'It's inches in terms of mental, so it's important to cling to what they have instead of what they don't have.' 'This game is already a game of inches and not just inches in terms of the game itself,' he continued. 'What we don't have, we're going to get that back, but what we have is what we need to focus on because if we don't focus on what we have then we'll be back to what we don't have. Let's not focus on what we don't have,' Thomas told ESPN he said to the team. Thomas spoke to Timberwolves players, coaches and staff for 28 minutes, sharing an uplifting message as he urged players to take a positive outlook. His speaking schedule hadn't lined up with the Timberwolves' plans during the season, but the team was able to bring him in during the most uncertain time the NBA has ever faced. Thomas, who has a close relationship with Paul, made an immediate impact on Okogie. He'd met Thomas last summer while working out at the Chris Paul Basketball Academy. Okogie had been pushing Timberwolves assistant general manager Joe Branch all season to get Thomas to speak to the team. 'And all the coaches were like, 'Wow.' Even I was like, 'Wow.'' 'He was talking about how the season is suspended and the physical ball isn't still bouncing, but just because the ball stops bouncing on the court, it doesn't mean the ball stops bouncing in life.

I joined the call, and he was talking about how the ball is still bouncing,' Okogie said. 'I wasn't even going to join it, but when I saw it was ET, I had to hear him. But he woke up to a message that the team had organized a conference call with world-renowned motivational speaker Eric Thomas - also known as 'ET The Hip-Hop Preacher.' It was 10 days after the NBA season was suspended, and the Minnesota Timberwolves wing was sleeping in. How Eric Thomas, the hip-hop preacher, has become the go-to motivational speaker for NBA players You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser

Motivational speeches eric thomas