#438: Coach George Raveling on This Unique Moment in Time, How to Practice Self-Leadership, Navigating Difficult Conversations, and Much More
The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig
4.6 • 17.4K Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2020
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“My hope is that we will be who we say we are. All of us.” — Coach George Raveling
Coach George Raveling (@GeorgeRaveling) is an 82-year-old living legend and Nike’s former Director of International Basketball. Coach Raveling was the first African-American head basketball coach in the PAC-8 (now PAC-12). On August 28, 1963, at age 26, while volunteering as security at the March on Washington, Raveling would humbly become the guardian of what we have come to know as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Coach Raveling has held head coaching positions at Washington State, the University of Iowa, and USC. Following a prolific basketball coaching career, he joined Nike at the request of Phil Knight, where he played an integral role in signing a reluctant Michael Jordan. He’s also been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Coach George Raveling made his first appearance on the podcast in 2018, and for me, it was one of the most impactful interviews I’ve done, and I came out of it walking on air.
We covered a lot of ground in that first interview, including how Coach Raveling came to own the original copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, how his practice team ended up beating the 1984 US Olympic Dream Team in basketball, how he helped convince Michael Jordan to sign with Nike, and much more. I strongly urge you to listen to that conversation about Coach’s life, philosophies, and lessons learned.
I invited George back on the podcast to hear his thoughts on everything that is happening right now. These are difficult and uncertain times for millions of people, and my heart goes out to each and every person navigating the depths of sadness, anger, and fear.
As you’ll hear in today’s episode, Coach Raveling has great hope. He’s seen many changes in his lifetime, and we can all strive to be the positive change agents that he implores us to be.
Please enjoy this timely—and timeless—conversation with Coach George Raveling.
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm the optimal mineral. |
| 0:02.0 | At this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. |
| 0:06.0 | Can I also repost some questions? |
| 0:08.0 | Now I just see an appropriate time. |
| 0:10.0 | What if I did the opposite? |
| 0:12.0 | I'm a cybernetic organism living this show where metal handles go. |
| 0:16.0 | Lead to Paris show. |
| 0:24.0 | Hello ladies and gentlemen, this is Tim Ferris and welcome to another episode of The Tim Ferris Show. |
| 0:29.0 | This is a powerful and unusual episode featuring coach George Ravling, who made his first appearance on the podcast in 2018. |
| 0:37.0 | Right now I'm looking at a tweet from a listener, Ryan M., who called it his favorite podcast of all time. |
| 0:43.0 | That type of feedback came in again and again for me personally. |
| 0:47.0 | It was one of the most impactful interviews I've ever done and I came out of it walking on air effectively. |
| 0:53.0 | Ravling is really much more than a coach of sports. He is a coach of life and has led many people through difficult decisions, difficult periods, difficult transitions. |
| 1:03.0 | We covered a lot of ground in that first interview including how coach Ravling came to own the original copy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream Speech. |
| 1:12.0 | How his practice team ended up beating the 1984 US Olympic Dream Team in basketball. |
| 1:17.0 | How he helped convince Michael Jordan to sign with Nike and much much more. |
| 1:22.0 | You can find it by going to Tim.plog forward slash George Ravling R-A-V-E-L-I-N-G. |
| 1:28.0 | I strongly encourage you to listen to that conversation when you can about coach's life philosophies and lessons learned. |
| 1:34.0 | I invited George back on the podcast to hear his thoughts on everything that is happening right now. |
| 1:39.0 | These are obviously very difficult and uncertain times for millions of people and my heart goes out to each and every person navigating the depths of sadness, anger, fear and many other emotions right now. |
| 1:50.0 | As you'll hear in today's episode, Coach Ravling has great hope. He's seen many changes in his lifetime and we can all strive to be the positive change agents that he implores us to be. |
| 2:00.0 | Before we get to today's conversation here is a very brief bio which barely scratches the surface. |
... |
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