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

Peer Pressure

Youngsters today often blame others for their own conduct. I tell youngsters at basketball clinics, “If you’re blaming these things on others, doing it simply because they are, that shows weakness on your part. You’re making excuses. Giving yourself an alibi, trying to condone what you’re doing. You’re blaming somebody else, and that’s weakness.

“You know what’s right and wrong. I know you do.”

It’s the poorest excuse in the world to say, “Well, somebody else did it, so I have to do it.” That’s no different from saying, “I’ve got to rob a bank because the other fellow did.”

It goes right back to the first point on Dad’s seven-point creed: Be true to yourself. You know what’s right. Don’t let someone else decide for you.