What a year 2012 was!!!  For me and this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan, it was really, truly a phenomenal year!

Through persistence, hard work and the grace of God, a lot was accomplished.

Still more remains, but reflecting on 2012 and all that happened here amazes me!  I believe reflection is a good thing.  It gives perspective.  It’s not a place to get lost in, but one that is worth visiting once in awhile.

Without further ado, here is what was 2012 for me and mevsMJ.com!

**

Time in the Shark Tank – Mark Cuban

The first major happening of 2012 was a lunch meeting during the first part of March with Mark Cuban.  The second question most people ask, after did he help with MJ, is how many people were in attendance at the lunch.  Answer:  Just me, Mark and my buddy Karol.  Quite the experience for sure.

Most Fun

Throughout the year I made quite a few trips over to Orlando Hoops to train and work on my game.  OHoops is great group of people who challenged me every single time I was there.  One of the biggest highlights for me was working out, side by side, this summer with my main man Robert Brown, who was home from college (Virginia Tech).  Something I’ll never forget!  So much fun!

httpvh://youtu.be/ajY8hDAak98

Most Unexpected

The most unexpected moment of 2012 had to be seeing my pretty face on the NBA on TNT’s pre game show, hearing Ernie Johnson read my tweet, and laughing as Charles Barkley called me Kevin Eller and Shaq correcting him with Kenny.  You never know who’s watching your tweets

httpvh://youtu.be/yHo7yuRHnQY

Greatest Honor

Having the privilege of speaking at the Chandler Parsons/Orlando Hoops basketball camp this past summer was truly an honor.  To be able to share my message with over 100 young people and encourage them to believe in their dreams was for me a dream come true.  Hopefully much more of that to come in 2013.

httpvh://youtu.be/SROFx9HBAHw

**Moment of the Year – Michael Jordan**

The biggest moment of 2012 came in July, when I came face to face with Michael Jordan himself in Charlotte and was able to share what mevsMJ.com is all about!  He loved it!  It still feels like a dream!

httpvh://youtu.be/wnA1goOWwxU

*I also won the hot shot competition while at the Charlotte Bobcats Fantasy Camp.

The Family Knows

Then in November, by chance, I ran into Marcus Jordan, one of Michael’s son and was blown away that he knew all about me and this site.  I am truly known in the Jordan household.  Wow!

New Video Section

Just recently, I created a new video section on the site as a place to showcase all of the non 1-on-1 videos.  I plan on posting more and more videos in 2013, so it should be a lot of fun!

httpvh://youtu.be/oI6X_–AzPA

mevsMJ.com Shirts

I also, within the last two weeks, had some mevsMJ.com “Anything Is Possible with Faith & Hard Work” shirts made.  I’ve given a few away and with the rest, I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with them.  IF I sell them, all proceeds will go to charity.  It’s always been my goal to keep this a revenue free venture.  I never want the reason behind the journey to get clouded.  The goal of mevsMJ.com was and still remains to play my childhood hero Michael Jordan 1-on-1 and to inspire others to believe again that anything is possible with faith & hard work.

####

2013

In 2013 I HAVE BIG PLANS fueled by tremendous FAITH and lots of HARD WORK!

I believe 2013 will be the year that me vs. MJ happens!  

For me, it’s no coincidence that 2 and 3 bookend the year ahead.  I hope you’re ready for me Mr. Jordan!  I’ll see ya on the court!

me vs. Michael Jordan…the journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along!

How many perfect moments happen in life?

How many times do find yourself in those perfect situations, that go like this.

You’re a great shooter, the very best on the court, and the defense leaves you wide open on the wing.

or (for those non hoopers)

You and the girl/guy you’d love to talk to/date/marry just happen to be at the same place, at the same time, and there is no one around to interrupt you.

Those are just two examples, but If you’re really a great shooter and the person you’re pursuing is thought to be attractive by you, chances are neither of you will be left alone for very long.

So what do you do?

The Jordan Fadeaway

No coach in the world will tell you that taking a fadeaway jumper from 15 feet is a good shot unless your first name is Michael and your last name is Jordan.

Seeing MJ play in person multiple times, the degree of difficulty of said fadeaway was only magnified.

I would sit there in disbelief at how he contorted his body, leaning back so far at times that his shoulder blades seemed to run parallel with the floor.  Then with a flick of the wrist, the ball would more times than not finds its way safely to its home.

How many fadeaways did Jordan take in practice sessions before it became an unstoppable, go to move?

Surely thousands upon thousands.

A Trailblazer

Back in the late 90s, as a high school kid, my brother figured out something that very few ever learn and hardly any are ever taught.

He understood then, when he would go 42-of-50 from 3 pt land, that making 43 or 44 or even 50 would only give a marginal increase in percentages shooting the ball in the perfect situation.

He also understood that during the course of any game he might get three or four of those perfect situations at most.

So he asked the question most never will, why spend hours practicing for the perfect moment?

And hours upon hours he would spend.

During the summer after his sophomore year of high school, he’d routinely take 4,000-5,000 jumpers a week.

However, a nice slice of those were off the move or with his feet in weird positions.

He taught himself to makes shots under distress by preparing for the imperfect moments of the game.

He’d routinely stagger his feet the exact opposite way they should be, by placing his left foot far in front of his right foot and pull up for one jumper after the other.

He’d also spread his feet to uncomfortable widths and repeat over and over.

Keep in mind we were both self taught.  When the 90s were the freshest thing out, we wore out the rewind and play buttons on the VCR trying to learn the game we loved.  We came up before the days of Impact Basketball and Orlando Hoops training.

My brother was ahead of his time…make that IS ahead of his time.  I still don’t know anyone teaching this.

It’s unorthodox to say the least.

I don’t even do it myself despite his constant encouragement to do so.

He always tells me, “You don’t need to practice spot up shooting anymore.  You need to practice everything off the move.”

He usually continues with, ” we’ve made so many shots in our life, that we will always be the best shooters, at most any court, even if we don’t practice.”

In the context of most city courts, that is a very true statement.

Move Association

The Fadeaway, Killer Crossover, Dream Shake, Sky Hook.

If you’re a basketball junkie, then surely images of Jordan, Tim Hardaway, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, just caressed your memory.

They took something that most coaches, before them, would frown upon and made it something they feared and coveted.  

Through hard work Jordan, Hardaway, Olajuwon and Abdul Jabbar made the imperfect…perfect for them.

When Being Great at Something Isn’t Enough

Innovators who put thought to action have shaped, molded and changed our world since the beginning.

They’ve never just accepted the norm.  They pushed beyond it.

The asked why or rather, why not, and then offered a solution.

I’ve always wondered what the dialogue was like when Michael Jordan went to Phil Jackson and told him that he wanted to post up?  Sure more guards start in the post now, but then, it was very much big man land.  How did Phil not think, you’re freakin’ Michael Jordan, just Michael Jordan whoever’s guarding you and let’s let the big guys play the post.  Who knows, maybe Phil did push back at the idea.  Maybe MJ insisted.

He changed the game.

I believe we all innovate, but just a handful actually see it through.  The majority stop when the realization that success requires the innovator to get their hands dirty.  The majority fall back into what is comfortable and that’s why you only see one person doing the fadeaway efficiently (Kobe), and none doing the “dream shake” or sky hook.

God doesn’t make great shooters and legendary moves

If we’re talking just wide open shooting alone in a gym, there is no doubt in my mind that I can outshoot huge NBA names like LeBron James, John Wall, Dwight Howard and on and on and on.  (Due to my physical limitations, obviously that wouldn’t translate to NBA games or playing them one on one, but just the art of shooting the ball, I’ve got them.)

Making shots is something I’ve worked on my whole life.  It has more to do with the fact that I can’t do what James, Wall and Howard can do, than anything else.  And the reason they can’t shoot the ball like me, is because they can do what they do.

God blessed them with physical abilities and size.

But God doesn’t make great shooters and legendary moves.

Now I’m not saying those guys don’t work – so save the hate comments.  But there is a reason LeBron isn’t killing people in the post.  There is a reason Wall isn’t killing teams with jumpers.  There is a reason Dwight can’t make a 12-15 footer and shot 49% from the free throw line this year (and it’s not big hands or his height – all you excuse makers need to give that one up [see Dirk]).  There is also a reason all I can do well is shoot.

We fall back into what is comfortable.  We fear failure and yearn for success, so we do what has got us to wherever we are.

When I go to the gym I practice shooting.  I don’t work on moves off the dribble or going to the basket hard.  I try to get better at what I already do well because every time that ball swishes through the net, I’m getting positive reinforcement to do another.

I love watching LeBron, John and Dwight.  I love what they’re able to do on the court.  They routinely leave me in disbelief.  But imagine IF LeBron worked on his footwork and post moves.  Imagine IF LeBron, John, and Dwight could shoot the ball as well as me.

Against 90 percent of the teams/players they face, they will have their way, but the other 10 percent is the problem because that is where champions are found.  It’s a somewhat similar tale for me on a much different level of course.  Against everyday people like myself, my ability to make shots is almost unstoppable, until I face a higher level of competition (see the people I’ve played for this site*) or someone who just knows my game extremely well (see my brother).

The difference between them and me is that it’s not physical limitations keeping them from getting better, it’s a lot of hard work at something God didn’t give them.

The legendary ones are just as gifted as the above mentioned, but they chose to focus on the weakness rather than the strength.

They chose to create a solution before there was a problem.

Michael Jordan wanted to be prepared for any and everything the defense threw his way and he was, maybe not a first, but over time for sure.

That’s why he’s the greatest. 

Time for Change – me vs. the Pros

I’m not getting any younger.  Later this month, I’ll be every bit of 35.  Still young by life standards, but in the basketball world, well not even Kobe is moving the same these days (still elite though).

I’ve spent my entire basketball life working on making a high percentage of shots in the perfect situation.

I know I can shoot the ball well.  Pros know I can shoot the ball well.  Mark Cuban knows I can shoot the ball well.

That’s kind of the blessing and the problem at this point.

It’s too predictable.

It’s time to try something new.  It’s time for change.  It’s time to prepare for the imperfect moments.

How I’ll Prepare for the Imperfect Moments

“I always wanted to be comfortable in any situation.  Playing against bigger or quicker guys doesn’t always afford you an open look.  You gotta make an open look.  Shooting at unexpected times or with imperfect foot positioning makes you unpredictable.  From there what used to be predictable (spot ups) become second guesses for the defender.  Taking the defense off guard creates chaos in love and war.  I want them to panic when their best doesn’t stop me.  I want them to know it’s over before the score says so.  Your jump shot won’t leave you.  It’s just looking to grow.” – Bob Eller

So with that said, over the next month, I plan on introducing the following to my workouts to see what effect it will have on my game.

• Shooting with my feet in weird/uncomfortable positions
• Shooting at least 50% of my attempts off the move
• Working on my floater (both hands)

Will it make the difference against the pros?  Am I just over matched?

Time will tell, but it’s worth the work to find out.

**Please note that I only support the foot positioning drills once a firm foundation of excellence in shooting has been established.

What Will You Do?

So that’s what I’m off to do.

How about you?  What are you doing to make yourself more prepared for those imperfect moments in life?  Are you focusing on improving upon a weakness like Michael Jordan did often in his career or will you just continue lowering your head and running to the basket until father time catches up with you?

Share your story of success or struggle in the comments section below.  I’d love to hear from you.

me vs. MJ…the journey continues.  As always, thank you so very much for following along.

And remember ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with FAITH and HARD WORK!

####

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

####

If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

-Dallas, TX (March 1, 2012)

In short, this is kind of how I imagined my time in the Shark Tank with Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Forbes current resident of spot #546 on the list of the World’s Billionaires, going in the weeks leading up to our lunch meeting.

“Kenny, I absolutely LOVE what you’re doing at mevsMJ.com!  After lunch, let’s go shoot some hoops, and while we’re on our way to the American Airlines Center, I’ll call Michael (as in Michael Jordan) and get something set up so you guys can play!  In the meantime, tomorrow you can play Dirk and maybe JT (Jason Terry)!”

In between all of that, there would have been great food and friendly banter.  We would exchange contact information and in the end, I would have the unwavering support of one of the most influential individuals on this green and blue marble we call home.

Overly optimistic?  Perhaps.

But if I were writing this story, my time with Mark Cuban would have been the chapter where the dream of playing hoops with Michael Jordan became a reality.  The time where it was proven that with faith and hard work, all things are possible!

This journey of mine to play basketball with MJ however, is no Hollywood creation.  My meeting with Mr. Cuban didn’t include an underlying section of inspirational music placed there to make your eyes leak.

Instead, it was 100% real.

It was uncensored, eye opening, thought challenging, inspiring and so much more than I ever expected.

Here are a few of the stories from our time together.

*I will in no way fully capture the moments that I do share, but honestly that’s on purpose, so I apologize ahead of time.  Unexpectedly, a lot of what happened was so personal, that I’m just not willing to share.  Still, I feel it’s important to offer some sort of update to all those that support me.  I appreciate you all!

“Oh yeah, I know about your site!”

After some initial greetings and conversation, I began telling Mark about this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan.

Within moments, he responded, “Oh yeah, I know about your site!  You’ve played the guy that played in Brazil, the 6’4″ guy at VT, the tall high school kid…”

To which I interjected, in an almost shocked tone, “Yeah!”

We spoke more in depth about my journey, why it began, where I currently am in the process and there was no doubt that Mark Cuban had a firm grasp on what I was looking to accomplish.

I was amazed that he, himself, had been to the site and knew so much about it!

He even shared that he had attended the Senior Flight School (the Jordan camp I was going to attend before it was canceled last year) twice himself!

Challenge, Resistance & a Solution

Mark then went on to challenge nearly every aspect of this journey, offering more resistance to the idea than I could have ever imagined.

For what seemed like an eternity, he spoke with brutal honesty on every reason that he felt my game with MJ wouldn’t happen.

I pressed back, offering my own rebuttals to each issue, but his mind had been made up.

Then he offered a solution for me to get the game with Jordan.  He broke it down, detailing exactly what he would do and while I won’t share at this time what that discussion entailed, I will say, it made a lot of sense!

A First Bump and a Nice Video!

Weeks prior to my get together with Mark, I had been working on two pieces for our lunch meeting.

Keep in mind, I had no idea exactly how much time he would have, so I had a marketing piece and video created, just in case our meeting was cut short.

The marketing piece was the mastermind of my buddy, who runs a marketing company here in Orlando.  The idea was to take Mark down memory lane, from the very beginning to several key points in his life.  This was to be achieved through the use of a custom folder with a cutout section in the front.  Behind the front cover was a wheel, which had a picture and a word associated with each photo.  As the wheel was turned, the picture would capture something pivotal in Mark’s life and the word would then sum it up.  The final picture was a QR code linking back to a special video and message on my site exclusively for Mark, with the words “My Dream”.

After reading through Mark’s book several times, I made the selections on what I wanted to cover (powdered milk, fluffy towels, American Airlines, Bobby Knight (Indiana Basketball), and him holding the NBA Championship trophy) and the piece was put together.

Mark loved it!  A huge smile came over his face as he made each turn of the wheel, stopping after just the second turn to give me a fist bump and say, “Thank you so much for this, it’s great!”

As he worked his way through the piece we spoke briefly on each section, until he got to the QR code, which prompted him to say with a big smile, “Oh, nice!  Very smart!  You’ve got my interest piqued, so now I have to scan the code and check it out.  I like it!”

I then asked him, if he had another minute to watch the video I had produced.

He said, “Sure, absolutely!” and I handed him my iPad with the video shown below cued up.

httpvh://youtu.be/gZnpgqrKNWo

[Video Link]

While I’m currently working with another friend on a video series for this site (more on this soon), I wanted to debut the first one in the series exclusively to Mark.

The idea came to me one afternoon and I recorded the audio on my iPhone and sent it over to my buddy.  He then took it from there and put together what you see above, which I’m so proud of!

“Nice video!  Man I was waiting to see you play some!  Who did this for you??” came from what I took as a somewhat impressed Mr. Cuban.

Nice Stroke!  (+ some coaching from an NBA owner)

I then pulled up the video of me going 22 of 24 from 3pt land on my cell phone and handed that over to Mark.

He watched over three and a half minutes of the nearly four minute video, saying within moments, “You’ve got a nice stroke!”

He then identified what he perceived as a weakness (can’t tell you what that is, because MJ is probably reading this, haha), which had never been pointed out to me before.

I sat there thinking, this is crazy!  I have Mark Cuban watching me play hoops and critiquing my play!  The thing is, he was absolutely correct and I’ve already begun working on correcting the issue!  So surreal!

“As well as it could have without me setting up the game with Michael.”

With the lunch winding down, Mark said something to the effect of, “Well, I hope you’ve gotten what you wanted out of the time.”

With a smile, I said, “Well, yeah…”

To which he responded, “Let me guess, it’s gone as well as it could have without me setting up the game with Michael.”

I laughed and said, “Exactly!”

An Email from Mark and Tickets to the Game!

After finding out that we’d (myself and my buddy Karol) be in town through the weekend, Mark said he’d hook us up with tickets for Saturday night’s game!

I responded with, “Really?  That’s awesome!”

He confirmed, “Sure, not a problem.  Just email me!”

A bit baffled, I questioned, “Just email you?”

He said, “Yeah, just email me.”

Later that night, hours after the lunch had come to a close, I sent him a quick email thanking him again for his time and for the tickets.

Within five minutes, he responded back, confirming the tickets and closed his email with something that made me laugh.

He said, “Enjoy the game guys, and No asking any of the players to play 1-on-1!”

This is what I saw when I showed my ID at will call.

(The seats were floor seats!)

An Over 2 Hour Lunch with Mark Cuban

In the over two hours that Karol and I spent with Mark, we discussed everything from hoops to dancing with the stars and everything else in between.

I challenged him to a push-up contest, shooting contest, we invited ourselves on his upcoming trips, asked if he wanted to play some hoops and of course asked if he would call or put in a good word for me with MJ.

He took it all in stride.

While we were unsure of how much time we would have with Mr. Cuban (the charity had said up to 75 minutes), we were both blown away at his unrushed willingness to hang out and talk about any and everything.

Once we realized how long he had been with us (over two hours), we both thanked him for spending so much of his time with us, to which he responded, “Not a problem.  I like you guys.  If I didn’t, I would have been out of here in 10 minutes!”

After lunch, he walked us out to our car, took a picture and was on his way.

As he walked away, I yelled out, “Don’t forget to scan that QR code!”

To which he quipped, “Uh, huh!”

Great times for sure!

The Journey Continues!

So there was no call to MJ.  No game has been set up.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Mark Cuban, including his challenging of what I’m looking to accomplish.

The great thing with being challenged is that it strips away everything and leaves you with the pureness of what the journey is all about.

I’m proud of how I handled myself and while I can’t read Mr. Cuban’s mind, I feel he was impressed as well.

I put forth effort in preparation, just as I have on this journey, and did all I could do to make the most of the opportunity.  I think he knows that.

I learned, was inspired, and truly had a great time.

Hopefully he did as well.  (Yes, Mr. Cuban, we can hang at the end of the month when the Mavs play in Orlando. ;-))

I WILL play Michael Jordan!

This past Tuesday I was back to training, back to making new connections, still hopeful that someone will be willing to help me prove that ALL things are possible with Faith and Hard Work.

I will play MJ.  I’m determined to succeed.

I must admit the depth of this journey has far exceeded my expectations.

Mark Cuban last week…what is coming next?  Only time will tell!

me vs MJ…the journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along!

PS:  Mark, I look forward to seeing you at the game WHEN I play MJ (even if I have to make what we discussed happen, haha)! – Thank you again! – Yes, I know you’re reading this!

####

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.

####

If you’re new to the site, I set out in August 2010 to get a game of 1-on-1 vs. my childhood hero Michael Jordan.  This site is about that journey…through every valley, to every mountain top of triumph!

IT’S OFFICIAL!

On March 1st, at 11am in Dallas, Texas, I will sit down and have lunch with Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks!

The How

If you’ve been following along on this journey of mine to play Michael Jordan since day one, you know that Twitter has been good to me!  From Jeff Jordan to Tracy McGrady, Damon Jones to Coach B Meyer, I’ve made numerous basketball connections through the 140 character social media platform.

I can now add Mark Cuban to that list!

I currently follow 158 people on Twitter, with one of those being billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban (@MCuban).  Just over two months ago, on the afternoon of November 3rd, I opened Twitter on my phone and saw this retweet by Cuban himself.

At first I didn’t really think much of it, figuring the odds of “winning” a lunch with someone like Mark Cuban would be highly unlikely.  So I skimmed through the rest of my Twitter feed and went on with what I was doing…for a moment.

Then curiosity got the best of me.

I went back to the tweet a few minutes later, clicked the link and read that the lunch would go to the highest bidder of an auction taking place on eBay, with proceeds going to charity.

Again, my initial thought was, this will most likely quickly get out of my “giving” range, but the optimist in me, read on.

As I read through the details, the actual prize was a lunch for two with Mark Cuban.

I immediately thought, who could maximize my giving potential?  Who loves hoops and or Mark Cuban as much as I do and is as crazy as I am to go for it?!?!

A minute later, I sent an email to my buddy Karol and just moments after that, he was in!

Do You Really Want To Do This?

A day or two before the auction was due to come to a close on November 11th; I was out for a run when I received a message from Karol asking if I still really wanted to bid on the lunch.  He said he was definitely in, but would leave it up to me.

It was gut check time.

I had then just recently returned from Las Vegas, and Impact Basketball’s Competitive League and while I loved the idea of having lunch with Mark Cuban, I wasn’t sure it made the most sense financially to make an unplanned charitable contribution at that time.

I continued on and finished my run, thinking about what I should do the majority of the way.  I got home, took a shower, while still thinking of all that could be and could come from such a meeting.

Then with just under 24 hours of opportunity remaining, the dreamer in me, said, YES, WE’VE GOT TO GO FOR IT!

On November 11th, thanks to some great bidding by Karol, we won by just an $11 margin, with a final bid in the closing seconds!!

The Million Dollar Pitch

This may come as a shock to most reading this, but I don’t plan on pitching any “money making” ideas to Mr. Cuban.

I know, I know, most people would kill for an opportunity to share their ideas with someone like Mark Cuban, because he has the ability to make dreams come true.

All I want to do though, is get to know him a little, talk hoops, tell him about mevsMJ.com and my journey to play Michael Jordan and ask him one major question/favor.

I plan on asking Mark:  Will you call Michael Jordan and ask him to play me?

That’s it!

In a Position to Succeed!

I can’t control how the upcoming lunch will go.  While I am hopeful that Mark Cuban falls in love with what I’m doing here at mevsMJ.com and wants to make it a priority of his to make my dream a reality, I just don’t control that.

I leave that in HIS hands.

All I can do is work hard and do my best to continue to place myself in positions in which I can succeed.

That’s all any of us can do.

Hoops Instead of Lunch?

Through email we’ve actually asked to shoot hoops with Mr. Cuban as opposed to lunch, but have yet to hear back on that just yet, haha!  If that happens, you know he may just sign me after seeing me shoot the ball!!

Anyway, as the trip gets closer and more details come my way, I’ll be sure to pass them on!

I’m just happy now that it’s confirmed, to finally be able to share with everyone something I’ve known for two months!

me vs. MJ…the amazing journey continues!  As always, thank you for following along and for your continued support!

Connect:  Twitter (@KennyEller) and mevsMJ.com Facebook Fan Page.