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Today's Sunday message: Lakers' Derek Fisher and actions
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Fisher's impact on Bryant may be immeasurable.
Butch Cassidy had Sundance Kid.
And Kobe Bryant has Derek Fisher… and vice a versa.
Nevermind the physical giants Kobe plays with now (Paul Gasol, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom), or the big behemoth, Shaquille O’Neal, he played with in the past. The real big guy in Bryant’s career just may be the 6’1” Fisher.
A giant among men in the realm of good works with faith in God abounding, Fisher has slain the demons of defeat on and off the court. For Bryant, Fisher appears to be watching not only his back, but all his sides. And when the question arises as they sit side by side, on the Lakers bench to take a break, and look out onto the court to see an advancing opponent… “Who are those guys?” they are sure to come back into the game with guns a blazin’.
One of my favorite moments of Game 1 in the NBA Finals, besides the scowls and tongue wagging by Bryant, was seeing the two of them on the bench when the Orlando Magic was already done and shell shocked. Bryant, eyes straight ahead, had Fisher saying something to him. Fisher had this calm, but intense look as if he was imparting some words of wisdom… and you could tell Bryant was listening.
Amongst 18,000-plus screaming fans, and a TV audience of millions, Mamba and Fish were alone together, plotting to slay the Magic again… and again.
Fisher’s Website bio page includes this from Bryant:
"There's something that's unbreakable," Bryant said. "We're inseparable. We came into the league together. We practiced together when everybody else had a day off. We go way back."
"When we first came in the league, the rule was that if you played less than 20 minutes a game you had to go in the gym the next day after playing on back-to-back nights. So he and I were always in there. Always. We were competing, shooting and playing one-on-one. We'd challenge each other. So that's where that bond really started."
An article published last year by Christianity Today, All That’s Good in Sports, tells Fisher’s story about leaving the Utah Jazz:
Overshadowed by these negative (sports) headlines was a noble decision made by Utah Jazz guard Derek Fisher: He asked to leave his team.
Fisher wasn't seeking to damage the Jazz, which had advanced to the Western Conference finals a month before. Indeed, his decision had nothing to do with basketball. It had to do with priorities.
Fisher, a quiet, steady Christian witness in a league of bling and groupies, left Salt Lake City in order to focus on his daughter's health. Only 11 months old, Tatum was diagnosed in May with retinoblastoma. The rare cancer threatens not just her left eye, but her life. Fisher gave up millions of dollars, and possibly his career, in order to move to a city with the right combination of medical specialists.
All that’s good in sports and more to the story…
Fisher, in keeping with Jesus' warning in the Sermon on the Mount, has never been one to "pray standing … on the street corners." He plays basketball the same way he testifies to his relationship with Christ: by his actions more than his words.
Every line of work has its challenges. Pro sports may have more than most. Yet Fisher has consistently modeled keeping first things first—or what the apostle Paul might have called "press[ing] on toward the goal to win the prize." We can learn from athletes like him.
"Life for me is about more than the game of basketball," Fisher told reporters after his announcement. Wiping away tears, Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller admitted, "He's focused on the most important thing."
Some Utah Jazz fans (and journalists) still have issues with Fisher and his leaving. So be it.
In an article published yesterday, Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune writes:
Fisher maintains he did not move back to Los Angeles for the sake of basketball, regardless of how his choice is viewed. During the first-round playoff series with the Jazz in April, Fisher talked about how reflecting on the response in Utah made him realize that outside approval was not important to him.
In advance of Sunday's Game 2, Fisher said a title "would be just another step along the way of a life lived with purpose ... and so coming back for reasons outside of basketball, everything that happened with that redefined what the purpose of my life was and is, and where basketball has its place in my life. As important as it is to me, it's not everything. It doesn't make me a whole person, per se. But to win a championship, I think, is still a part of that process."
Fisher illustrated his dual commitment to his job and family in May 2007, in his only season with the Jazz after being traded from Golden State. In one of the most memorable playoff moments in Jazz history, he arrived at the arena during the third quarter of a game with the Warriors, having accompanied Tatum, then 10 months old, to New York for the initial treatment of retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer lodged behind her eye.
Inserted into the game without even stopping along the bench, Fisher eventually helped the Jazz force overtime and hit his only shot, a clinching three-pointer. Two months later, after the Jazz played in the Western Conference finals for the only time since 1998, he requested his release to accommodate his daughter.
Tatum, who will turn 3 in three weeks, is doing well. The frequency of her treatments has been reduced and her fourth birthday next June is a milestone for young cancer patients.
Orlando Who?
After their family's experiences with retinoblastoma, Derek and his wife, Candace, are planning to create an organization to raise awareness about this tragic form of cancer, and to fight the disease, stated in Fish’s Website. News about their efforts will be posted there in the weeks and months to come.
Yes, beating the Orlando team is important for Fisher. News about the Lakers vs. Magic NBA Finals is and will be posted everywhere, every day. You’ll read about the series end result soon enough. However, Fisher’s battle against retinoblastoma will most likely be a fairly quiet one… but, chances are that news has a far more special place and is already written.
More articles by Alex Murashko at LA Church & State Examiner.
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