For the Love of the Game

“If Ye Love the Game, Keep its Laws.”—Inspired by John 14:15

Take a look at the BLD Glossary, and you’ll find the phrase “Love of the Game.”

It reads: “Submission to the laws on the court.”

Attached to this phrase is another word: Truth.

At Be Like David Basketball, we believe this is the truth in basketball — to do the laws of the game. Anyone who does not do them does not have love of the game. And the truth is not in them.

These are not merely poetic phrases. They were born from years of study, observation, and spiritual reflection on the game itself. It has taken me a long time as both a student and a teacher to realize what “love of the game” actually means. I have come to understand it as this:

A true lover of the game is a carrier of its truths.

And the truth in basketball is that it is a game of laws, not rules.

Laws vs. Rules

• Rules can change depending on who makes them. Think about “house rules” — how people play in their own gyms or neighborhoods. Rules bend to personal preference.

  
  

• But laws are unshakeable. They are woven into the fabric of the game itself. They are what make basketball basketball.

For example, in tetherball, the ball must be tethered to a rope attached to a pole. Remove that, and tetherball no longer exists. That’s a law of the game.

You could, however, change the rules — say, by requiring players to keep an open hand when striking the ball or to release it within three seconds. The game remains intact because its law is preserved.

The same principle applies to basketball. Laws define the essence of the game — balance, positioning, energy, rhythm, and flow. They cannot be changed, only honored or violated.

Do You Really Love the Game?

In my own journey, I had to ask myself an uncomfortable question:

Do I actually love basketball?

I enjoyed it. I had history in it. I even built a teaching program around it.

But was that love?

The answer didn’t come through playing — it came through teaching. One day, a student asked me, “Coach, how do I know if a certain coach is correct in what they teach?”

I answered, “If they are students themselves.

”Then he asked, “How would I know that?”

At the time, I didn’t have an answer beyond that question. But over time, I discovered the meaning behind it:

A true student reaches the final stage of skill development — game application of the laws on the court.

That’s the goal of skill development: not just to know the laws, but to do them.

And to do them, you must submit to them.

Love Means Submit

That’s when it clicked — love means to submit.

Anyone can say, “I love the game.” But where is the proof?

True love for the game is shown in obedience to its laws. It’s not about the trophies, highlights, or followers. Those who truly love the game serve it — they submit to its process, its principles, and its truth.

Many players struggle here. They are held back not by ability, but by self-love. They chase the feeling of greatness rather than the discipline that produces it.

The Three Types

Within this, I’ve seen three kinds of athletes:

1. Hoopers — They lean on their own understanding. Pride and ego drive them. They drain the life out of others and never truly serve the game. They straddle the fence between Players and Students. Lukewarm — neither hot nor cold. The game eventually spits them out. Here today, gone tomorrow.

2. Players — They endure skill development for a time. They practice, they develop some, but there are limits to their love. Something — pressure, pride, or outside influence — keeps them from full submission. They rise and fall with every possession, never fully repenting of their sin on the court. They do not believe in the game, nor surrender to its laws when playing.

3. Students — These are the true lovers of the game. They study the laws. They nurture them. They apply them. Their love is recorded not in sweat, but in submission — the submission of their own will to the laws of the game.

And because the truth is in them, they bring life wherever they play. Their light cannot be hidden. It shines through the darkness of ignorance on the court. Their play produces fruit — 40, 60, even 100-fold. They don’t hide their love of the game. It’s evident in every pass, every shot, every decision.

Their mastery reveals their love. Their submission reveals their power. Their light brings prosperity to the game itself.

The Greatest Love

The great paradox is this:

To reach mastery requires self-sacrifice.

And there is no greater love than that.

Just as John 15:13 says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

The same is true on the court.

To love the game is to lay down your ego, your comfort, your control.

To lose yourself for truth's sake.

That is the love of the game.

That is the way to mastery.

Shalom. 🕊️🏀