ESPN basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes channels success through Christianity
ESPN college basketball analyst Jimmy Dykes (left) during an ESPN college basketball telecast. Photo courtesy of ESPN.
(REVIEW) The recent ESPN 10-part documentary The Last Dance revealed the behind-the-scenes story of how the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s became arguably the best NBA team in history. The docu-series had a series of delicious storylines, but none was more important than the overall theme of Michael Jordan’s greatness.
Why was Jordan great? Sure, he was talented, but His Airness was also very motivated. More importantly, he was self-motivated — sometimes that motivation coming as a result of what an opponent said or did in the lead up to a big game.
Like Jordan, Jimmy Dykes knows that winning isn’t enough. If future success comes from that constant drive to be better, then Dykes knows how to do that in both sports and life. The former basketball coach-turned-broadcaster’s new book, The Film Doesn’t Lie: Evaluating Your Life One Play at a Time, is a wonderful manual into what it takes to always strive to be better in order to achieve future greatness. The Bulls, it turns out, were not a religions unit — not in the traditional sense if you consider coach Phil Jackson’s New Age Christianity.
Dykes’ tome, published by Triumph Books, isn’t just one long series of motivational speeches. Instead, he focuses on how people can strengthen their relationships with one another — the perfect recipe for any team’s success — along with serving God. Dykes mixes personal stories and anecdotes from his many years pacing the sidelines of the hardwood to help readers understand notions of discipline, commitment and forgiveness. It is on these pillars that Dykes says you can be both happy and successful.
Before working for ESPN the first time, Dykes served as the men’s assistant basketball coach over a span of two decades at the University of Arkansas, Appalachian State, Kentucky, Arkansas State, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Oklahoma State. He spent three seasons, starting in 2014, as head coach of the women’s hoops team at Arkansas.
“I have come to the conclusion over the years that below average coaches can’t even see the problem with their teams. Good coaches can see the problem, but they cannot fix the problem. And great coaches can identify and fix the problem,” Dykes writes. “That is our goal as we go through this book. Think of yourself as a coach. You are coaching you. Begin asking God to open your eyes, remove the fog, and grant you the ability to see what He desires for you to see. Secondly, ask for God’s power for change in your life in the form of a more determined mindset, a more disciplined life, and a heart that is renewed on knowing God and His love for you.”
Dykes likens this process to the way coaches and players watch game film to evaluate what they did right and wrong in a given game. It is through this process that teams — and indeed anyone — can improve. What Dykes put forward here is not a self-help book, but one that both Christians and sports fans can enjoy. It’s the type of book you’d give to your dad if he coaches youth sports or a teenage brother who plays on a team.
Dykes, from the very start of the book, argues that complacency can be the biggest enemy in the pursuit of greatness.
“I want to open your eyes, your thoughts and your heart to the potential harm a slow fade to complacency can cause to any area of your life,” he writes. “Satisfaction, a false sense of security, and smugness are all dangerous slopes. I have observed countless teams and individuals falling from the mountain of favor to the valley of failure all because they became prideful in how they went about their days, allowing arrogance and ego to take command, and they ultimately lost that unquenchable desire they once had to get better.”
This book is particularly fun for those who like college hoops. After March Madness was scrapped this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, fans still looking for that basketball fix can relish in some of the stories Dykes recounts during his travels as a TV analyst. One story that sticks out in the book involves longtime Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and how he helps to motivate his players. The result, as Dykers points out, has been Coach K becoming the winningest coach in NCAA history.
The book’s simple, straightforward message is refreshing. When not quoting the Bible, Dykes’ insights keep the book moving (and at just 200 pages it is a quick read). It’s the kind of book one could finish over the course of just a few days. Although it deals with some weighty topics, it’s also the kind of book you can read at the beach this summer.
While this time of lockdowns and protests has weighed heavily on the hearts of many, Dykes’ book at self-improvement proves to be an invaluable tool as many people re-evaluate their priorities in what has increasingly become an uncertain world. You may not be able to control the people and events around you, but this book teaches that you can strive to be a better person. After all, the film never lies.
Clemente Lisi is a senior editor and regular contributor to Religion Unplugged. He is the former deputy head of news at the New York Daily News and teaches journalism at The King’s College in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @ClementeLisi.