How To Be Content, A Life Lesson from the LA Lakers

Ever feel overlooked, undervalued, stuck in the background while everyone else gets the spotlight?

What if your true power isn’t in the fame or praise, but in showing up and doing your role with relentless grit?

On this encouraging episode, we dive deep into a game-changing perspective inspired by Friday night’s Lakers game focused on Lebron James and Marcus Smart — but it’s more than basketball.

We got Lebron James, Marcus Smart, NBA Finals, NBA Highlights, and the Lake Show BALLIN...but this is ALL ABOUT YOU!!!!

When society seems to only rewards and acknowledge the flashy and most visible, it’s the quiet hustlers, the unsung heroes like Marcus Smart, like YOU, who truly change the game!

Free Resources: https://bio.site/iamthepossible

You’ll discover:

• The hidden lessons from Marcus Smart’s hustle that apply to your life’s battles
• How to embrace your role—even when it feels unseen or unappreciated
• Practical ways to find fulfillment and confidence by shifting your focus inward, not on applause
• The importance of understanding your unique contribution and loving it fully, regardless of external recognition
• Why your “unspectacular” role might be the most vital of all, and how to own it with pride

This isn’t just about feeling validated — it’s about transforming how you see your worth when no one’s watching. Your value isn’t defined by applause or awards; it’s rooted in purpose, persistence, and authenticity.

Perfect for anyone tired of playing the background, tired of chasing approval, ready to step into their true role — regardless of the spotlight. Because when you really get it, your contribution becomes unstoppable.

Remember: The game isn’t just about the score. It’s about knowing your part and showing up for it, night after night.

Are you ready to stop waiting for recognition and start loving your role? Hit play now. This episode will remind you — your hustle is enough. Your contribution matters. And the best part? You’re already enough.

Your role is vital. 

Your effort is seen by the right eyes — the divine eyes. 

Step into your power today and own your space.

Transcript

Treveal C.W. Lynch (00:00)
give it a few minutes for this very special Saturday edition sports in self help edition of the I am the possible podcast experience, man. Thank you all for joining me with you are alive or on the replay. This was one of those just out of left field and, yeah, pun intended, right? We're in baseball season, right? Out of left.

field, came this inspiration, man, from last night's Laker game. So I just wanted to share a word of encouragement because as I was watching the Lakers game last night and shout out to any true diehard Laker fans, I'm a new Laker fan ever since LeBron James joined the team. Just being honest. ⁓ but yeah, man, I have grown in my love and appreciation for the Lakers team.

I've always been a Kobe fan, always been a Kobe fan, but now I'm a complete Laker fan. But today I wanted to talk about something very specific, right? Always want to encourage, always want to build up your self-confidence, build up your clarity about, you know, just about who you are, right? And the value that you bring to the world. And so last night I was watching the Lakers game and I was inspired to share what I'm about to share in the context of

individuals who oftentimes will compare themselves, and maybe that's you, they will compare themselves to others. They will feel some type of way about themselves because they're not getting the recognition. They're not getting the approval. They're not getting the shine, spotlight, the credit for the things that they're doing in life.

So I may be speaking to a father, I may be speaking to a mother, I may be speaking to a child, right? I may be speaking to a leader at work, a manager, supervisor, I may be speaking to an employee. I think this is such a universal message and such a universal issue. We go all out, we do everything that we know to do. We're helping others, serving others.

going the extra mile, bending over backwards, bending over so others don't break. We're doing all these different things for all these different people, but it's like we never get the credit. It always goes to someone else. Or we're comparing ourselves in terms of maybe we're in the church or we're on our job or we're in a family dynamics, right? And it seems like someone else

always gets the attention and we're always left in the background. And it's like, wow, how come they always get the spotlight? ⁓ They always get pushed to the front and we always are kind of playing the background. If that's you today, I wanted to share some, some things that I observed in last night's game because we do live in a culture where image, popularity,

It tends to push certain people to the front and sometimes ignore the people who are doing just as much or even more. And maybe that's you, you're doing just as much as everyone else, but everyone else seems to be getting the shine or you're doing even more. And the more you think about it, it's like, man, my brother gets to shine or my sister gets to shine or my coworker gets to shine or

whatever, right? The other person in your environment. And it's like, why don't we praise you? Why don't we recognize you? Why don't we give you your due credit? I want to encourage that person. If that's you today, I want to encourage you. Last night, I was watching the Lakers game and it was an awesome game, by the way. Looks like Lakers are going to either sweep or at least beat them in maybe five games, right? So.

really, really encouraging for a Lakers fan. But as I watched the game and as it wind or as it was winding down, right, it was a close, close match. And in the last few minutes, all the way down to the last minute, it looked like the Rockets were gonna win. The Rockets had stayed in the game, stayed in the game, stayed in the game, and then they eventually took the lead. And if you watched the game, you knew

And maybe you felt like I did. Man, game over. That's a wrap. Like I was actually about to, you know how you get real upset because you are rooting for the Lakers and they've had the lead most of the game. They came out first quarter on fire and you like, yeah, man, we're going to do this thing. We killing them. We smashing them. Let's get it. And then the Rockets stick around, stick around, stick around. And then finally they actually take the lead late in the game. And you're like, ⁓ my God. And you're like, man, this is some

mess. This is crazy, right? So I had the remote. I literally was about to click away. And then all of a sudden, and I forgot the specific play, but there was like a steal or something like that. They were either inbound in the ball or trying to pass it down court. And there was a steal and I forgot who it was, but there was a steal. And then there was a bucket by the Lakers that cut it to three. And then something else happened again. I'm just kind of living in the moment.

Maybe I should have took all these like specifics right down, right? So that I can share it with you. But the bottom line is so that I can get to my point. The bottom line is it looked like it was over, but in the last few minutes, and this is the man that I want to highlight, this is the man that I want to talk about today and give you that word of encouragement by my man, Smart began to go off. Now he was already good the entire game, hustling, everybody else looked tired.

This boy kept going energizer bunny. Everybody else was on fumes, right? Wobbly spaghetti legs. Marcus smart was hustling and right down to the last minute, he was integral vital in not only getting them to overtime, but being the star player in overtime. Now I'm going to do some stat lines for y'all real quick because remember I started with you're someone

who does just as much as everyone else, or you're doing even more, but society, the culture, your environment, the folks that you're around, it seems like someone else always gets the credit. Someone else always gets the shine. Someone else always gets pushed to the front. And it's like you're being overlooked. So I want to encourage you by this. I got a stat line right here. Listen to this. Marcus Smart, stat line.

21 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, five steals. That's phenomenal. Two blocks in 39 minutes, one turnover. Now there was a point in this game when JJ Reddick, the Lakers coach, was losing his mind because they were playing such sloppy ball. At one point it was just like, you know what, time out, time out.

Y'all gotta calm down because the ball was just flying every which way and it just looked out of sync. But Marcus Smart only had one of those many, many, many turnovers. Stick with me, guys. That was a pretty dope stat line. Pretty dope. I'm gonna save the best for last because he's got one more thing that I want to call out. But let me go. Let me go to LeBron James stat line. Now, I got nothing below for LeBron. All right.

29 points, so eight more points than Marcus Smart. Cool. He had six assists, four less than Marcus Smart. Now he had 13 rebounds, all right? So he had nine more rebounds than Marcus Smart. But check this out, three steals. Marcus had five. One block, Marcus had two blocks. Here is the...

This is where it gets dicey, right? This is where it gets interesting. LeBron James had eight turnovers.

Eight turnovers. Now he's the king. He's the, you know, some consider him the goat, second goat, whatever, right? But in this particular game, your boy, right? King James, Goat James, as some call him, had eight turnovers. That's major. That was a part of why they had this lead and lost this lead, a part of it. Not completely, but the fact that you would ⁓ turn the ball over eight times.

certainly contributed to the Rockets comeback, which put them in a tight game about to lose the game, because I had the remote ready to cut it off, about to lose the game in the final minutes. ⁓ but we had Marcus Smart. Remember those five steals? Remember those blocks? Remember all that hustle? Everyone else was on fumes, bent over grabbing their shorts, sweating profusely. Marcus Smart was still balling.

It was his steals. was his last minute shots. It was his passing ability to LeBron to hit a three right before getting it into overtime. Marcus Smart was balling. But here's the thing. I saw them interview Marcus Smart at the end of the game, right? Because they went to overtime and the Lakers won. I saw as they were coming off the court, one of the reporters grabbed him.

So they interviewed him, but it wasn't the national interview. I don't know what that interview was, right? Cause you know, different players get pulled in for different things. It was a lesser exposed interview. Markets got the lesser exposed. You know who got the front and center major, most widespread, most wide publicized interview? LeBron. The one who got him.

in trouble with his eight turnovers, the one who needed Marcus Smart's amazing hustle in the most critical parts of that game to get it to overtime. And I told you I was going to save the best for last. Stick with me. I'm going somewhere with this. In overtime, Marcus Smart, the one that didn't get the big interview, eight of 11, eight.

points of the Lakers total 11 points.

That's what he did in OT. Not only did he get them to OT, not only did he get them to OT, but he showed out in OT. He basically won the game. But who's on the front page, right? We don't really do newspapers like we used to do them right back in the day, right? I'm kind of aging myself, right? But who?

Who's on the front page? Who's getting the highlight reels? Because LeBron has some amazing plays, some dunks. He has some plays with his son, some assists with his son. That was all time, right? Old King James got all the highlights, the big interview.

But there wouldn't have been no highlights or no interview that would have all been forgotten. That would have all been swept under the rug and they would have been interviewing Shangoon and the Rockets coach and, all of that. The storyline would have been the Rockets came back after being down X, Y, and Z. Like the whole storyline would have changed if it was not for Marcus Smart. Now, where am I going with this? Why does this all connect to what I want to encourage you in today? Marcus Smart not only didn't get the shine,

And he'll probably never get the same level of shine that LeBron gets no matter what he does on that court. Because the culture, society says LeBron is the king, the goat, second coming of Jordan, all this good stuff. It's just set up for LeBron to always get the big interview, to get the shine. Right? So I'm connecting these dots for you and I, those who've been pushed to the background, who are doing everything, winning the game for the team, hustling, grinding, doing our thing, but not getting the shine.

Listen, I want to encourage you in this. Marcus Smart, he understands his role. As they were walking off the court, Marcus Smart stood at the, where they leave out. LeBron finished his interview, the big national interview. And as he was walking off the court, look who was standing there.

All the Lakers had went back to the back. They had already went back. They hit in the showers. You know who was still standing there waiting on LeBron? Good old Marcus Mark. And when he walked off the court, he gave him some dap. He dapped him up. And LeBron kind of hit him in the chest a couple of times like, respect. LeBron knew the media might not care. The media might try to push, you know,

Marcus Smart stat line and his contribution to the side. But the King knew, the King knew, he even shouted him out in the interview. He knew they would not have been in that position had it not been for Marcus Smart. Now Marcus Smart, he ain't got the commercials. He ain't got the signature shoe brand. He ain't got yada, yada, yada, yada, yada. But he's a veteran. This ain't his first rodeo. This ain't his first time. Marcus Smart been doing this. He did it for the Celtics. He did it for some other teams. Marcus Smart has always been this guy.

Energizer bunny hustle play sacrificing his body last night. I don't know how many times that boy hit the ground Got up throbbing it, you know in in pain, but he kept playing his role Knowing I'm not gonna get the highlight reel. They're not gonna see me on Sports Center Knowing he ain't gonna get the big national interview knowing he ain't gonna be on the front page But he keeps doing what he does

I think he understands and he's very comfortable with his role on the team. I think he's very comfortable understanding this is what I do. This is how I contribute to the win. This is what God's given me, a hustle that won't quit. And while I don't have the face and I'm not the face of the NBA and I'm not getting all the brand deals, I know what I'm supposed to do for this team. And this is what I want to encourage you.

And today you have a role on the team of humanity, team humanity, team life. You and I, all play a role and your role is gonna be different than my role and my role is gonna be different than your role. And I wanna encourage you to understand that your role has value. It may not always get the acknowledgement that it needs.

or deserves, it might not always get the credit. They might not always sing your praises. They might not be clapping for you all the time. But I want you to know that God loves you and God is proud of you and God is watching and God knows and God is with you and in you and the one that created you is pleased with your effort. Now know sometimes that's a hard pill to swallow. Yeah, well, I know God's proud, but I...

I don't see God in other, I didn't say it was easy.

but it's worth it. It's worth you knowing that you have, if nothing else, an audience of one who is applauding, who is pleased with your effort, who sees and recognizes your value and your worth. And maybe it just takes you a little time each day to sit still and quiet yourself and allow

that inner voice, that voice of God, the voice of the divine to shower you with that love, with that appreciation, with that grace, with that gratitude to allow God to love on you. Now those like King James who saw the value of Marcus Smart and gave him that dap, I want to encourage you that as you begin to serve in the spaces and places

that have individuals that are of the mind of recognizing and appreciating and valuing your effort, you're going to receive more than enough praise. Sometimes, sometimes we have to dig extremely deep and know that our creator is applauding us and clapping for us long enough to value ourselves and our effort long enough.

to identify the spaces and the places and the people that will appreciate and value us as we should. And we began to make that transition. And I'm not telling you to leave wherever you are or start to disassociate yourself with whoever, but there are people that will value you. There are people that will see your value. There are people that will dap you up, that will give you the credit and the appreciation.

appreciation that you need because that's a part of our human makeup. We all want to be appreciated. We all want to be, you know, acknowledged. We all want to be recognized. That's not a bad desire. That's a God-given desire. I believe that that's all a part of what we're supposed to experience as the family of humanity because it encourages us. It gives us life. It's like a breath. Like you've been underwater holding your breath forever and it's like,

You know, someone saying and recognizing your good job, your good work, right? It's not just a filthy rag. I know what the Bible says and what folks say, but that's a whole different context. Your good deeds, keep doing them. Keep showing up. Because there's also a place in the Bible where it says that, you you keep letting your light shine. You keep doing the good works so others might see them and give glory to God. There is value in what you're doing. So the first thing is,

I wanna encourage you to not stop doing good, but you may want to, you may want to take a step back and say, if I'm not being recognized, if I'm not being honored, if I'm not being celebrated in the spaces and places and around the people that I'm currently around, then maybe this is a season that I need to start considering a move, a shift, an adjustment. Secondly, and I wrote this one down because I didn't wanna forget it.

I want you to pray and I want you to ask God if you haven't done this already to reveal to you your specific contribution. I think this is really important because what I've learned in my own personal life is that I continue to grow and evolve in my satisfaction, my acceptance, my contentment, my joy and peace and my okayness in myself.

because I'm doing what I love to do. When I'm on here sharing, podcasting, speaking, teaching, coaching, educating, I'm in my space. I'm in my wheelhouse. I'm in my little sandbox, man. I'm a kid again, right? By the way, right? Where did the word of God say, right? Can't access the kingdom until you become like one of these. side note, become a child again. What makes you happy?

Like a child. What makes you adventurous? Like a child. What puts a smile on your face? Like a child. That childlike joy, that childlike enthusiasm is important for us to tap into. And so the thing is that sometimes we don't know what our contribution is. I think Marcus Smart knew and knows. I'm not going to jump 80 feet in the air and reverse Tomahawk Dunk It. That ain't who I am.

I'm not going to take off from the free throw line and soar through the sky like I'm Jordan or something like that. This is just not who I am. I'm not going to do Steph Curry where I'm just dropping a million three-pointers in every game. This is not who I am, but this is who I am. I'm hustle. I'm grit. There was a time where that boy went for diving for a loose ball and he had to get up and literally touch his front teeth.

and he went to the free throw line because he got fouled on the play and he kept messing with his front teeth. Cause when they showed the replay, the boy's face smacked the floor. This is a first round playoff game. You're already up two ⁓ Everything should tell him it ain't that serious to knock your fronts out. No, he understands his assignment. He understands his role.

And I believe if, if, if, if I was to ask him, if I was to have the privilege to ask him, bro, what's going on in your head when you're, when you're on that play, I think he would say something to the effect of this is what I do. This is why I'm here. This is the, this is the role I play. It brings him joy just to do it, just to do it. It brings him a level of.

Satisfaction within himself, congruency within himself, alignment within himself, just to do it. And I've found that to be true in myself. As I'm doing this live this morning, it's a pleasure, a joy just to do this. Will I get a million views? I don't know. Will I get one of you? I don't know, who cares? I enjoy doing this. And if someone can benefit from it, bonus, icing on the cake.

But my joy, my peace is in knowing my role, knowing my contribution. So I want you to pray if you haven't already done so, what is my contribution? Because when you can tap into what your specific contribution is, you won't be so dependent on people's praise. You won't be so dependent on people patting you on the back. It's still good that they do. It's still good that you get around people that will recognize and will acknowledge the work that you're doing.

the excellence that you are embodying. However, the more you align with you and love you and know you and express you,

You're gonna be less dependent. You're gonna stop looking for the approval. ⁓ I don't think Marcus Smart after that hustle last night, I don't think he was, ⁓ I wonder if I'm gonna get the major interview. I just think he hustled, loved it, got the dub, and was walking towards the back, you know, and one of the other reporters grabbed him. That's just my take.

We watch these sports shows. What's your take? That's my take. That he knows what he's supposed to do. And each of us has a role to play. And maybe our role will never be that of LeBron James. Maybe in our context, they're never gonna give us the number one interview. They're never gonna put us on the podium. They're never gonna snip and make highlight reels of our plays in the game.

that doesn't make our plays, your plays, any less valuable. All right? That's what I wanted to encourage you in, man. If you want support, you're like, yo, I want to know my contribution. I want to know my role. I want to know what it is that I've been created and called to do specifically. Here in the I Am The Possible universe, we call it the what what, right? The what what is the what, the who you are beneath the surface.

You're not just a man or a woman. You're not just a boy or a girl. You're not just, ⁓ you know, all of these aesthetic surface level ⁓ identities that we wear. Those are very limiting. Labels limit you. Labels limit your life. You're not a label. You are something greater, something that is beneath the surface. And that's what I specialize in. Okay? And so...

There's not links right now in this, in this live, but I'm going to put some links in this live as soon as it's done. Or you can just head over to I am the possible.com. I am the possible.com and I've got resources, but I want to share with you these free resources that can begin to help you to identify, help you to begin to locate your contribution. For you to begin to discover your contribution, your role. You may already have a sense of it.

But sometimes when you do these assessments, when you take these courses, when you do these little worksheets, having it confirmed just gives you a different level of confidence. It just gives you a different level of clarity, right? When someone else or something else can point out what you really already know, right, within your heart, it just kind of does something to you. So yeah, man, if you want some help with this, I'm available. I am thepossible.com. I used to have a little banner over here that I could...

I could show it, but nevertheless, I don't want to fool with that right now. Yeah, I don't want to fool with that right now. So right there, you can see it on the screen. I am the possible, just put a dot com behind it. Got some resources. And then as soon as I wrap up this live, I'm going to put the links down in the description for you guys to check it out. So that's it, man. I just wanted to call those things out because I thought it was super cool that Marcus Smart was the unsung hero, right? They didn't sing his praises or maybe they did to a smaller degree.

but I know old Goat James got the major national interview and I would have liked to see Marcus get the national interview because he's the one that made it possible last night, right? So yeah, man, that's it. Hope and pray that you guys got value from something that I shared and you can take it this Saturday morning, this weekend and apply it to your life and just begin to improve the quality of your life. All right. Love you guys. Praying for you guys believing in you guys until next time. Please remember.

The better that you can relate to yourself, the better you can create for yourself and those around you. And learning the role you play and becoming very, very, very accepting and appreciating of that role is one of the many ways that you can begin to relate better to yourself. And as you do begin to relate better to yourself, you are going to begin to create better for yourself, a greater quality of life, a greater realization.

greater level, a greater existence, a greater whatever you want to fill in that blank with. All right. I know it to be true. I am the proof and you can be the proof as well. All