I have had some time to reflect on what might have been the last game of my professional career.
Fourteen years ago, I was a rookie trying to figure things out. I still remember my vet who looked out for me.
He didn't have to.
He answered questions i was afraidd to ask...
Fatherhood Thoughts:
My daughter can’t even talk yet.
But the smiles when I enter the room…
The way she looks for me when she hears my voice…
The giggles, cackles, and belly laughs…
She’s communicating more than she knows.
And I’m grateful I get a lifetime to listen.
Jalen Brunson took less money so that the  Knicks could put a legit team around him. Took less money so they could bring his homies in. And then they win.
Watching my former college teammate @JLin7 sit down with Pablo Torre and Melo has been really meaningful.
There’s something powerful about seeing people revisit difficult experiences with honesty, perspective, and compassion.
There’s a lot of healing happening.
So dope.
Politics matter.
It wasn’t a cynical realization.
It was a more realistic understanding of how things work.
The goal wasn’t to become bitter.
The goal was to keep working hard without expecting the world to always be fair.
I remember the exact moment I stopped being naive as a professional athlete.
I used to believe that working harder than everyone else guaranteed things would work out.
Then I learned that hard work matters.
But timing matters.
Relationships matter.
Reputation matters.
One of the hardest lessons I learned as a young pro:
Hard work doesn't always get rewarded immediately.
I remember my first few games in the G League.
I was showing up early.
Staying late.
Practicing my ass off.
Playing well every day.
In my mind, I had earned minutes.
At first, I was frustrated.
But eventually I realized something important:
I couldn't control who people believed in.
I could only control whether I kept giving them reasons to believe in me.
That lesson followed me for the remainder of my career.
Success doesn’t create confidence. For years believing it did.
Looking back, I felt most grounded not when I was succeeding, but when I was focused on something more meaningful than the outcome.
I truly believe confidence comes from caring about something bigger than success.
Fatherhood feels like the role I’ve been preparing for my entire life.
What’s surprised me most is how confident I’ve felt since becoming a dad.
More confident than I ever felt as a professional basketball player.
I hope it lasts.
But for now, I’m grateful to experience it.