Cheney Ogwumike, Dr. Alex Auerbach, and Coach Julia discuss what teamwork really means: belonging, supporting teammates, and showing up with your body language. They cover unselfishness, positive mindset, and practical drills that apply to school, home, and work.
Chapters
For me, mental strength is everything. Sometimes you can't control missing shots, but you can control your attitude.
The mental aspect, not pouting, no bad body language.
And this is a very important mental game that is beautiful to watch.
You just have to find that happy.
Place that works for you.
Each individual is going to be different.
You really need to be more cerebral. You just got to think the game.
A thing of beauty. He's playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers. Just the ones that mentally more in tune. That at the end of the day, usually gets the upper edge.
Hey, I'm Cheney Ogwumike. I play in the wnba and I'm also a radio host and TV analyst.
Cheney Ogulmike.
Cheney Ogwumike has taken over this game. Today's training is about teamwork. Teamwork is all about working respectfully and effectively with your team, all while doing your share to help you all succeed. This is a very important skill. So we brought in some coaches, doctors, and of course, some players to break it all down for us. Before we get our minds right. Let's get that blood flowing. What you got for us today, Coach?
Thanks, Chenae. Hi, everyone. I'm coach Julia from the junior mva. Right now, I'd like to go over a couple of stretches that you can incorporate in your routine. The first thing you want to do is find a space in your house and. And grab a ball and let's pound the ball from it. Get to know your ball. As you know, all balls are different. Different textures, different styles, different sizes. Get to know your ball. Swim a little bit. All right, now we're going to get into an athletic stance. Shoulders, knees, toes are aligned. We're going to take our ball, hold it out straight, elbow straight, and we're going to twist, trunk twist. You should feel it on your side. Nice and slow, not too fast. Let's do two more. One, two. Good job.
Take your ball.
Let's pound it again. Pound it again. Okay, taking my ball out again. Put the ball over my head. Nice and slow. You should feel it in your triceps, your biceps, and your lats. Let's do three more. Three, two, one. Now back to you.
Who we got next? Go ahead, tell us who you are.
Hey, y'. All, I'm Dr. Alex Auerbach, a counseling and sports psychologist and the director of wellness and development, Toronto Raptors. And I'm here to talk to you about teamwork and your teamwork skills and how you can use them in everything you do. Series on the line.
Adenomi.
Got it.
Off and it goes.
Teamwork is a critical part of everything we do at the Raptors, from playing great defense to supporting each other off the court. It's how we've managed to be as successful as we've been. We, the north, are now we the champions. We've all heard the word teamwork, and maybe you've even used it yourself. But let's figure out what teamwork is and why it's so important. Teamwork is the ability to work toward a common goal and to support each other while we all work toward individual goals. Teamwork is important because we're social human beings and we need teams to do the best work that we can do, whether it's in the classroom and sports at home or at work. So you might be asking yourself, why should I care about the team? The truth is, what you do and how you act impacts both yourself and those around you. We have the power to lift other people up or to tear them down. And since we're all working toward a common goal or vision, we really want to do the best we can to make sure everybody can be their best and feel their best. And you're a huge part of that and how you contribute to other people's success. It's important that the team tries to cultivate a sense of belonging or helping everyone feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves. And that allows each individual team member to be their best. If the team environment isn't really focused on promoting each individual's success on the path to reaching the team goal, it's going to be hard for people to buy in or really give their full effort. So we really want to create a sense that everyone matters here and that everyone's important in reaching the team's goal. Players and teams throughout the NBA have used teamwork to reach the top together.
For me, teamwork means everything. Without a team, a game of basketball is impossible. So I'm thankful for all my teammates that I've ever had. Zion Williamson in order to be a truly great team, like, everybody sacrifices and does what they need to do, whether they get the praise for it or not, because they understand how important they are to the chemistry of our team.
Yeah, that's why they call it teamwork. When one guy's not going, then someone else steps up.
Teamwork taught me everything you know about camaraderie, you know, caring for the person next to you, it just bring you together, give you standards, give you morals, to stand by when you come in together as a collective trying to make.
Something happen such a standard of unselfishness with the ball that it naturally impacts others to give more.
I've always stressed the importance of teamwork. You know, I've always played team sports my entire life. No one person is greater than the team. And collectively, in order for us to have success can be done within a team and within an organization. You have to be able to work and work well with others.
As you can see, teamwork can make everyone better. I'll be back later, but for now, back to you, Cheney.
Thank you, Doc. Now let's put what we learned into action. What you got for us, coach?
Now, we're going to do a drill based on teamwork. So in this drill, I'm going to work on my ball handling, you're going to work on your cardio. And how it's going to go is I'm going to dribble, but I'm going to give you instructions to do cardio exercises. I'm supporting you, and you're supporting me. All right, let's do fast feet, quick feet. I like to call it foot five. Quick feet. Nice. Now let's jump up and down. Hands, grip and air. Try to get the light. Get that rebound. And walking down. Good. Jumping jacks. Jumping jacks, Jumping jacks.
Good.
Put fire, put fire, put fire, put fire. Jump up, jump up. Jump up. Jump up. Jumping jacks. Jumping jack. Jumping jack. Stop. Great job. Pick your ball up. Triple threat position. Right hand dribble, Right hand dribble. Good job. Right hand dribble. Left hand dribble. Left hand dribble. Left hand dribble. Left hand dribble. Fossil crossover crossover. Left hand dribble. Left hand dribble. Right hand dribble. Right hand dribble. Crossover, crossover, crossover. Stop. Awesome job. Now back to you.
Hey, again, it's Dr. Auerbach. We've covered a lot about teamwork so far, but let's take it a little farther. We've all been on teams or joined a new team where sometimes it can just feel hard to fit in. That's part of the process of joining a new team. So the key is stay focused on building your relationships with your teammates. We can practice teamwork in everything we do in life.
How about that?
Whether it's at home with our parents, doing the chores around the house and taking care of things, or at a group project in school where we're connecting with our classmates and trying to solve a problem together, the key is real teamwork is all about the relationships we build and knowing that we're gonna be better together. That's all for now. Take it home, Cheney.
I really hope you take what you learned today and try to practice it every day. Now, in the meantime, I will see you at the next level.
