I can remember one particular moment that I think really
brought me to a low point.
We had just finished winning a big game, a big nationally televised game.
I played well, the team had played well, and I can remember being out
celebrating afterwards.
I can remember having some random guy, didn't know who we was, coming up to
me, and he basically said to me, man, Wayne, I wish I had your life.
I remember as soon as he said that, it was literally like I got
punched in the face.
On the inside, he really didn't know what was going on.
He didn't really understand the gravity and the magnitude of the
unfulfillment that I had in my heart.
I started out, just as a young boy, with a carefree attitude, who was
gifted with some athletic ability, and who just really
enjoyed to play sports.
Just began to excel at basketball, and that's when things kind of changed.
I began to receive some notoriety because of my athletic ability, to win
some awards, and what was once just something that I did for fun then
turned into something that became a selfish ambition to receive more glory
from other people, and from the things that I could attain from it.
Just as I began to excel and to achieve my dreams, whether it was in
terms of championships, in terms of going to the university that I always
dreamed of, playing at the University of Kansas, winning conference
championships there and going to final fours, having a future in the NBA,
having access to drugs, and alcohol, and girls.
Basically, during that time, I had everything that the world said should
make you happy as a 20-year-old college athlete.
But yet, because I was so performance driven, because I was so worried about
what other people thought about me, and wanted to gain approval, that at
the first sign of any conflict, any struggle, whether it was a loss,
whether it was a poor performance, whether it was an injury, whether it
was public ridicule in the papers or by fans, emotionally I
would just be crushed.
Just remember crying out to God for Him to show me someone or something.
Lord, show me something that's truly worth giving my life to.
A few weeks later, I would run into some Christians.
They shared with me the gospel in a dynamic way.
They told me about Jesus Christ and the things that He had
done with His life.
They shared with me how He died for the forgiveness of my sins, and that
he had a purpose and a plan for my life.
And that's something that I never heard before.
God had something for me to do here on earth.
I gave my life to the Lord on July 12th, 2003, and my life was completely
transformed from the inside out.
I had played for myself, and played for the applause of the crowd for so
long that I really had no idea how to compete outside of that, and God had
to show me how to do that.
He showed me that I could compete and that I could play for His glory, that
I could compete, and play, and live as an act of worship to Him,
for what He had done.
And when that became the motivation of why I stepped on that court, that's
where the freedom came, to where it didn't matter if I scored 30 points or
if I didn't score any points at all.
That if the posture of my heart, if the posture of how I lived, if the
motivation for why I did things was to glorify and honor God, then I knew at
the end of the day, He would be pleased with me.
As that became the motivation of why I played, those were the two best years
of my career.
I became all-American, big 12 player of the year, because of the freedom
that came from playing and competing for Jesus.
[Wayne Simien was selected in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat.]
When I first walked into the locker room, there was a lot of skepticism.
They heard that I was a Christian, and their comments were,
this won't last long.
It was really intimidating.
I can even remember a few of the guys on the side literally taking cash
money bets on me, with how long it would take me to fall.
As time went on, as my rookie year had passed, and I had remained firm in my
faith, and began to have the opportunities to share with my
teammates in the NBA locker room how Jesus had transformed my life, that's
when I began to start to feel their support.
They began to pull for me.
[Wayne and his teammates went on to win the NBA Championship in 2006.]
It was amazing, the lesson that I learned from that.
It's not necessarily the championship ring, celebrated with champagne in the
locker room, parade in the city, hoisting the championship trophy, but
it was seeing how quickly that glory would fade.
Moving on to the next year, as the team struggled, swept out of the
playoffs, and I can remember the Lord bringing a Scripture verse to mind
after that championship: First Peter Chapter 1, Verse 24: "The man in all
his glory are like the flowers and the grass of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade, but it's only the word and the
will of God that stands forever."
Seeing how that eternal truth had matched up directly with the
experience of winning that championship, it's really when the
word of God and His will became something that I wanted
to completely pursue.
It's really something that led me to step away from professional
basketball, and to be part of something that's not only going to
influence and change my life, but have the influence to change the lives of
so many people around me, and not just for a moment's time, but for eternity.
It's a great feeling of knowing who you were made to be, and to know what
you were made to live for.
My name is Wayne Simien, and I am Second.