I LOVE Basketball. It’s been my passion for as long as I can remember.

My body does NOT LOVE playing high intensity basketball 4 days in 7 weeks. It’s brutal.

To try and combat this I am doing this.

1. Resting as much as I can. Naps on buses. Naps in airplanes. My muscles need to rebuild and with all the travel, it can be tough to make time.

2. Doing my daily mobility routine (morning and night) and pre-game routines on gamedays.

3. Massages post-game or post practice.

   1. Ok this is provided to me from the team, so not something everyone has access to, but maybe invest in a massage gun or foam roller if you can. Even a tennis ball and a hard surface can work wonders.

4. Concentrating on the NOW. In tough weeks, it’s critical to focus on what you can control and make the most of it.

Confidence Under Pressure 💎🏀

4 Games, in 1 week! Mersin, Baskonia, Real Madrid, Fener. OUCH.

I touched on this in the last newsletter, so I actually want to jump to another topic.

A return to Real Madrid.

If you remember from the last season, we made history with the longest game in EuroLeague history. 4 Overtime.

It was a rollercoaster game. We allowed Musa to score 40 points going left the whole time, they were basically denying Shane everywhere. And I can tell you, I much prefer having Poirier on OUR team now.

Why this one hurt even more. I had two opportunities to basically steal the game with 3s in the 2nd OT. First shot, I missed…but somehow it got back to me and I shot it again… Another miss.

I was so frustrated. You go to that imposter mentality of, “I suck. I don’t belong here.”

But looking back, I'm so proud of myself because I took the shot again after I missed it.

That's type of Confidence and Consistency you have to develop to become a great player.

My takeaways from Quad Week and return to Madrid:

1. Learn from every moment. Failure or Success.

2. Control what you can control

Don’t lose confidence in yourself because you miss a shot or make a bad play. No player is 100% from every spot on the court. No player is perfect. We strive for perfection. And in that pursuit of perfect, we are the best version of ourselves at that moment.

Moment of Reflection 🙏

During our Spain trip, we played Baskonia, which is is in the middle of nowhere. Actually, a lot of my current teammates played there. Darius, Vincent, Roddy, Shane.

Despite being out in the middle of nowhere, it always gets loud and they always have a decent team.

So why am I talking about Baskonia in this section?

Well, my sister-in-law Jessica actually served her mission in this area. Her mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is a mission?

In my faith, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often called the Mormon Church), it’s a voluntary community-service expedition typically for 18–24 months, to share the church’s teachings, to serve others, and to learn and grow in your own faith.

Missionaries are typically assigned to areas worldwide (but not always international) and live simply, focusing on spiritual growth and service while avoiding distractions like TV or casual social media use. Serving others and learning more about yourself and your faith in Christ through this experience… it’s a powerful thing.

My uncle served a mission in Tahiti. Jenelle’s dad served in Wisconsin. The reason I didn’t serve because I didn’t feel like I was mature enough at the time and I’m glad I made that decision because now I’m serving a life long mission around the world while using basketball to break the ice.

And in all of the craziness of our normal daily lives, I think it’s important we find something larger than us that we can participate in. That gives us purpose. For me and my family, that’s faith and our desire to be closer to Christ. For others, it could be being the best parent they can be. Maybe investing into your community with volunteer work to make it better for the other humans we share a town with.

I challenge you to find something larger than yourself to believe in and participate in. And find a way to improve yourself in that service each and every day. Even just a little bit. You’ll look back after a year and go ‘Wow… look what I’ve been able to do.”

Q&A ❓

J from Texas asked…

I hear this a lot from younger hoopers. We’ve alllll been there. But the most important way to get past this is….

Change your Mindset.

Games are also practice. You’re never going to play a perfect game. There’s no such thing as failure, only learning. You need to try things at game speed to learn from them and grow and get better. You missed the shot? Focus on the why and look to change and improve there. Then go out, and take the shot again. And again. And again.

Approach it as an experiment.

“What fires together, wires together”. What does this mean? Our brains learn from real-life scenarios really well, and so by actually doing a thing, your brain creates a stronger connection in your brain (ie. neurons firing, neurons wiring and forming pathways). Focus on your cues, not the results. The results will come.

So you need to have the confidence to try in order for your brain to learn and to grow.

YouTube Journey ▶

We are working to get closer to real-time with the YouTube content, but for now, we’re transporting back a few weeks to play Barcelona and Berlin.

Of course there’s some great basketball and ‘behind-the-scenes’ of my life as a pro hooper, but another piece of the Berlin story, was that the game was on Halloween!

Greetings from the Ninja Turtles!

Hope you enjoy!

What Is The Bryant Family Eating This Week 🍽

Ok we’re back with the sweet tooth this week. 🍭 🦷 

Jen made some insane Eggnog Chia Pudding. I know it’s November not December, but Eggnog is simply too good to only have for 1 month. And Christmas is really the best time of the year.

Healthy(er) alternative to ice cream (using the Ninja Creami).

Instructions:

1. Blend Ingredients: In a blender, combine the strawberries, almond milk, Greek yogurt (if using), honey, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth.

2. Freeze: Pour the mixture into the Ninja Creami pint container. Freeze for 24 hours.

3. Process in Ninja Creami: Once frozen, insert the pint into the Ninja Creami and use the “Ice Cream” or “Lite Ice Cream” mode.

4. Adjust Texture (Optional): If the mixture looks crumbly, use the “Re-spin” function for a creamier texture.

5. Serve: Scoop and enjoy immediately or store in the freezer for later.

This recipe is high in protein (if using Greek yogurt) and naturally sweetened!

Overall, moderation is best for desserts. The Ninja Creami is relatively healthy for a dessert but Eggnog Chia Pudding… just don’t go crazy. Treat yourself from time to time (in moderation).

Thank you for grabbing your Playbook 🙏

I hope you like the new version of Playbook. If you have comments or questions or suggestions, PLEASE respond to the newsletter about anything. I want to hear from you and I promise, I read every response. My goal is to continue making a great Playbook and building a great community where we all get better together. And you’re a part of that journey!

Let’s Build Confidence + Consistency™ , on and off the court!

Elijah