Proud of all these people stepping up: Robert Horry

“Having a career that lasted longer than 10 years — there are a lot of guys that don’t play longer than five to six years — getting to the NBA, and winning championships,” is what former American basketball player Robert Horry considers his top three career milestones. On his second visit to the country to train prospects and interact with fans at the NBA Academy India, NCR, he talks about perseverance, not letting complacency set in and the importance of speaking up. Excerpts:

Did you always aspire to be a sportsperson? How hard or natural was it to reach your full potential?

It was very hard because complacency can creep in. Just because you are able to go out and make 20 jumps in a row, doesn’t mean you’re good. I had some moments in my career where I’d walk on the court and I look around and feel, ‘Oh, I’m the best one out here’. But then you go on another court and you could be the worst player out there. You cannot get complacent because there’s someone out there working harder than you. So you got to keep pushing yourself to be an elite player.

Sportsmen are known for their discipline. Which habits have been instrumental in shaping you to be the person you are?

For me personally, it’s just, realising your goals and trying to achieve your goals because there is a lot of times people say ‘Oh!I want to be a great shooter’. But are you willing to put that time to and effort in the gym become a great shooter? Everything that I tried to act in my life, I put in the time and effort to try and get better at it.

What advice would you give youngsters, irrespective of whether they aspire to be sportspeople or not?

Learn your craft. You want to be a doctor or a teacher - it’s very important to learn your craft and indulge in it. You have to get involved and learn as much as possible, and go for it.

Many times, boys are pressured to follow sports, and if they are disinterested some fathers are disappointed. Also, things are only changing with regards girls playing sports. These kids mostly grow up with self-esteem issues. Anything you’d say to help change mind-sets.

My oldest son plays sports but that wasn’t his passion. He wanted to be a lawyer and I was proud of him. I think it’s the parents – they have to really believe that he is my child and I will support him in doing whatever he wants to do. He can be Michael Jordan or he wants to be a Doogie Howser. He’s just a child.

Sportspersons, just like other celebrities, are not immune to scandals and setbacks. How did you mentally overcome such incidents?

You just got to sit back and say to yourself, ‘This is what I came here to do. This is what I am going to do.’ When I was playing, I was in a better time because there was no social media. There was less scrutiny.

Several sportspersons are refusing to keep silent about political issues. As a public figure any political stand they take is bound to have a huge domino effect. Your thoughts on the same.

You have to be able to believe in your freedom of speech. You have to believe in yourself and your views and I’m really proud of all these people stepping up. When I was playing, we didn’t come along because it was detrimental to us in so many ways. But now, if you’re an athlete, it doesn’t mean that you have to keep quiet.

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The author tweets @iamsusanjose