Myles Turner and What It Means to Find Success

Myles Turner Reflects on 10 Seasons with the Indiana Pacers and What He’s Learned

Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers.

Indiana Pacers Center, Myles Turner, recently sat down to write an article for The Player’s Tribune titled, “It Took Me 10 Years to Write This.” Not bad for a man who’s also in the middle of a playoff run.

In the article, he starts off by telling a story about a surprise party his family and friends threw for him this past summer.

We walk in, and…………… yeah. Western theme everywhere. All my favorite Texas food. Cocktails with my favorite whiskey. Balloons, streamers. And 40-some of my closest people, wearing these cowboy hats that my mom made for everyone, yelling out “SURPRISE!!!!!” I was speechless for real. Like — just to be able to celebrate something like that, with the ones who’ve been there for me most on the journey? It’s hard to even put in words how dope it was. I’ll never forget it.

Fresh off his first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, Myles spent the evening celebrating with his closest people. “Celebrating what,” you ask? Myles had the same question.

“This is amazing. Except … what the f*** are we celebrating?”

Ten years in the league. That’s what his family wanted to celebrate. And more than that? Ten years with one team. Ten years as a starting Center in the greatest basketball league in the world.

And honestly, I’ve been reflecting back on that party a lot this season — especially over these last few weeks, as we’ve been on this playoff run. And I think I finally get it now. I didn’t fully get it all those months ago, before I actually played in Year 10. But now that I’m deep in it, I think I understand a lot better what it was we were celebrating … and what it is I have to be proud of. And I wanted to write this, because a big part of what I’ve realized — and what means so much to me about my journey — is that it isn’t just “10 years in the league.” It’s 10 years in one city. 

In sports, we’re obsessed with rings. Everything athletes do is geared toward one goal: a championship. I get that. Whatever you do, you want to do it to the best of your ability.

Funny enough, fans tend to have this mindset as well. If your team doesn’t come home with the title, then the season is seen as a giant failure… but is it?

Every year, there are about seven teams that could conceivably win a title. Six of them don’t. For those who miss their goal, does that make the journey a failure? I guess that’s up to you, but I love Myles Turner’s family’s perspective on life; there are countless milestones to celebrate.

When I started writing, I had an idea of who I’d be. There are writers I look up to whom I’d love to consider colleagues one day. There are podcasters I’d love to connect with whose numbers far outpace anything I’ve done.

My children’s book has done well, though certainly not at the level of others. I see dads taking their families on lavish vacations around the globe. I can’t do that.

I could look around, staring daggers into the pavement, head down, determined to push aside anything not resembling my version of success, but if I did, I would miss a lifetime of beauty around me.

I would miss this season where I have the opportunity to do school drop-offs and pick-ups, learning all about my kids’ days as I drive them home. I could miss this season where I’m coaching both my daughters’ basketball teams, helping them learn the fundamentals of lockdown defense and teamwork. I could miss weekday walks through the trail with my 11 and 8-year-old dogs. I could miss writing articles like this that are so niche, so specific, that they might not get a lot of reads, but they help me develop my writing voice, which will help me down the line.

When I say it’s been a journey though…… man, it’s been a journey.

Myles goes on to write about his rookie season, a Paul George trade request, playoff failures, coaching changes, and umpteen trade rumors that could have sent him anywhere throughout the league. Over ten years in the league, Myles has seen a lot. Depression can easily find you in that season, though, through it all, he built up his resiliency and stayed prepared for the right moment at the right time, and I write this sentence just hours after Myles hit the game-sealing three that would send his Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in a row.

It’s worth it because, all jokes aside? I’m truly just grateful to be here right now. I’m grateful for the Pacers for taking a chance on a kid out of Bedford, Texas — who felt alienated in high school for being awkward and different, then got named “one of the most disappointing players in college” when he was still just trying to figure this world out. I’m grateful for the resilience I’ve found to be my own damn validation, and my own complex puzzle I’m building, and my own unfinished product I’m working on. I’m grateful for never letting the wrong people f*** with my vision … and for always finding the RIGHT people in this incredible city. And for finding the right team, at the right time, to ride through these playoffs with.

From ten-year starters in the NBA to a 38-year-old dad like me, we’ve all got our journeys to follow. At times, the process can hurt, leading us to feel as if we’re failing, unworthy of being celebrated for accomplishments that feel beneath us. But that’s where the right family, friends, and community can help us see things more clearly.

We can have all the goals and refuse to compromise our vision of success. Those without even a rough vision tend to drift in directions that are difficult to reverse down the line.

But no matter your mountain top, whatever your idea of success may be, don’t forget to stop and celebrate the accomplishments that will lead you toward your goal.

Build. Grow. Learn. Continue.

And learn to “find ways to be a little better tomorrow.”