Good enough to be #12...

"the people worked together 

with all their heart"

Nehemiah 4:6

There was a lot of talk this year, before and after the Olympics, about the "Dream Team".   That was the nickname for the US basketball team in the 1992 Olympics.  It consisted of Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler and Christan Laettner; and was the first American team to use active NBA players.  It has been called the greatest sports team ever assembled.  You can argue with that, if you want, and if you do, I'll be on your side.  But there's no arguing that they were successful.  They won the gold medal that year, and beat all their opponents handily.

photo credit:  glovesoffsports.com

This year was the 20th anniversary of that team, so there were plenty of retrospectives and "where are they now?" specials on TV and in print.   One of those was in Sports Illustrated, where I read an article about a scrimmage game between the members of that team.  They divided up into two teams, and played for bragging rights. And in the course of this article, I came across a quote by Michael Jordan about the team.  According to the author, Jordan told him "coldly and matter-of-factly, that Christian Laettner was the weak link on the team."

At first I thought that comment by Michael Jordan was unnecessarily rude, and I thought maybe he was a little arrogant.  But then it occurred to me that maybe it was only the author's opinion that Jordan was "cold" about making that statement.  Maybe Jordan was just stating a fact, and not really meaning to criticize Laettner.

The truth was that Laettner certainly was not as accomplished as the other players on the team.  He had never had any professional experience, having only played for Duke University, (though that team won the NCAA Championships in 1991 and 1992).   He was also the youngest man on that Dream Team.

So let's assume that Jordan was not being cold; let's assume he was just being truthful.  Let's assume Laettner was the worst player on the team.

Well that, my friends, is a compliment. Because being the worst player on that team ~ and somebody had to be, right? ~ meant being the 12th best player in the country.  And that's pretty impressive. 

It's a good reminder that it's not important to be #1.  Indeed, we can't all be.  Someone is always going to be better, or more successful, or more talented.  That shouldn't be our goal.  Our best will be less impressive than someone else's best, but still what's needed for the team's goals to be fulfilled.

So what is it that you are good at?  Not what you're great at, but good?  Praise God for that.  You're just what's needed on the team!

~ "At this the whole assembly said, 'Amen,' 

and praised the Lord.  

And the people did as they had promised." ~

Nehemiah 5:13