00:00What's up, this is Amari Stoudemire.
00:01I'm here at the 2026 Mace Smith Basketball Hall of Fame.
00:04Getting inducted with the 2026 class, and I'm here with Ebony.
00:15When I got the call from the Hall of Fame about me getting inducted into the Hall of Fame,
00:19I was ecstatic. I was really out of my corporate zone.
00:23I didn't know what to think.
00:24My entire career, from when I was a kid, flashed before my eyes.
00:28I started thinking about what it took to get to this point,
00:31and started just kind of reminiscing on all the things that went on in my life
00:35to get to the Hall of Fame, and I'm very appreciative.
00:38I think leadership requires you to follow first.
00:41You have to learn how to become a leader.
00:42So for me, as a high school player getting drafted to the NBA,
00:45I had to learn from my veterans in the front office and the executives
00:49on how to be professional, how to be an athlete, how to be a legit player,
00:54and how to reach the goals I wanted to reach.
00:57So I asked the players that were there and did it before me.
01:00They paved the way, so I was able to learn from them.
01:03And then I was able to take that leadership and apply it for myself
01:06to create my own way of leading.
01:08And having the willpower to be humble, to stay focused, to stay out of trouble
01:13got me to this point.
01:15You got to pursue that craft that set goals for yourself.
01:18Whatever goals you set for yourself, you got to truly go after it
01:21and dedicate yourself to it.
01:22Off the court, you realize the game of basketball is a universal language, right?
01:28So you can speak and interact with people from all different cultures and backgrounds.
01:32And so for me, off the court, this game has taught me how to interact with different type
01:37of people from different backgrounds, different cultures, and we're able to build great friendships
01:41around the world.
01:42And that's what this game of basketball taught me.
01:44Well, first of all, when the game of basketball is competitive,
01:47and you have this competitive spirit, that's what us as fans want to see, right?
01:50We want to see the competition.
01:53And when you compete, you can tell in someone's eyes and their general appearance
01:57on how they're trying to compete.
01:59You see that energy.
02:00And as fans, we feel that energy.
02:02So for the game to grow in the competitive nature, it's what I would love to see.
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