I started playing basketball, I found joy in those simple and tangible feelings: learning how to make a layup in the simple, one-two, up” motion, or dribbling in my apartment until my neighbours complained. To this day, I find peace in knowing that this was something that I could control among all of the uncontrollables. As time progressed, basketball became an escape from reality as an immigrant who struggled to understand the odd world I was placed in. It was like a survival instinct to protect myself from the chaos and stresses of re-establishing myself in a new country. Now, my “why” has evolved into a dream of utilising basketball to help other individuals who were once in the position I was in; a sixth-grader in a family of four, who wanted to do everything in her power to stop facing the hidden discrimination as a first-generation immigrant.
“Whys change and evolve, just like people do. The key is to never invest your why in something external that can be taken away by a power beyond your control.” - Letters To a Young Athlete
"Letter 6: Sweep Away Your Ego”
Dear Chris Bosh,
In a team sport like basketball, ego is both a player’s biggest enemy and their biggest supporter. Ego is the voice in your head that tells you to shoot the basketball and disregard your teammate who has a better chance at making the shot. However, the satisfaction from ego only lasts a few minutes and when you allow ego to win, you are feeding the “monster within”.
Having to transition from being the best player on the Toronto Raptors to having scoreless games with the Miami Heat and playing on a team with Dwayne Wade and LeBron James must have been a major ego-sweeper. How did you overcome the noise coming from the media criticizing every move that you took? Many athletes can relate to the feeling of being the best at their sport and then finding that others have considerably more experience. In Letters To a Young Athlete, you mentioned that every time you advanced on to a higher level of competition, you realized that “it was nothing like you have faced before… you go from being the best at your old level, to
the bottom of the heap”. Similarly, the only way I've progressed in life and basketball is by taking on harder difficulties.
“If you want to be great, you have to be honest with yourself about all the ways in which you’re not great yet” - Letters To a Young Athlete
“Letter 7: Leaders Lead”
Dear Chris Bosh,
In basketball, the description of a leader is often misinterpreted as being the player with the most points or the flashiest plays. However, a leader has various qualities that contribute to their well-deserved title. Your career exemplifies what it means to be a leader who leads by example. During the 2013 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, as the clock was winding down, you passed to Ray Allen after the rebound.
He then went on to make the three that tied the game and sent it to overtime allowing the Miami Heat to come back and eventually win the championship. Although this may appear to be more of a selfless and astute move, your faith in Ray Allen to make this shot displays great leadership. Your career in Miami didn’t stuff the statistics sheet or provide sports media companies with enough footage to include in a highlight reel, but it made others on the team successful. To me, leadership entails managing one’s ego, trusting in one's teammates, as well as speaking up when necessary.
“Leadership is not just the guy giving speeches. A leader, to me, is just the person who steps up and does what needs to be done - who becomes what the situation requires.” Letters to a Young Athlete
Chris Bosh as an athlete and author has shown us the life lessons of a career filled with hardships and accomplishments. Basketball, like other sports and hobbies, teaches essential and transferable skills. Letters To A Young Athlete is not only an athlete’s guidebook towards their journey to success but it is directed towards anyone who is looking to persevere through adversity to reach their goals in all aspects of their life.