In sports, you encounter big moments. No matter what stage or level you play at, at some point it happens. You can call it whatever you want. Call it being clutch. Call it stepping up. But one thing is for sure: not everyone can do it. Some people fail and fall short. Others rise to the occasion.
As an athlete myself, I’ve been faced with this a good number of times in my career. Sports are filled with stakes. Even in a simple regular-season game, the difference between a victory and a loss can come down to a single moment, a single goal to be scored. And I want to be the one taking the shot. I think every elite athlete seems obsessed with taking the shot. And while sometimes I score, sometimes I also miss. These moments reflect some of the best and worst times of my career. And yet I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It has given me a necessity to step up, something I think will always stay with me.
That feeling of stepping up is innate. Not all players have it. Not all players can do it and accept that pressure. But then you have a select few. See, while every athlete works just as hard as the next, not all can make the play. And this separates the good from the great. The clutch gene defines the greatest athletes of our time. Their ability to sink the putt, pull a jumper or throw the game-winning pass has immortalized them. And nowhere is that more prevalent than in college basketball.
Recently, in March Madness, Duke played UCONN in a very intense matchup. The Huskies were down by 19 points in the second half. Yet, miraculously, they were able to come back, down one point with just seconds to go. As the game clock counted down, Duke turned the ball over on a routine inbound pass, right into the hands of Braydon Mullins. He immediately sank the game-winning three.
This was a split-second decision; he didn’t intend for the ball to end up in his arms, but fate chose him. It wasn’t what he could’ve imagined, but Mullins was more than ready to take that shot… and pulled off one of the greatest buzzer beaters ever seen in the tournament. But this wasn’t a surprise. He’s probably worked on that three-point shot countless times. Hours upon hours of drills, late nights spent in the gym, all leading up to a single season-defining moment. Mullins making that shot wasn’t an accident; it was by design. He had worked all his life for it, and it paid off in the biggest moment.
It’s all a mental game as much as it is skill. For an athlete to remain focused in an intense match, when tensions and pressures are at an all-time high, you need to be mentally strong. And in reality, a lot of athletes aren’t. They aren’t made of the same stuff the top athletes are made of. But with that comes responsibility, because just because you can take the shot doesn’t mean you make it. This pressure still affects the best of athletes; they simply learn to embrace it.
Kobe Bryant, known as the most clutch player in basketball history, has been on the opposite side. He missed shots in key moments for his team, but had the mentality to get back up and want the ball in his hands repeatedly. This is what separates stars like him from the average player. Same with Tom Brady, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Players like this have legacy-defining moments that almost feel like destiny, but it wasn’t. They wanted this life and stepped up in it; it’s what you expect of superstars. So, it makes you question as an athlete, do you have “IT”?
