This is one of my favourite photos of Dennis Rodman, and probably one of my favourite basketball photos. Period.

Rodman. Completely horizontal. No regard for himself. Athletic. A little crazy. Going after a loose ball. Snapped by Sam Forencich in 1997.

To be honest, it’s probably the hustle factor that raises its ranks in my favourite basketball photos for me. He was giving everything going after a loose ball. Not a highlight dunk or block. A loose ball.

This is just what he did. He redefined hustle.

More recently, when I think of him, I’m always reminded of his episode in The Last Dance (Ep 3 if you’re playing along at home).

This is when I realised how unique he was. And also how uniquely he was managed by Phil Jackson.

“Go to Vegas. Do what you need to do. Come back ready.”

Applying the same rules just wouldn’t work for Rodman. Giving him some freedom works for him…but threatens the standard of the rest of the team. A conundrum of performance management.

What High Performance looked like in this environment and with this individual (and in Vegas) is not textbook.

So, what does High Performance look like? 👀

There’s an answer somewhere. I’m just finding it harder and harder to define.

What I do know is:
It’s personal.
It’s unique.
It’s aligned with the player.
It’s built as a team.

Not drilled into people. It’s educated and developed. 🫱🏼‍🫲🏻

Healthy Hooper helps to navigate and problem solve this.
NBA ≠ NBL ≠ NBL1 ≠ Social ≠ Junior🏀

#healthyhooper #performance #basketball #physio #health