Ryan reads today’s daily meditation and talks to NBA Spurs basketball player Kieta Bates-Diop about his journey getting into the NBA, what he’s learned playing for coach Gregg Popovich, doing what you do you because you love it not for money, and more.

Keita Bates-Diop is a pro basketball player for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. He played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Despite several setbacks and challenges throughout his career, Keita has been able to excel because of his relentless work ethic and mindset. He was a bench player as a freshman at OSU in the 2014–15 season. As a sophomore, he expanded his role on the team, but as a junior, he suffered a stress fracture in his left leg, sitting out all but the first nine games, while the Buckeyes limped to a 17–15 record without him. He was granted a medical redshirt and came into his redshirt junior campaign one of the top options for new coach Chris Holtmann. Keita went on to finish his college career being named a multi-time Big Ten Player of the Week and player of the year for Ohio State. At the beginning of his professional career, Keita experienced another set-back due to illness and started in the NBA G League, but in 2018 he came back and was drafted by the Timberwolves.

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