By Tennie Sumague
Eagle News Service

(Eagel News) — In sports, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Special moments in the world of sports teaches humility in victory and graciousness in defeat.

With the NBA season winding down, we will look back on some of the best quotes on failure, experience, adversity, and teamwork.

– Failure is a step to success –

The Milwaukee Bucks held the best record this season but exited out of the first round by the Miami Heat.

When asked whether the Bucks’ season was viewed as a failure, superstar forward Giannis Antetokoumpo graciously answered that “failure is a step to success.”

“There’s no failure in sports,” said Antetokoumpo. “There’s good days, bad days, some days you’ll be successful, some days you’re not.  Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win.”

– Experience is the key to victory –

The Sacramento Kings meteoric rise to the top was one of the best stories of the season due to the dynamic leadership of Coach of the Year winner, Mike Brown. The Kings, who won this year’s Pacific Division title faced a neighboring opponent in the first round – the defending champions Golden State Warriors.

Experience played a vital role in this Northern California series with the Warriors advancing to the second round after being down 0-2. Stephen Curry ignited Golden 1 Arena with a 50-point performance and explained that it was their playoff experience that rose them to victory.

“We have a lot of experience winning series so you just let that all out. This is hard, winning at this level. There’s a lot of narratives and commentary throughout…and you’re trying to block it out. You just focus on basketball at the end of it…,” said Curry.

– Triumph over adversity –

Injuries can derail an athlete’s mentality physically and emotionally, but those setbacks can make an athlete’s comeback stronger and hungrier for a championship ring.

Last year, Klay Thompson won another championship with the Warriors after sitting out the past two seasons –  first with a torn ACL suffered during the 2019 NBA finals followed by a torn Achilles suffered before the start of the 2020. 

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray returned this season from a devastating ACL injury suffered during the end of 2021 season. Denver is aiming to win their first NBA title in franchise history with a healthy Murray complimenting two-time league MVP Nikola Jokic.

Murray explains how he overcame the hurdle of returning from his ACL injury.

“I had some ups and downs this season, some sore days where I couldn’t play…it’s been trending,” said Murray after the Nuggets swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

“Just to be here, to be playing this many minutes at this time, we’ve been preparing for this. I’m glad I put the work in during rehab to be able to perform and do my best.”

– Teamwork makes the dream work –

The Heat, who are battling for this year’s Larry O’Brien against the Nuggets, are a team like the Nuggets who define the true example of brotherhood.

Led by All-Star forward Jimmy Butler, expressed his respect for the ‘Heat Culture’ and his unwavering confidence with his teammates after Miami’s Eastern Conference Finals win over the Boston Celtics.

“I just know why Coach Pat [Riley] and Coach Spo wanted me to be here and that’s to compete at a high level and to win championships,” said Butler. “I know that the group they put around me at all times are [going] to give an opportunity to do so. So I was always very, very confident in that.

“I work extremely hard with the team…so I’m just confident. I know the work we all put into it, so I know what we’re capable of. But nobody is satisfied and we haven’t done anything. But we don’t play just to win the Eastern Conference Finals; we play to win the whole thing.”

(Eagle News Service)