Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP and champion, has had his fair share of failures and setbacks, throughout his career. However, his recent comments on failure can teach us a lot about mental health and how to overcome adversity. After the number one seed Milwaukee Bucks suffered a season-ending tough loss to the Miami Heat, Antetokounmpo gave a passionate speech on the concept of failure. A reporter asked him if getting knocked out of the playoffs in the first round meant that the season was a failure, to which Antetokounmpo replied, “It’s not a failure, it’s steps to success.”

It got me thinking about my studies and experiences in mental health and mindfulness. Redefining failure is an opportunity to get into growth mode and improve. Despite the criticism of Antetokounmpo’s remarks from those who believe the only goal in sports is to win, sometimes you can’t control the outcome of a situation. All you can do is accept, learn, and do better next time.

Here are some key quotes from Antetokounmpo over the years and what they can teach us about mental health and mindfulness.

On Perspective:

“Somebody helped put me in a place, again, to appreciate all of the things that I have, that comes with being who I am. To be OK with myself. To — no matter what the outcome is of the game — understand that I can’t control that. I can only control my effort. How hard I work. How I make people feel around me. How I try to, hopefully, inspire people from what I do.”[1]

“At the end of the day, we were playing sports and there’s a winner, there’s a loser,” said Antetokounmpo. “But at the end of the day, this is a learning curve. Nobody promised you’re going to be in the second round [of the playoffs]. There’s people that have never been in the second round; there’s people that have never been in the NBA finals. So, in my first seven seasons, I’m not viewing it as, ‘I lost.’ … It was a learning experience, so hopefully, this moment, instead of thinking that we lost something, we can gain and learn in order for us to put ourselves in a position to win another championship.”[2]

Antetokounmpo emphasizes the importance of staying present and not dwelling on the past or worrying too much about the future. This approach can help us stay focused, avoid distractions, and maintain a positive attitude.

On Mental Peace:

“When you focus on the past, that’s your ego. When I focus on the future, it’s my pride. I kind of try to focus on the moment, in the present. That’s humility.”[3]

Antetokounmpo’s approach to mental peace involves staying humble and focusing on the present moment. By doing so, we can avoid getting caught up in our own egos or desires and find peace in the moment.

On Equanimity:

“I think, early in my career, I was getting too high, too low,” he said. “We played a good game, I was so happy, because you feel the intensity from the crowd, the fans cheering and all that, and how the trip back home if we were on the flight or whatever the case might be, we were here at home, playing at home, how I felt good going back home. I was getting too high, and maybe the loss I felt like it was the end of the world.

“I feel like this year, lose or win, that did not happen. I was the same kind of guy. I just live with whatever outcome comes because I believe that I’m supposed to be there in that time and place. So I don’t really worry about the outcome.”[4]

Mindfulness involves being present and focused on the task at hand. Antetokounmpo emphasizes the importance of focusing on the process rather than the outcome. This can help us avoid getting too attached to outcomes and stay grounded in the present. Equanimity is the ability to remain calm and composed in the face of adversity. Antetokounmpo achieves this by not getting too high or too low based on outcomes. This approach can help us avoid emotional roller coasters and stay even-keeled.

On Mental Health:

“I feel like a lot of people deal with it, but they’re not willing to talk about it,” he said. “They’re not willing to improve, because this stigma is behind it. … The moment I started talking about it, I improved as a basketball player. Because I am OK with the outcome. I am OK with myself. I can leave everything on the court and go back to my family. And I talked to Kevin Love and told him how he inspired me to open up and helped me to kind of better myself and he was literally tearing up when I was telling him that. He never imagined he would be the one to kind of help me figure out a way to cope with all this. And then I tried to help as many people as I can.”[5]

Antetokounmpo’s comments on failure teach us that mental health and well-being are critical for success, both on and off the court. By staying present, maintaining perspective, cultivating equanimity, and practicing mindfulness, we can overcome setbacks and achieve our goals.

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Image source: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

[1] Giannis Antetokounmpo reveals pressure, mental health almost led him to retire in 2020)

[2] Giannis Antetokounmpo Just Gave a Master Class on the Blue Dolphin Rule.

[3] NBA Finals Bucks-Suns: “When You Focus On The Past, That’s Your Ego” Twitter Reacts To Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Words Of Wisdom

[4] Giannis Antetokounmpo staying calm and focused with Milwaukee Bucks on the verge of an NBA championship

[5] Giannis Antetokounmpo Reveals He Considered Retiring in 2020