Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Spirit Versus Temperament

There is a difference between spirit and temperament. It is a slight difference, but it is an important one. I valued players with spirit and avoided those who were temperamental.

Keith Erickson had spirit without being temperamental. At times he would test me to the limit. He was playful but not mean. He had fun without trying to be funny.

Keith would watch me out of the corner of his eye and when he thought I wasn’t looking engage in a bit of horseplay, such as seeing how far and how high he could throw the ball from one end of the court to the other. He was not disruptive, just spirited.

More important, he brought that spirit into the competitive situation. The tougher the job I assigned him in a game, the more he ...