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Han Sun and Coach McCracken
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The Dao (道) of Basketball
by Han Sun (Harbin, China) and
Jay McDaniel (Conway, Arkansas)
with help from Coach Thad McCracken
of Hendrix College in Arkansas
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The Dao of Shooting:
Coach McCracken says it is important to stay true to the shot we are making, keeping our eyes on the goal. In a similar spirit, we in the Open Horizons community believe that it is important to keep our lives focused on the creative good that weaves its way through the universe: the Dao (道). The Dao is like a basketball goal, except it resides within the human heart. Christians call this creative good the spirit of God. We are always aiming at it, trying to attune our hearts to its wisdom. We do not throw balls into it, but we can place our trust in its healing power, allowing it to guide us in our daily lives. Sometimes we put our trust in smaller hoops and are disappointed. Hoops like money or prestige or power. The Spirit is a bigger hoop. It is everywhere at once, if only we have eyes to see. It is always more than names, yet closer to us than our breathing. Even when we miss shots, it gives us balance and hope. * Sometimes we find ourselves with an open court, heading toward the goal for a dunk. But if we try too hard, we miss it. It is only when we let go of trying and simply let the spontaneity unfold, that the goal comes to us. Daoists speak of this creativity -- this effortless action -- as wu-wei. It's one of the most beautiful parts of basketball and of life. But it takes practice to be spontaneous. The best practice is laughter, and sincerity, and loving-kindness. |
The Dao of Ball-Handling:
Coach McCracken offers tips for dribbling down the basketball court. The lessons he offers can help us dribble down the court of life. Sometimes the court of life is the tougher court, filled with ups and downs. Fortunately, we have teammates who can help us, too: our family, our friends, our church, and the Spirit. Coach also tells us to protect the ball with our off hand. The opposing team is our own ego: our preoccupations with fame, fortune, and power. Our guarding hand is our own capacity to say "no" to these preoccupations. Our own efforts are never enough. We need others, too. Sometimes -- oftentimes -- we must pass the ball to them. They need our help and we need their help. Basketball is a team sport. There's no need to be a god. There's no need to be the center of attention. We are all in it together. Christians call this being together church. Buddhists call it sangha. In order to find our way toward the hoop of love, we need community. 
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The Dao of Defense:
Coach McCracken tells us that, when we are guarding someone, we need to keep our feet in front of us, to give ourselves space, to be able to slide back and forth. There's a freedom and flexibility here, jazz-like in its spirit. We are always improvising. Even God must improvise, because the future is open. As we improvise, we must be aware of open spaces on the court and know where the ball is. And so it is with life itself. The key in life is not to bump into others and foul them; it is to find the open spaces, to be willing to adjust to each new circumstance. This capacity to adjust is our freedom. Even as we are connected to the rest of the team, we contain a spark of spontaneity, a capacity to adapt to whatever happens. This spark is at work in good defending and, even more deeply, in good living. 
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OK...we admit it. Basketball is not really as spiritual as we make it sound above. We are grateful to Coach McCracken for letting us use his instructions for a few philosophical points. We know that he is more preoccupied with defeating actual opponents, made of flesh and blood, than defeating the ego, at least when it comes to coaching an actual basketball team. When we talked with him the other day, his team -- our team -- had lost a game the night before. He was nice to visit with us when all he really wanted to do was get out with his team and practice more.
He was also good to talk with us about life lessons. As citizens of China and the United States, we are curious about how people who play and coach basketball find “lessons for life” in it. We know of the famous former coach of the LA Lakers, Phil Jackson, who has a Zen and Christian approach to basketball. For him basketball was about being in the present and being aware of what is happening around you. It was all very Buddhist.
But most people in China and the United States don’t usually think in such terms. They think that basketball is…well…basketball. That's why we went to visit Coach McCracken. He played college basketball before he became a coach, and excelled at three-point shooting. We quickly realized that, for him, basketball is a philosophy as well as a sport. Or perhaps better, a lifestyle with some values in it. Call it the Dao (道) of Basketball.
There are many, many books written on the lessons for life a person can learn from sports, so we won't duplicate them here. But just to give you a taste, we want to share a few more things we learned from Coach McCracken. One of the things you learn in basketball, is to respect the efforts that other people undertake, because without their support, you cannot succeed in any way. Let’s say that you are a pretty good three-point shooter. It might be natural for you to think of yourself as a star of sorts, but without the supportive efforts of others on your team, it is not possible for you to find the openings and make your shots. You are grateful to them, and you realize that, even as you try to excel, you are part of a larger team.
He was also good to talk with us about life lessons. As citizens of China and the United States, we are curious about how people who play and coach basketball find “lessons for life” in it. We know of the famous former coach of the LA Lakers, Phil Jackson, who has a Zen and Christian approach to basketball. For him basketball was about being in the present and being aware of what is happening around you. It was all very Buddhist.
But most people in China and the United States don’t usually think in such terms. They think that basketball is…well…basketball. That's why we went to visit Coach McCracken. He played college basketball before he became a coach, and excelled at three-point shooting. We quickly realized that, for him, basketball is a philosophy as well as a sport. Or perhaps better, a lifestyle with some values in it. Call it the Dao (道) of Basketball.
There are many, many books written on the lessons for life a person can learn from sports, so we won't duplicate them here. But just to give you a taste, we want to share a few more things we learned from Coach McCracken. One of the things you learn in basketball, is to respect the efforts that other people undertake, because without their support, you cannot succeed in any way. Let’s say that you are a pretty good three-point shooter. It might be natural for you to think of yourself as a star of sorts, but without the supportive efforts of others on your team, it is not possible for you to find the openings and make your shots. You are grateful to them, and you realize that, even as you try to excel, you are part of a larger team.
Coach McCracken also said that life itself is like this. You might have certain gifts that are worth cultivating, and this is a good thing. But you need to understand your own gifts and skills in the larger context of a harmonious society -- to use the phrase popular in China -- where you depend on people with other gifts and skills, equally important. Even if you want to be a star, you cannot be a star in isolation. The very impulse to excel must be combined with the recognition that you are part of a larger family, the team itself. We are reminded of the Analects of Confucius: “Now the person of perfect virtue, wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to be enlarged, he seeks also to enlarge others.”
If you play basketball, though, you already know these things. Your pleasure is in the playing. In truth we think that's another spiritual lesson. Some people think that life is a game that people need to win. Certainly basketball is a game like this. But for us, the ultimate value of basketball is the sheer joy of playing, of having fun with others, of enjoying what is happening in the here and now. Coach McCracken made this clear to us, too. He knows that basketball is a game. And he knows that, in many ways, life is not just a game. What we ended up respecting about him was that he was concerned with his players as human beings, as people. He coaches at a liberal arts college which emphasizes education for the whole person. We asked a player what he thought of his coach. The player said: "I like him very much! He treats me and all the players as whole people, as students and not just athletes, and as people and not just students." We sensed then, as we sense now, that Coach McCracken knows the Dao (道) of Basketball.
If you play basketball, though, you already know these things. Your pleasure is in the playing. In truth we think that's another spiritual lesson. Some people think that life is a game that people need to win. Certainly basketball is a game like this. But for us, the ultimate value of basketball is the sheer joy of playing, of having fun with others, of enjoying what is happening in the here and now. Coach McCracken made this clear to us, too. He knows that basketball is a game. And he knows that, in many ways, life is not just a game. What we ended up respecting about him was that he was concerned with his players as human beings, as people. He coaches at a liberal arts college which emphasizes education for the whole person. We asked a player what he thought of his coach. The player said: "I like him very much! He treats me and all the players as whole people, as students and not just athletes, and as people and not just students." We sensed then, as we sense now, that Coach McCracken knows the Dao (道) of Basketball.