One lazy summer afternoon when I was about 19 years old, I headed down to the park to play some basketball with a few buddies. Now, I didn't grow up in a family of basketball lovers. Soccer and baseball were sports I excelled at and it wasn't until about junior high that I started playing organized basketball. Even then I was never particularly good at it, but could hold my own because I was a good enough athlete. So, I had a dose of swagger that afternoon when 3 kids approached us for a little game of pick-up.
"Sure," I nodded. My friend Bill stood about 6'3 and played on our high school team along with my buddy Sean who was arguably the best basketball player in my class. Our opponents on the other hand were no taller than 5'6, each weighed less than 140 lbs, and didn't appear to have an athletic bone in their bodies.
We got off to a quick lead but within minutes it soon faded. These guys ran the floor with us. They were quicker, smarter, and played as a team. They were fundamentally sound, energetic, hustled, an unlike us, weren't in the habit of underestimating their opponents.
After the game we shook hands and had a good laugh about it. But far more importantly we took away a very important lesson that afternoon. We learned the value of not assuming. So poignant was the lesson the three of us still talk about that afternoon and the life lesson it imparted.
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