WINNING
AS A TEAM

Topics: Church; Community; Ego; Pride; Self-centeredness; Sports; Teamwork; Unity; Unselfishness

References: Ephesians 4:11–16; Philippians 2:3–4

Men often talk about their glory years in high school, says A. C. Green, an NBA player. “At Benson High School, in Portland, Oregon, I was a sports-minded, egotistical maniac. I was the tallest guy on the team and could have broken scoring records, but Coach Gray wouldn’t let me. Even with the brakes on, twice that year I scored thirty-nine points, and in the season finale against Wilson I scored forty.

“I averaged twenty-seven points per game. As a team we scored more than one hundred points in seven games and averaged over ninety. I was voted the Oregonian’s 1981 All-Metro area player of the year.”

The coach wouldn’t allow Green to be a hotshot scorer, however, because he was more interested in the final stat—becoming number one in basketball in the state. He knew the only way the players could reach that championship level was for them to become team players.

“In basketball and in life, everyone starts out with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude,” Green says. “That natural selfishness has to be broken to be a winner. You have to realize you can’t do it all by yourself. You need the team. Coach Gray made me pass the ball and play unselfishly. Regardless of individual stats, we, the team, reached the top. We went all the way.”

—A. C. Green, Victory (Creation, 1994)