It’s an issue that still comes up for me. The truth is that the world has historically trained all emotions and anything else viewed as feminine out of boys who one day become men. It’s not about being better exactly, but it is about being real.
If I allow the phrase, “be a man” and toxic masculinity run my life, then my marriage and my children are in trouble. For me, it is more about how it impacts my life and not just a game like basketball. He allowed pressure from outside of himself determine what made him feel like a man. In situations like the one Wilt was in, he had a choice to become an even better player, score more points, become even more unstoppable. What she needs from me most is just to see her and delight in her and if that means doing things that don’t align with my unhealthy views of masculinity, I hope I still choose to do them. Wouldn’t wearing bows in my hair make me less of a man? One day I’m assuming she may want me to paint my nails or have a tea-party which aren’t the most masculine things either right? But my fear is that if I allow myself to be controlled by these false ideas of what masculinity really is, my daughter will feel dismissed or miss out on having a more engaged father. She likes to wear bows occasionally and typically wants my wife and I to wear bows with her. I was caring for her in ways that she wanted and needed more than just a paycheck I was so desperate to provide.įor me, having a daughter pushed my idea of being a man even more. I was cooking and cleaning and showing up emotionally for her when we were together. As a man I was supposed to be making money and providing right? It took a lot of long conversations for my wife to slowly convince me that I could provide for her without working a job. It was the first time I hadn’t had a job in 8 years, and I had never wanted to work more in my life. It was the first time in my life I can truly say depression hit me and it was in that space that I realized how much of my identity was tied to work. How could someone so successful be so self-conscious? How could a man who checks most surface level boxes about masculinity, be derailed by a granny-shot? More importantly, what areas of my own life have been impacted by similar issues? And what are the real boxes we want to check that makes me truly a man?Īfter getting married my identity as a husband and a man was pushed as my wife began to work and I was struggling to find a job.
#UNDERHAND THROW GRANNY STYLE FREE#
One of the greatest basketball players of all time, who apparently could have been even better, stopped making more free throws because the technique made him feel less masculine.Īs I listened the thoughts and questions began piling up in my head. In an autobiography written later in his life Wilt explained that “it made him feel like a sissy.” As I listened to sports history and the physics behind why shooting underhand is a better option, I also heard why Wilt never shot like this again.
However, with all of this surface information entertaining me, it soon became abundantly clear that this story was about identity and masculinity. These are great numbers for any basketball player but an astronomical jump for someone who for a career shot just above 50%. Apparently in this game, Wilt shot all his free-throws underhand or “Granny-Style.” This would be the only game in his entire career he would do so, making 28 of 32 for the game.
#UNDERHAND THROW GRANNY STYLE PROFESSIONAL#
As Gladwell walks through professional basketball history and explains who Wilt Chamberlain was and how he scored the most points in a single professional basketball game, he reveals one piece of information I had never heard before.
He uses the infamous 100-point game by Wilt Chamberlain as his case study. On the surface, Gladwell presents the question of why don’t good ideas spread. What I soon realized was this “simple” sports podcast was about much deeper issues. As I scrolled through the titles of each episode, I locked in on one titled “The Big Man Can’t Shoot” ( ) and assumed it would have a sports theme so I was interested. By chance I stumbled upon the podcast called “Revisionist History” by Malcolm Gladwell. I went on a run recently and decided while running that instead of listening to music as usual, I would find a podcast.
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