By Steve Kerr, Yahoo! Sports
June 22, 2005
What does a Game 7 feel like? You can't sleep, you can't eat and you don't want to talk to anyone – and that's if you're a fan.
When you're a player, it's 10 times worse. Your heart is in your stomach for two days. You're about as delightful to be around as Mike Tyson. The weight of the world seems to be on your shoulders – even if you're the 10th man on the roster.
Game 7 is a scary prospect in any round, but in the NBA Finals? Oh my. Most players involved are thinking, "I hope I'm not the goat." A couple are thinking, "I could be the hero." But the fear of defeat is always stronger than the thought of victory. Nobody wants to cost his team – and his city – an NBA championship.
I played in three Game 7s in my career, and I'll admit it – I was scared to death in each one of them. And I never played in a seventh game in the Finals. It's tough to imagine the pressure that each and every player on the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs will be facing on Thursday night.
As a player, your legacy is possibly on the line. A place in history could await you, one way or another. You might be Kirk Gibson, but you could also be Bill Buckner.
The key is to somehow put all of that out of your mind and let yourself play. Some players seem to do so instinctively – Chauncey Billups and Robert Horry, for example. But a lot of guys are overwhelmed by the pressure and tighten up.
I struggled with that early in my career before eventually learning to simply let go and play. You have to find a way to eliminate the fear of failure in order to play well. If you accept the fact that you might miss a big shot and that it's not the end of the world if you do, you're much more likely to relax and let your skills take over.
That's what Horry does. He said after his winning three-pointer in Game 5 that "most players take the game too seriously" and that he just tries to enjoy each moment. Horry has it all figured out.
The problem is, most players don't. Not with millions of people around the world watching. Not with the dream of an NBA championship so close at hand. Not when you are bearing the weight of your own hopes – and those of your teammates, your coaches, your family and an entire city.
There's no getting around it. Game 7 is scary. One team is going to lose. And it will probably be the one that is more fearful of that awful prospect. Steve Kerr is Yahoo! Sports' NBA analyst. Send Steve a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Updated on Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005 5:35 pm, EDT Email to a Friend | View Popular
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