Catching Up With Christians
Welcome to Catching Up with Christians, where faith meets everyday life.
I’m Coach Dan, a former award-winning college baseball coach turned public speaker and life coach. Each episode, I sit down with close friends and influential Christians to explore their faith journeys, personal challenges, and professional paths.
Together, we’ll dive into how faith empowers us to overcome adversity, discover our purpose, and live boldly for Christ. You’ll hear inspiring stories and powerful testimonies that reveal not just the what and the how, but the deeper why behind their lives and careers.
Whether you’re looking for encouragement, practical insights, or a fresh perspective on walking with Jesus, this podcast is for you. So, let’s dive in and catch up with Christians.
Catching Up With Christians
Catching Up With Christians: EP: 10: With Cole Swider, Detroit Pistons Forward
What if the pursuit of personal excellence could also be a journey of faith? Join us as we sit down with Cole Swider, a remarkable basketball player with a story that goes beyond the court. Raised in a basketball-loving family with a strong foundation in faith, Cole opens up about his upbringing in Newport, Rhode Island, and how his parents' values played a pivotal role in his life. From the high-pressure environment of the NBA, where he's played with teams like the Lakers and Heat, Cole shares how he navigates his spiritual path amidst the hustle and bustle of professional sports.
As we explore Cole's journey, we delve into the transformative power of using one's platform for faith and inspiration. Cole talks about shifting his motivations from personal success to glorifying a higher purpose, and how this perspective has reshaped both his career and his spiritual walk. By embracing faith as a guiding force, Cole demonstrates the impact of living in alignment with one's beliefs and the courage it takes to advocate for them, even in the face of criticism. His insights encourage us all to consider how our unique talents and platforms can contribute to a better world.
Throughout our conversation, we also touch on the significance of genuine relationships and maintaining faith in everyday life. Cole shares heartfelt anecdotes about balancing commitments and the value of authentic connections, illustrating how keeping spiritual practices at the forefront can lead to meaningful and lasting relationships. From navigating the delicate balance between contentment and complacency to the power of prayer and gratitude, Cole's journey serves as a testament to the resilience and hope found in faith. Listen in for a narrative that offers a roadmap to aligning with a higher purpose and embracing the challenges and blessings life presents.
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What's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Catching Up With Christians. I'm your host, Coach Dan McCarty, alongside a dear friend of mine, Cole Swider. How are you doing today, man?
Speaker 2:What's up, dan? Good to see you, man. It's been a while. Got to see you the other day, but obviously we grew up together, so it's great to see you. Great to see you outside of playing 2K. Exactly, you used to have some battles playing 2K back in.
Speaker 1:Yeah man, it's wild man. It's been a long road for both of us, but it's been really cool to watch your journey, man. So if you wouldn't mind telling the people kind of a little bit about who you are, where you grew up and where you're at now, no doubt, man.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I grew up in Portia, Rhode Island, dan knows, beautiful, beautiful place to grow up. Oh yeah, newport, rhode Island, is one of the gems I feel like, especially in the summertime. It's just a gem of a place to grow up. Small town vibes, but we have a lot of great athletes that come from our town. So grew up with two parents who were college basketball players. They started the youth basketball league in our town, as you know. So my dad handed me a basketball as soon as I was born. There you go.
Speaker 2:Grew up with three younger siblings Kylie, courtney, connor. Kylie and Courtney are both playing Division I basketball. Kylie just graduated from Villanova, now playing at Stonehill in eastern Massachusetts, and Courtney's at Richmond University, and got a little brother, connor, who you know, who's a high school basketball player and now going into his senior year. So grew up in a big family, big basketball family, and then, yeah, I went to Portsmouth Middle School, went to Melville Elementary School, right Went to Portsmouth Middle School for my freshman year, then went to St Andrews for my four years of high school and ended up choosing Villanova, went to Syracuse and then I'm going to be going into my third year in the NBA.
Speaker 2:So I played for the Lakers and Heat my first two years and just trying to find a new home man. So it's been an incredible journey, been able to grow in my faith a lot and obviously that's why we're here to talk about the faith, amen. But obviously really great to see you again, bro. Yeah, it's been a blessing to kind of stay in touch over the years yeah absolutely Me coming out to Summer League this year we were able to connect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, well, dude, there's so much to break down there. You know which is amazing. You know talking about. You know a little bit of the journey, right For the listeners that don't know I spent I was born in Rhode Island on and off my childhood, but at the time when Cole was in eighth grade, I was in fourth grade and one of the weird things about Portsmouth Middle School was it was fourth to eighth grade.
Speaker 1:It was really weird and my brother Grant was in seventh grade at that time and my brother Grant plays a lot of sports and used to play in the youth basketball league and it was men amongst boys out there for Cole man.
Speaker 1:You know this dude was you know already like 6'2", 6'3" out there hooping and dropping 30 points in a rec league and a half, you know. And so it's kind of cool to really witness that growth from following you from that eighth grade year to then. You know, playing in high school and then having to go to Massachusetts to play right and get a little more competition than in the small towns. But, like you mentioned, you know, rhode Island was a great place to grow up in and Portsmouth was. People don't realize the community aspect to that place. You know, I mean we were really only there in portsmouth for about a year and a half but I've met some of the people that I still talk to this day. One of my favorite teachers ever, miss goss, if she watches this, shout out to you um shot, mrs goss, jeff goss yes all of them great people.
Speaker 1:Um, that's probably the last time I enjoyed school just kidding, but no exactly but that's such an incredible journey. But, as you mentioned, why we're here right is the faith right, and one of the things that really sparked this podcast, as the listeners know, is really talk about. You know how you keep your faith at the forefront of what you do. You know, being a top tier athlete, you know, at all different levels, you have to grind right.
Speaker 1:I was talking to a guy the other day. He said if you want one area in your life to grow, you got to sacrifice in another right. And one thing that I've got to see over the years through just continuing to keep up with you is one thing you did not sacrifice or continue to work on was your faith right Throughout your journey in basketball. So can you talk about maybe some things you maybe do on a day-to-day basis, and maybe these are things you did now but maybe you didn't do necessarily at the beginning that you kind of evolved with. But what are some things maybe day-to-day basis that kind of help you keep you grounded in your faith?
Speaker 2:yeah, so I grew up I grew up in a faithful family went to church every every Sunday at St Mary's Church in Portsmouth, rhode Island. That was a great experience growing up. But you know how it gets Once you get into the weekends of a sports family and everything like that, it turns into Sunday. Church isn't as important as the weekend basketball tournaments and thankfully, my parents were unbelievable making sure we were doing our prayers at night and everything like that. But we really stopped going to church all the time. And then, once I got to a certain age, my parents kind of made our decision to follow the faith, so they introduced it and then I followed it. So I remember my senior year of high school. We had like a Bible study in the basement of my dorm. Oh, that's cool, and there was like four or five of my teammates, four or five of my friends, that got involved in it and it sort of sparked my interest of really trying to get into my faith. But I still, for me, faith was something that I associated with the church.
Speaker 1:It wasn't something that was personal to me. Relationship was yeah, Exactly.
Speaker 2:So I went through my freshman year at Villanova. Villanova is a Catholic school. I would go to church every now and then on a Sunday, but I definitely wasn't living in a way of God or Jesus and I didn't understand what that was. I wasn't reading the Bible. I wasn't understanding all those things. We had a really good chaplain at the time. His name was Father Rob, and Father Rob would come to us before the games and read us about a biblical scripture, would give us some motivation, would incorporate God into our everyday practice of life, and that really opened my eyes of what I could be in faith. So I was going to Catholic Mass every single Sunday.
Speaker 2:After that and my sophomore year I was really, really struggling on the court and I was a top 40 player in the country coming out of high school.
Speaker 2:I had offers from Duke, indiana, florida, syracuse, xavier, villanova obviously, and never really struggled a little bit early on in my high school career but had a lot of success after that, all-time leading scorer at my high school.
Speaker 2:Like I said, offers from all those colleges and my freshman year I didn't play as much. My sophomore year I was really struggling in the preseason and I identified everything that I did with how I was playing on the court with basketball and that was God's way of coming into my life and showing me that I needed to surrender to him and come to him. So my sophomore year of college, I remember going to Father Rob's office and we talked for three, four hours and I was crying and I wanted to identify myself as more than just a basketball player, identify myself outside of being the star player that I've always been right, not not relying on the, on the result, to feel how I feel every single day. So had that conversation with him after that. That's when I really started to take the first steps in my faith Over the years. Sorry for the long-winded answer.
Speaker 1:No, this is great.
Speaker 2:We talk about the day-to-day practices. After that I started praying every single night. So after my sophomore I started to pray every single night. I remember that year was specifically tough because I wasn't really sleeping, I was really struggling and that year kind of set me up to um, progress, right, and and I had an up and down year. After that year I considered transferring and ended up deciding to go back. And that's when COVID hit and COVID, like that, really made me, made me get deeper in my faith, started reading, started meditating, started to do all these things.
Speaker 2:In my my junior year of college had another tough year and after that year I was really praying and decided to enter the transfer portal and end up transferring to Syracuse. And during that summer I talked to a girl who played basketball at Penn State and that was the first time where I went to a non-denominational Christian church. She brought me there and she showed me what it was like to be a part of that type of church. So once I saw that I was like, wow, I can really develop my faith in this type of setting, with the music, with the worship, with the praise, right, and it was unbelievable just to be a part of that, a part of that situation and part of that culture, and after that I've been able to find those churches over time.
Speaker 2:So, like you said, on a day-to-day practice, it's, it's praying, it's reading the word, it's trying to involve my friends and involve that I love in following God and the Bible and all these things right, and I think over the time I've been able to be more like Jesus, be more like God and actually live the words that God has put. So it's definitely been a process. For sure, we talked about it before. I think a lot of people use God as a crutch, right, and there was a time where I was doing that, but now I feel like as if I'm really living in the Word.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that, you know, and I think, to all the listeners you know, I love the aspect that he shared the journey. Right, this wasn't an overnight thing. You know, this was a process. I think sometimes, when we think of the transformation that we're hoping that God has on our lives, we hope it's overnight. Sometimes we got to wander through the wilderness in order to get, uh, receive that revelation for God and and um. So I think that's super inspiring to the listeners, to you know, um and see it's, it's, it's clearly worked out. He's doing great things and and uh, not just, you know, in the worldly perspective, but also in his walk with Jesus. You know, in the worldly perspective, but also in his walk with Jesus. You know he mentioned that he feels like where he's at now is the best that he's been in his spiritual walk, which is an amazing part.
Speaker 1:You know, one of the things I want to unpack there you know you had a lot of, you know, decisions to make at a younger age there and you know, with the transferring and you mentioned early on, you know your family is pretty basketball oriented, right, and when you were in the process of kind of surrendering your life to God. Right, and I'm sure you can correct me if I'm wrong, but probably some of the motivation early on playing basketball was to be the best. Right, you wanted to be the best, and I know that's still the case. You want to be the best at who you. You wanted to be the best, and I know that's still the case. You want to be the best in who you can be, but also, I'm sure now you want to use your abilities to glorify God and what you do. So how was that shift? You know, maybe in your perspective, maybe in the family's perspective? Have they seen that change in those type of things?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, from a pure basketball standpoint, you always want to be the best, yeah, and you always want to strive to be better and better and better. But I think over in my walk of my faith, I've discovered that I have the ability and the platform to inspire other people to become closer to God. I remember I had a really good preseason game. I had 17 points in the fourth quarter and that kind of solidified my spot to make the Miami Heat this year. And after the game I remember talking to my Syracuse chaplain and he said always glorify God in the moments where you're being successful. And the only thing I can think about in that moment I'm doing the post-game press conference or the post-game interview right after the game with a reporter and all I can think about is give glory to God, give glory to God, give glory to God, because I wouldn't be here without him. So every single time I do an interview, every single time I do something, I try and, like CJ Stroud, always starts this post-game press conference I just want to give all credit to my Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, and I like to say I usually like to use the term like all glory to the man, above all, glory to God and that's something that I've I've tried to do. So if, if I can use my platform, if I can use my ability to bring people closer to God and bring people closer to the word and the spirit, um, then that's what I want to do. I I would say that I think God puts.
Speaker 2:I have a. I have unbelievable pastors. Name is Chad Veach. Um, he does Zoe church in LA, one in LA, one of the non-nominational Christian churches out there Unbelievable church. If any of you guys are in LA, that's an unbelievable church to go to in downtown LA. They do a bunch of their services at Miguel Contreras and I was at VU conference in Miami and we were in Miami walking around with his son and something came upon my heart. I was like God creates two types of people to have a platform like me and inspire. To have a platform like you and inspire with the story that you have or it's to serve. And Chad was like I agree with you, but you can. Also, when you serve, you can. And Chad was like I agree with you, but when you serve.
Speaker 2:You can also inspire people in that aspect, amen. So being able to think about those two things right and be able to think about what God has placed on me and the blessings that he's placed on my life to try and inspire and bring people closer to him, it's taking the pressure off of the actual result in basketball. So trying to long way to answer but wrapping that around no, I love that To the end.
Speaker 1:No, and I love that. And you know one thing I love you touched upon this and I have an opinion that's fairly a lot of people are very against it. It's using your platform to advocate for what you believe in. But if we want to see change in the world, especially more people to follow Jesus right and to be saved and you know, be true, you know followers of the way you have to use your platform right and so many people out there, it's like I'm just here to watch you play your sport, be quiet.
Speaker 1:I don't want to hear about the politics, I don't want to hear about your religion. I just want to see you hoop. I just want to see you score a touchdown. I just want to see. And so, to my listeners, you know if you're in a position, if you're a leader, if you're an athlete, if you're in some sort, if you are passionate about something and you're trying to change the world for a better place and ultimately, you know influence to help change this world into a better place. And I think Cole does a great job of that with his you know, athletic abilities and his success in basketball. So I love that you do that, man, because so much now in society is totally against that. Am I wrong?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's tough. I mean, even when they go to CJ Stroud's interviews on SportsCenter, they always take out the part where he says all credit to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and I get it right, because they are a business at the end of the day. But that's a part of CJ Stroud that we want to highlight. That's a part of CJ Stroud that we want to. For me, I want to give him credit for yeah, and I think that that's the side of him that he wants people to see Absolutely. And I will never hide my faith. I will never hide what.
Speaker 1:I'm about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because that's truly what I believe in. It's a huge part of who I am as a person. And I'm only here because the man above Amen. I'm only here and able to do what I do because the man above. And at the end of the day, people are like, oh, but you work hard. Yeah, but God gives me the ability to be healthy, to be safe, to nourish my body, to put resources in front of me, to be able to work hard, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Only reason I'm able to work hard is because of God. That part, I just think. It's when you you take pride is the devil, yeah. And as soon as you start trying to take credit for what you've done on this earth or what you've done in this world, that's when you become unfulfilled. Yep. And I always say, like, insecurity is the devil as well. And what do people try and hide their insecurity with? Woman, yep, money, lust, money, drugs, drinking Drugs, alcohol. And I've just noticed over this past year, you're going to have hard days. You're going to have days where you don't feel like reading the Word. You're going to have days where you're like God. Why is this so hard? Why me? I'm trying to be closer to you.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to be closer to you.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to be with you, god. Not everything is going to be purposeful. The only fulfillment I've ever had in my life is when I gave up to Jesus and over the past year, when I got let go from the Lakers, that's when I was like all right, god, I'm giving it up to you. I don't have the answers. I don't want to be in this circle of praising you but doing other things, going to the clubs or looking for lust or doing all these things. I just want to try and glorify you and have.
Speaker 2:I stumbled. Yes, I've stumbled. Yeah of course we all do, but it's been the most fulfilling I've ever been in my life and I can truly say there's no regrets over the past year in my life.
Speaker 1:I love that man and I think you know it's such a valuable aspect you're talking about. You know, I tell everybody, to the people that are believers, to the listeners, to people I walk around with. Everybody's got a God-sized hole in their heart, bro, and you can try anything to fill it, and we named some of those things earlier. But until you truly get to that point where you submit everything to Christ, you're going to always feel unfulfilled, you're going to always feel empty or some part of you is not going to be full. Right, and I think that's such an important aspect is when you get to that moment, it is truly one of those best moments in your life, because the stress comes off right, these burdens become lifted, these things in your life just completely change. I was, as you know, a couple weeks ago. I was in new york with my brother, grant, and, uh, we went to a comedy show and in the comedy show this guy did this skit about religion and one. It was a funny joke, but it was so true and it resonates to this is. He said me and god are pretty dope and I was like, oh okay, where are you going with this? He said me and him are closest when I'm 30 000 feet in the air on an airplane and his joke of that was saying, well, you have nowhere else to turn. And then he knew that guy was not the pilot, he's got no control of the situation or whatever. And when I turned around and told my brother and because he believes in a god not necessarily, not necessarily Jesus, but we have a lot of faith conversations and I turned around and I told him I said it's because every one of us hit that point at one time but we have nowhere else to turn. And I was very fortunate to hit that at a young age, because you know my physical situation. I was in so much pain, discomfort and all these other things where I was like, okay, god, like I got to give it to you, like I'm giving it to you now because I have nothing else to turn to right, like the pain medications, all these other things. And for you, you know, your basketball career is such an important part of your life and when you hit that in your basketball career you're like you had nowhere else to turn. There wasn't like you could go and you know, whatever the case may be, there weren't any other opportunities, alternatives, right other than giving it to God, and so I think that's such an important aspect to that and I think that's incredible.
Speaker 1:But, you know, I kind of wanted to talk about, you know, one of the cool things that I admired about just you as an individual and your faith walk. You know, I mean grew up together for a short period of time and but through the years we were able to keep in touch. As you mentioned early on, you used to play some video games. You used to play some NBA 2K and things, but how do you, as an athlete right, I mean spent two years this will be year three in the NBA right, coming up here and spent the last two years in the NBA, but you still keep up with all your old buddies and the people from the hometown? How do you balance that, man? Because I know, as you continue to move on up, you work hard, you're doing your things. God's providing opportunities and great things but how do you make sure that you just stay connected with your loyal family back home?
Speaker 2:and those types of things. I just try and be genuine. I try and be the person that God wants me to be. And do I fall short of that sometimes? Of course, do I not respond to my grandparents right after a game sometimes yeah, that's something I. It's tough. You get all these messages and respond to my parents right away and try and respond to the people that are close. Like I said, I do fall short of that sometimes, but I've always tried to be a genuine person. I've always tried to show love. I've always tried to securing the man that you are and what God has done for you in your life. You're able to just be clear in a vision of all right. These people are genuine.
Speaker 2:These people want the best for me. Me and you played 2K growing up. Yeah, like I don't know, it's just fun, things like that where if you can make an impact in someone's life, do it that part, that part, and if you can be genuine and find ways to make time for things Like we had this conversation before. I used to make excuses of not being able to go to church and I realized when you put God first, you can't skip church to watch Sunday Night Football, you can't skip church to.
Speaker 2:I remember I had a conversation when I was a sophomore at Villanova with my chaplain and I was like he's like, hey, did you head to church? This past Sunday I didn't see you there and I was like, oh man, I had homework and the Patriots were playing. So I was like, okay, I get it. And him saying I get it. I was like, all right, that can't happen anymore. I need to find like churches are non-negotiable Me, going to church is non-negotiable Like praying every night and and if God's really the center of my life, make him the center of your life. And yeah, there's some days I can't go because of basketball and travel and everything like that.
Speaker 2:But one thing I've tried to do is every single city I go to, chad Veach my pastor in LA. I'll ask him about a church.
Speaker 1:What church recommendation and?
Speaker 2:he'll always send me a church and he'll put me in the first row every single time. That's awesome, Like I was at Lakewood Church. Oh, that's awesome In the first row and hanging out with Joel Osteen after and I was in whatever like just different cities. Yeah, and Chad always puts me in touch with people. That's amazing, and got super close to the people at VU Church in Miami. Like I said, it's just been a blessing Just trying to really be genuine in my relationship with God.
Speaker 1:I think, you know, the genuineness that you show in your relationship to God ultimately then turns into your relationship with people, a thousand percent people, right, and um, you know, I, I've, I've been god's very blessed me, uh, in the aspect of being able to coach, you know, and baseball and things like that, and I've been very fortunate enough to know several athletes at all different level, but I really, um, in a way, healthy way, admire the athletes who, and people who are just successful and from a worldly perspective in general, that are able to be genuine in their relationships. Right, there's times you know where I've questioned, you know, people. I'll be completely transparent. As a handicapped person, people are just going to be nice to you, to be nice to you, right? So one of the things I had to work through growing up is like, okay, are you just being nice to me because I'm in a wheelchair? Are we genuinely homies? Are we genuinely right? I'm in a wheelchair? Are we genuinely homies? Are we genuinely right? Like, do you if I called you because to me? People know this, the listeners know this, my best friends, the people in my life know that If they called me, you know and they need a shirt off their back or they need to bail out money, like I got them.
Speaker 1:Like that's the loyalty that I have with people, and so one of the things that, like, I admire about you in a healthy way, in the sense of you know, obviously the Bible tells us not to have idols and those types of things but appreciate, you know, people that are successful businessmen, athletes, whatever the case may be on a worldly level but still keep Christ at the center, but in addition, is really keeping those genuine relationship with people and stay on their word and those types of things.
Speaker 1:Because it's so easy and I was guilty of it too, and I'm not perfect either when you're coaching or when you're doing your job or whatever the case may be, you get lost with some people. You're like, hey, I can, I can help you with that. Right, I can do this with you, you know, um, but keep doing what you're doing, man, keep having those genuine relationships and making an impact on people's lives, cause, like you said, if you can just do one thing for one person or you know, when you meet them, you don't know what that trickle effect is going to do for them, and I remember you didn't know I was gonna be an nba player?
Speaker 1:oh, not at all, bro.
Speaker 2:I was in eighth grade, no and I didn't know you were gonna be a big time baseball coach and whatever all these things, right. But I think one thing that and you you're making jokes about handicapped people and before and everything like that and one thing about you is that if someone were to talk to you over the phone, they would never know or never understand the things that you've been through. Just because's the ultimate like prize as a person, when, when you're able to be genuine and be real and be able to, to talk to people about not even your experiences, but just give them life, I think you do an unbelievable job and you have every reason not to. You have every reason to be mad at the world, right, but you've, you've always been the most positive person I've ever. I've ever been around.
Speaker 1:Even when you were in fourth grade and we were playing 2K and you were talking crap to me, oh yeah man.
Speaker 2:Those were the days, bro, and I just think that's such an amazing quality that you have I appreciate it and keep inspiring man, Thanks man. It's been unbelievable to watch.
Speaker 1:I appreciate that and you know, I think, something that you know God's given me as a gift, right, and you talked about it. You know, in a way you're like having that right to quote unquote, be mad at the world, but you know, one of my favorite Bible verses, right, and one of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John, chapter 9. And that talks about when Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath and he's walking along the road with his disciples and the disciples ask him, say Rabbi, they say why was this man born blind? Was it because of his sins or was it because of his parents' sins? And Jesus turns around and tells him, no, he says it was, so the power of me could be seen through him, and then heals the blind man.
Speaker 1:And so I believe that my situation is for a reason, because if people could see me, you know, glorifying God and being positive and being who God created me to be, then hopefully that inspires other people to want to, you know, live their life for Jesus and do the best with what they're given.
Speaker 1:And you know what I'll last thing I'll say about that is we also don't know what everybody's going through, right, I mean I've met some about. I've met some of the most successful people in the world and this is not a flex, this is just to say that they've been some of the most miserable people in the world and I've met some homeless people that come to our church that are some of the most happy and most rooted in their faith people I've ever met. So I think, just understanding that, be appreciative of what you have and, you know, do the best with what God's given you, try not to compare about what you have and what other people have and just embrace it. Embrace what you have, because I think there's so many people out there that would die to have one aspect of your life, whether it may be something you take for granted or something you don't.
Speaker 2:People out there would love to have what you have no doubt, and for you to be able to say that's just very inspiring. Just continue to be that light, continue to say that's just very inspiring and just continue to be that like. Continue to be that person because you inspire me, you inspire me and I know, uh, I know with, with your circumstances, seeing you starting this podcast and wearing jesus one and, and, and really developing into the man, into the man of faith that you are is, like I said, it's incredible to watch and only wants me to become stronger in my faith and I love that.
Speaker 1:I think that's the most. You know. It's humbling to hear that in a way, because it just allows me to, you know, want to continue to just be a vessel for God, being obedient. You know, I always tell people like people I held a workshop a month ago about. It was called Unshaken. It was talking about, like having unwavering faith.
Speaker 1:And one of the biggest questions you know people have in this world is like what's my purpose, what's my meaning, what's my why? And one of the things that I talk about is like. People are like well, how do I know I have a purpose? Like, how do I find out my purpose? My first, out my purpose, that's my first thing is I say you have to know you have a purpose, like, believe it, because if you don't believe it, you you gotta believe you had a person. But the one thing is you gotta be available for god to reveal that to you. And then, once you reveal that, you gotta be obedient.
Speaker 1:Right, how many people, myself included, god uh prompts you to go do something? The spirit's like hey, go help out that person, hey, go up. But you're just like nah, you know, college football sounds good right now, or nah, like you know, the hanging out with this person sounds fun, but god's like, hey, go check out that homeless person right now. They might need you. Go wherever the case may be right, but it's okay. We pray to god, say god use us, but he also wants us to be obedient when he does call us right. So I think that big aspect is the obedience and just continuing to strive, because I don't have it all figured out, I still struggle with my old stuff every day, but every day, you know, every day, I do try to challenge myself and pray that god, allow me to be used for your good and just prompt that obedience so I can continually serve you thousand percent man.
Speaker 2:You couldn't have said any better. I uh, even yesterday, before the summer league championship Championship, I'm on my knees praying in front of my bed, just like God. I don't know what you have in store for me. I don't know what I can do right now. I just want to thank you for putting me in this position, thank you for giving me this life, thank you for allowing me to continue to play the game that I love around the people that I love, and give me a chance, even when it doesn't seem fair and going through the summer league.
Speaker 2:You expect one thing, and God just shakes things up and is like hey, even though you're obedient, I'm going to keep on testing your faith and keep on seeing if you're going to come back to me and keep on seeing if you're going to read the word. Keep on seeing if you're going to keep on testing your faith. Keep on seeing if you're going to come back to me. Keep on seeing if you're going to read the word. Keep on seeing if you're going to follow me, even when it's not easy. Right that part, and God's the greatest.
Speaker 1:That part bro.
Speaker 2:And he continues to bless me, continues to bless and I'm not saying it's ever going to be easy or it's ever going to be one of those things. There's always going to be challenges. I remember we have a mental health coach and Duncan Robbins is one of my mentors and he literally let me stay at his apartment this year. That's real Right, Two shooters in the same spot bro. Two shooters, man, A lot of shooting in one building right A lot of you straight up.
Speaker 2:And one thing that Duncan always talked about was hey, when I get that contract, everything will be good. He gets a five-year $90 million contract. I'm not trying to put his business out there, but it's reported right. And he was even more miserable after the contract than before. And with that comes responsibility and comes more pressure.
Speaker 2:And it's one of those things where it's like, yeah, you want that, you want the financial security, but at the end of the day it's not going to make you happy. So what can you do on a day-to-day basis and finding your relationship with God that's going to help you be fulfilled and help people with the gifts that God gives you.
Speaker 1:That part, that part and, I think, two things I want to touch upon. One of the things that I truly believe in is you know, you hear this saying that says, like idle hands are the devil's workshop. My roommate explained this to me the other day. It was a couple months ago actually now. It blew me up, but it was so, it was so relatable. He said it's not, because, if you think about it, if I'm sitting on the couch eating doritos, playing my xbox all day, not doing things for the kingdom, not trying to do the best what god gave me, do you really think that, like, the devil's gonna be messing around with you? Probably not, but if you're trying to go out to do the best that God gave me, do you really think that the devil is going to be messing around with you? Probably not. But if you're trying to go out to do the best for what God's called you to do and go glorify him and go spread the word, the enemy is going to be coming full force right and you're striving to get that platform to be able to secure your position and those types of things to be able to glorify God, and as you are doing that, the enemy does come harder because you are trying to, you know, achieve these goals for his glory. So I think one of those things is, unfortunately, in a way, you know, the more you go after God, the harder it gets, but the more rewarding it is for his kingdom, and you know in that way as well. And then I think one of the interesting parts I think is so important you talked about like achieving that, like a contract right as dunking in and these things.
Speaker 1:I was meeting this guy at church and and, uh, he was basically just talking about all these things that he had been achieving in the money, in the cars, and all he was like bro, great, and you know he's like. Well, what are your goals financially? I said, bro, god's, god's going to provide for my bills, that's all I care about. I do what I love. I get to serve at my church, I get to coach baseball for a living, get to host a podcast, and Lord's going to provide whatever case. That means I don't, money's not. It like that for me. That's just never really been my thing. And but what I told him he's like, well, you don't want to get complacent.
Speaker 1:I said there is a difference between contentment and complacency A thousand percent, and a lot of people don't realize that. A lot of people think like, oh, when you're content, it means you have to be complacent. No, god still wants me to strive to be the best version of myself, to be able to coach the athletes as best as I can, to lead them to Jesus and mentor them and do all these things. But in addition, if I only had, you know, let's just use finances if I only had a little bit of money and it just barely covered my bills, then I'm going to glorify God in that because I'm content, right, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to work harder to provide for my family, provide for what my needs are, whether it's financial, whether it's whatever the case may.
Speaker 1:Be y'all, but don't confuse contentment with complacency. God's going to provide for you. Be y'all, but don't confuse contentment with complacency. God's going to provide for you. Um, and I think how would you say in the professional field? Well, we'll just use like athletes as an example. Do you think there's a lot of confusion with contentment and complacency there? Like when people try to get into the mindset of being content and then they feel like, oh, I'm going to become complacent, someone's going to pass me up or whatever the case may be on that.
Speaker 2:Well, I think a lot of the time we think about what we're doing right and, at the end of the day, it's not about me that part it's about God and it's about glorifying him. And every single day I work hard, I try and do the right things, I try and put myself in the best position to be successful right. But as I said earlier, like God has allowed me to do this, God has allowed me to be healthy, to work hard, to train and everything like that. So it's never about me at the end of the day and me being I'm not content at all. Like I want to strive to be the best player I can possibly be. But I also think for God, reaching your potential is glorifying him and that's all I want is just to reach my potential and whatever my potential is, God has written that for me and me just doing my part, glorifying God in every aspect that I can, working as hard as I can because of the gifts that he's given me to 6'8 and 6'3 parents, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:The parents that love me unconditionally, the grandparents text me after every single game, all those things that he's blessed me with the body, the physical, the mental, all these things he's blessed me with. Let me maximize these things, that part, and then glorify what he's able to do in my life, because there's so many things that are out of our control.
Speaker 2:That part you can't control how many people watch this, that part. But what you can control is the ability to have us sit down here, set up a conference room, set up the microphone and everything. Yeah, exactly For us to have this conversation to hopefully affect one person. Exactly, that's it. Just one person, yep, and if more people, that's a bonus. Amen. So I just try and be a vessel man.
Speaker 1:I try and do the best work that God allows me to do that part, that part, and I think that's such a great way to put it really, just to really encapsulate just ultimately being a vessel for God, regardless of where you are, and I think that's just such an important piece. You know, through that journey and he these things up is I like to what are three hobbies or things people might not know about you other than basketball? And then, who did you kind of grow up trying to mimic your game after, like, who is somebody you looked up to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no doubt my favorite player ever was LeBron James. Okay.
Speaker 1:And people say God isn't real.
Speaker 2:In 2018, I remember being in my dorm room watching LeBron go through the playoffs yeah, being so motivated by the way he was playing. I would go to the gym after his games and I was like I need to help LeBron, I need to help LeBron, and then I get to be teammates with him. That's cool. Five years later, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:He's still hooping to this day, bro.
Speaker 2:Still ho, that's cool Five years later. That's so cool. He's still hooping to this day, bro, he's still hooping. It's just still mind-blowing to me that I was able to meet my idol. Yeah, but in terms of guys that I mimic my game after there's the Kyle Corvers, there's the Doug McDermott, there's the Duncan Robinsons, there's the Joe Harris's. So those are the guys that I try and mimic my game after and then just trying to add my own, my own flavor. My yeah, because I know, at the end of the day, like you can try and be like those guys you're always gonna be your own person right, yeah, um, and when I talk about hobbies, I've really gotten to reading.
Speaker 2:Okay, uh, trying to trying to read as many books as possible, like I love watching Netflix, hanging out with friends Okay, yeah, trying to just help people out. I really enjoy meeting new people and conversating, like you said, trying to lead people towards God man, he's been such a blessing in my life to be able just to like I was at VU Conference, not to go off topic, but I was at VU Conference and the song Worthy is your Name, oh.
Speaker 1:I love that song bro.
Speaker 2:I listened to that this morning and I'm on my knees with one of my teammates next to me, his wife, drew Smith, and Marley Okay, marley Smith, his wife. I'm on my knees with them. Right next to me, a pastor from Dallas, texas, is sitting right in front of me that I connected with through Chad, on my knees, just thinking about the last year, putting my hands up and just like crying, like hysterically over the blessings that he's placed on my life and just being in that moment, having that one-on-one feeling with God and them putting their hands on my shoulders and worshiping. Those are the things that I cherish more than anything Having those one-on-one moments with God man, just super blessed and thankful and, um, when it comes to hobbies, I just, I just want to. I want to help people have that feeling and help people have that encounter with God, because it was just such a powerful moment that it makes me want to just continue to follow, follow God and follow his message and continue to bring my friends and family closer to him that's awesome.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. Well, I think you're doing a great job of that. You know, I think that's so amazing. You know, um, last thing we wrap up with here before we pray out is I always like to uh, you know, uh, give you an opportunity to kind of, maybe, what are some things maybe that, uh, the listeners could be praying for you about? Or, uh, what are some things that, in addition to what do you have coming up, what are some things maybe you're working on? Obviously, this is a big moment for your career at this point, but maybe you're working on things on the side, maybe that you could turn them on to or shout out your podcast and all the things that you're working on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've been taking a little break from the podcast.
Speaker 2:Okay, I really wanted to focus this offseason on on just being present and being in the moment of of, where my career is right. Um, so we're taking a little break from the podcast, but, um, so, with 60 minutes on on the clock, before every single nba game, we have a chapel, and you actually went to, yeah, the meeting that we just had in vegas with all the n NBA chaplains and a bunch of people who came. But during every single chapel, they ask for our prayer request. I always ask for mental clarity. I ask for just my mental health and just being in the moment, and I think a lot of the times when I've struggled is when I try and I'm worried about the things I can't control, if that's the minutes of shots going in, if that's all these things, I'm at my best when I'm in life and on the court, when I'm just able to be in the moment, live and live fearlessly, like without fear.
Speaker 2:So if people can just pray for me in that aspect, if people can just pray for my continued blessing upon God, just to be able to have this platform to affect people and I truly I mean this. I want to leave it up to God. If my path isn't for me to play basketball, then I want whatever God wants from me and, as hard as that may be, I truly believe that that will leave me the most fulfilled and leave me with the purpose that I was meant to have. That part, yeah, this is a huge off-season for me. I've battled for two years to try and put myself in a position to gain a contract, so hopefully this off-season I can land that contract. So just continue to pray for health and safety, absolutely, and the ability to just follow my dreams and goals and continue just to be able to affect people.
Speaker 2:I love that Would be my prayer request, that's awesome, bro.
Speaker 1:I love it. Well, let's end this thing out with prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this opportunity, god. I want to thank you for friendships, god, that you have put in our lives. That just you just know, lord, you know you put it on our hearts when people were supposed to be in your life, and especially for a long time. Lord, and I just pray over Cole's life right now.
Speaker 1:God, we are just so thankful for all the blessings that you have been able to give him and all the lessons that you have been able to teach him, god.
Speaker 1:But just the sincerity through this story, god, and the vulnerability that he's been able to open up with the listeners, god, we just pray that the listeners were just able to be impacted here tonight or whenever they listen to this, god, and just that they know that the listeners are loved and chosen and called and that you have a plan and purpose for their lives, God.
Speaker 1:God, I just pray that you remind them that, whatever may be up against them right now, that you are greater than that, god. I pray that you remind them that you are the light in the darkness, that you are a way maker, that you will make a way, even though it looks like there might not be a way. God, god, I pray that you continually go before them. And, god, we just pray for Cole and continue the mental clarity right now. And God, you just provide him with these next steps, whatever that looks like. God, we just pray that your will is done, god, and regardless what happens, we just pray that your peace that you put upon him, that suppresses, like you say in the Bible, surpasses all understanding.
Speaker 1:God, we just thank you and praise you, jesus In the Bible surpasses all understanding God. We thank you and praise you, jesus. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen, amen, amen. That was great, dan, let's go Alright, explosive. There you go, there we go.
