From all the Basketball Community (back home and abroad)…

As it is was Thanksgiving (for me and my fellow Americans) I want to focus a bit more of the family side of things and for all that I’m thankful for.

It’s truly a blessing to have my health, my family, and my career.

I challenge you to think of all the things you’re thankful for, and to make a point of spending time with family these next days.

Looking Back🏀

Unfortunately, we let the Paris game slip.

We started off playing their game and trying to run with them and they've played together for four years. So they know their spots and where everyone's getting a shot.

We always come out slow in the third quarter, which is something we as a team have to fix.

And I think we've learned from those mistakes and understanding how to play against players like T.J. Shorts, who doesn't want to shoot a layup. He wants to shoot pull ups. And personally, I made some mistakes too, going under him at the three point line allowing him to hit a three pointer. KYP → Know Your Personnel.

But they're a good team which surprised a lot of people since they came up from EuroCup. I think they will be in the playoffs, but I do think teams will start to figure them out since they play such NBA-style (with their coach coming from the NBA).

London (Family)

We knew we would have some time off after Paris, but we didn't know exactly how many days. Typically in Europe, from my experience, you lose, you kind of get punished.

So we were expecting probably two days, and if we won, probably three days. Meanwhile, I had already bought the tickets and paid for the hotel in London. So we're kind of just waiting.

But finally they tell us that we're getting three days off and our flight was leaving the next morning at 8.40am. So, we got picked up by the driver around 5.30am in the morning to get to the airport for our early flight.

We got there, we took an Uber from the airport to the hotel, then we just take a little tour around Covent Garden.

We ate at this place called 26 Grains It's like a health spot, super good, where those colorful buildings are. I had like some eggs and chili butter, fire.

The next morning was our full day and we wanted to go to see Santa. So we took the tube and people were super nice helping us up and down the stroller. The tube was super easy to use and we had a really great experience with public transit overall in London.

We went to Wonderland, which is at Hyde Park. Found Santa, but Blu actually didn't want to take a picture with him. I remember I was exactly the same as a kid, but as a parent you’re like “oh this will be a great photo! A great memory”. Funny how that works.

But we found Santa and he rode some rides there. After that, we went to Harrods, which is like a big famous Nordstrom.

And that place was crazy. It has everything you can imagine in there, a department store. In there, you can see we went to one of the food halls in there, which is famous. I guess there’s a famous chicken truffle mac and cheese wrap there. Gotta try it next time.

Got a few things from there. After that, we ended up eating in the park because it was raining. So we ate in the park and then we walked to Buckingham Palace.

And then we walked, we saw a big Ben on the way back too.

And then we went home, called it a night.

The next morning we were leaving, we wanted to see the guards change. So we walked to see the guards change. But I guess they canceled it because of the weather. So it goes :/

And unfortunately, our flight was delayed four hours. Another bummer but we aren’t sweating the little things.

It was an amazing family trip to recharge our batteries and reset mentally.

HEALTH and FAMILY First.

Then we had a game against Asvel. Let’s talk about that next week.

Looking Forward🏀

Obviously, Zalgiris and Munich are great teams.

Hopefully we'll have Shane back for one or both of those games. But the biggest thing in those games though is to focus on ourselves and our game and how we can get better.

We are a team that 100% can beat Paris, can beat Asvel. Can beat any team on any given day. We need to get back to playing our game. Coming out strong in the 3rd quarter.

It’s a long season and if we play our game, I’m positive the standings will look MUCH different come play-offs.

Q&A ❓

Roi B. asked…

Absolutely! I stay focused on my cues.

During games, I try to stay calm and focused on the task at hand, not on the outcome.

If the defense is trying to block, I try to get two defenders on the ball and then pass it.

If I let my emotions get the best of me, I won’t be able to play freely and won’t be able to reach my full potential.

🚨Want to see your question answered above? Reply to the newsletter or reach out to me on social. I will group all the questions together and be answering them on the newsletter and vlog in the coming weeks. Cheers!🚨

YouTube Journey▶

This week on the vlog, we go to Milan for a Euroleague game, and then to Izmir, Turkey for a game in our domestic Turkish League againsts Petkim Spor. I wanted to use this opportunity to talk a bit about Domestic vs EuroLeague. There’s some different rules about personnel and some differences in the actual BASKETBALL.

Check it out here and let me know what you think about the video content we’re putting out!

Moment of Reflection 🙏

Thanksgiving was this last Thursday (for all my American Playbook community) and for me, Thanksgiving's been such a big part of not only my life with childhood memories from getting together with family members and eating good food but also, the time to just be grateful.

I’m thankful for Family. I'm thankful for Health.

As you get older you start to realize the real things that matter: like the time spent with family and your memories. All the material things come and go. 

Because Thanksgiving is very much a US holiday, it's obviously hard to find a typical ‘Turkey‘ in Turkey.

For sure we’re not finding a honey baked ham (but honey baked ham IS probably one of my favorite things…check the recipes below 😂)

As I was thinking about Thanksgiving and what I’m thankful for, I was also reflecting on how when we’re planning or living life, it's always about the next step.

the next one, the next…

We're never where our feet are now.

We're always focused on the next. The next team we're going to be on, or the next job we're going to get, or to make more money or do this and never able to kind of be where our feet are.

I got this from I was watching the ballerina farmer, A farming couple I really like in Utah.

They were talking about how they kind of started the farm to be able to take care of their needs and yeah it's blown up to something way bigger than that. BUT they started the farm to pay their loan to take care of their animals.

I think sometimes we get so far ahead of ourselves of like, “I want my own business, I want to own this building, I want to own all this real estate” instead of just focusing on being able to take care of our family.

Obviously you can (and should!) have dreams and aspirations that give your life direction and meaning, but if we're able to understand the main goal is to be able to take care of your family, everything else finds it’s place.

If you're doing that you are on a great track and do not compare yourself to others because that's thief of joy. I think sometimes we forget about that.

What Is The Bryant Family Eating This Week 🍽

We didn’t quite make it happen on Thanksgiving day, but Jen was an absolute angel and surprised me on Saturday with some amazing Thanksgiving staples from our family back home. Sadly, we ate it all before thinking of taking any pics. But here are some recipes for you to try at home. Let us know what you think!

*BONUS* Leftovers from Thanksgiving. Honey baked ham and a simple Hawaiian roll. That's a great midday snack that brings me back to my childhood of playing Call of Duty all morning on our school day-off after Thanksgiving Thursday. The best!

Off The RECourt 📺

Shane and I had Mike James recently on the podcast. He shared his journey from chasing NBA dreams as a youth to making history in the Euroleague. From his early days in Baskonia to becoming a superstar at Monaco, this episode explores the key moments and challenges that defined his career.

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