[center] **TAKING IT PERSONALLY** [/center] [> Be me hanging with friends. Buddy invited me to a cigar lounge for a DJ gig of his. Was filled with Uncs buzzing about and was oddly spacious. NBA game playing on TV Glancing over at Spurs game repeatedly. There is a large, awkward dude on the court who looks out of place, not really in a bad way. Who is that? Friends brief me on Victor Wembanyama. New rookie from the Spurs. I wasn't closely following draft picks at the time Interesting dude. Proceed to monitor him through his Sophomore and Junior season... Padded my Fantasy League advanced stats in perpetuity Genuinely kind, thoughtful person. I appreciate his character as well. Finals run + Thunder coup within his first ever post season I'm moved. I whipped my laptop out with a vengeance to start this design the moment he hit that half court shot. wtf am I even seeing right now?] --- In my life as a creative, I always have felt like I stuck out in an odd way. It is hard being young and motivated without finding your proper channels first. It's also bizarre stepping into any discipline and absorbing the oddly competitive nature of things. You learn that in almost any environment, you're forced to swim or drown with the current. The burden is largely on you. You have to apply yourself and the help you receive is a blessing worth always honoring. But man, I watched Wembanyama's teammates deprive him of the ball for like 2 whole years before he made it to the Finals. It was always infuriating seeing such a high level of talent basically sit on ice for that long. After some time, people now are forced to reckon with Wemby's presence in the league. Fans are forced to hate on him now too. Naturally his mistakes have garnered some criticism, but legitimacy hurts sometimes. Being under scrutiny is extremely difficult when you're young and sensitive. It's even worse if you genuinely care and aren't actively phoning it in. It especially hurts if you know you fucked up. That's a normal thing to go through, but from there the only accessible doorway is through competence and patience. After all, Wembanyama was never owed a first option position at the Spurs. Consistency gave him that. His frustration was visible, but he never seemed entitled to me. That's what I appreciate about Wembanyama. Your insecurity is not a curse, but a sign of dedication. Every time you beat yourself up for making an error, inside is just an honest person who cares a lot. Humility is not something you exercise through being bashful about your best traits and performatively neglecting to acknowledge them. Being humble is about constantly scrutinizing and being honest with yourself about why your potential isn't being received by others, and how to improve. You basically have to meet people where they're at, and not carry self importance even if it's rooted in genuine competence. It helps to be conscious of what you are actually asking of them when insisting upon yourself and your abilities. It helps to ease the burden of belief through results and passion. I write all of this because I've seen Wembanyama weather this exact storm for a few years now. It's filled me with joy to see a young, talented person like him grow into his confidence and skill unapolagetically. I also love that he never tried to skip the line or break rank with his peers. He knew he still carried the burden of proof, and respected the Spurs organization lovingly and earnestly as he went through the rites of passage for someone like him. Look where alignment and reciprocity got him now. Who knows when the Spurs personally will do something to piss me off in the next avenue of Wembanyama's ascension? For now I'm impartial, but also think that going forward against him as a Suns fan sounds extremely tedious; Kind of like the Golden State Warriors of the last decade, where it feels borderline unfair. However I'm self aware that if I were in the driver seat of a team like that I wouldn't be complaining. I'm a simple guy. Congratulations to Victor on his incredible achievements this season. He earned them. He didn't always have help and his journey has inspired me greatly.