He Made Michael Jordan Win—and Can Help You, Too

I did not know at my University of Texas basketball practice in 2016 (Go Longhorns!) that I was shaking hands with history. That the hand I was shaking had, in turn, shaken hands with Presidents Truman and Ford and Carter. That this hand had personally received from Martin Luther King Jr. the only copy of his “I Have a Dream” speech.

I also didn’t know that this hand had guided the legendary Michael Jordan to Nike, and helped make him a billionaire.

I thought I was just shaking hands with a friendly older gentleman named George Raveling.

I soon realized that the then-79-year-old was a towering figure, and not only because he’s 6-foot-6. His is quite a life story. When he was born in 1937, the life expectancy for a black man in the United States was 48. An orphan at 13, from segregated Washington, D.C., he earned a basketball scholarship to Villanova University. Then he paid it forward by working tirelessly to bring black talent to northern universities to play basketball, in what one 1970s newspaper described as an “Underground Railroad.” And that was just the beginning.

This man, who was illegally deprived of human rights by this country until he was 27, volunteered as an assistant coach on two Olympic teams and helped them earn multiple gold medals. This campaigner for social justice, who was handed a historical document—King’s speech—worth millions of dollars, donated it to his alma mater on the condition that it would be displayed at the Smithsonian. This coach, who used to run Jordan’s iconic basketball camps—where the legend taught normal kids how to dunk—also created the country’s first basketball camp for young women.

And this mentor, who is generous beyond belief, welcomed me into the club of those he informally guides through life.

It’s a great club to be part of. He emails us articles from his iPad. He answers the phone when we call. He brings us books. (Kobe Bryant loved to ask for reading recommendations from George.) He reminds us to put our families first. He texts just to let us know he’s thinking about us. He’s the first to congratulate us on our wins, and the first to lift us up after our losses.

So, when his son asked me last year if I thought anyone might be interested in helping his dad do a book, I said I’d ask my publisher. I’ve never seen them buy a book faster.

George could have written a memoir about basketball. Instead, he wanted to write a guide to life. Something that might help people.

The result, What You’re Made For, came out earlier this month, and today, The Free Press is publishing an exclusive excerpt about the secret of George’s success. He has a lot of epic stories about basketball and the civil rights movement, as well as business, from his time at Nike. You can read all of them in the book. Below is an essay that’s not about the moments of triumph in the spotlight, but the invisible work behind them. It’s a guide to winning every single day, from a man who has won a lot. —Ryan Holiday

When Michael Jordan first approached me about running his basketball camps, I was hesitant.

“Let me think about it,” I told him.

George Raveling (left) talks with Michael Jordan in 1992. (USA Basketball)