the formula

i watched jared mccain's training videos from my freshman year of high school to my sophomore year of college. 4:30 a.m., three sessions a day, the entire time. six years of footage and none of the individual days looked like anything. a guy in an empty gym putting up the same shot.

scouts had him as an undersized guard. too slow, not athletic enough to stick. the knock followed him to duke, where the read was that his game wouldn't translate against that level of size and speed. he had a rough couple of months to open the season and then shot his way out of it, finishing the year as one of the most efficient volume shooters in the country. he then developed a great game creating shots off the dribble as well.

his rookie year opened the same way. slow start, not much of a role. minutes came when people ahead of him went down, and by november he was scoring enough that his name was in the rookie of the year conversation. then his knee went and the season was over in december.

what came after is the part i think about most, because it is the part nobody puts in a highlight package. sent down to the g league and back up. games in a suit. a trade that everybody read as the end of his playing time. he came out of that stretch starting in the conference finals as the second option on a team that finished a series short of the finals.

none of that was visible in the footage i was watching in 2020. that is the whole point. the days do not announce themselves — they just accumulate, and then one season the accumulation is the only explanation for what you are looking at.

consistency compounds. it shows up later than you want it to, and it shows up.

believe it, then act like you believe it. put in the work when there is nothing to show for it, stay kind while you do, and block out the noise from people grading you on the wrong stretch. trust the process and it will show for itself.