Former NBA All-Star James Donaldson on faith, mental health and overcoming depression
Sports Spectrum Podcast
Sports Spectrum
4.9 • 685 Ratings
🗓️ 14 September 2022
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James Donaldson is a former professional basketball player who played 16 seasons in the NBA with Seattle, San Diego/LA Clippers, Dallas, N.Y. Knicks and Utah. He was originally selected in the fourth round of the 1979 NBA Draft by Seattle and after playing one year of pro ball in Italy, he made his NBA debut on October 10, 1980 with Seattle.
Most known for his time with the Dallas Mavericks, Donaldson played six seasons with Dallas and led the NBA in field goal percentage in 1984-85 and played in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago. Donaldson holds the record of the most games ever played in the NBA without an attempted three-point shot.
Today on the podcast, we talk to James Donaldson about his basketball career, why his game wouldn't translate to today's NBA, playing in the 1988 All-Star Game, guarding Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Shaquille O'Neal, Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon and other legendary centers. Then the conversation turns to James post-playing career and his struggle with mental health and depression and how God has helped him overcome it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey guys, here at Sports Spectrum, we know that athletes and coaches face unique spiritual challenges every single day. |
| 0:07.4 | Coaches often need to offer guidance to athletes who face difficulties of all kinds. |
| 0:12.6 | And of course, likewise, athletes need to help their own teammates who ask questions about their spirituality and faith and love those who even mock them for following Christ. |
| 0:23.1 | There are countless situations that require trustworthy resources to ensure that coaches and |
| 0:28.5 | athletes are equipped for these type of challenges. |
| 0:32.7 | And that's why the fellowship of Christian athletes and the Christian Standard Bible have partnered to make |
| 0:39.3 | the brand new CSB-E-3 discipleship Bible to assist athletes and coaches in the pursuit of righteousness |
| 0:46.8 | as they disciple their team. This new Bible exists to engage, equip, and empower coaches, athletes, and mentors, and it has nearly 300 articles and features as well as easily shared videos via QR codes. |
| 1:04.2 | The CSB E3 Discipleship Bible allows us to engage with Scripture and enter meaningful relationships with our teams. |
| 1:11.8 | It equips us to grow in Christ and share the gospel with our teams, and it empowers us to do |
| 1:17.8 | the same for teams making disciples of those closest to us. To learn more, visit e3discipleshipb Bible.com. |
| 1:26.8 | That's e3 discipleshipbibble.com. That's e3 discipleshipbibble.com. Go get this new CSB.3 |
| 1:33.2 | Discipleship Bible. It's fantastic and is available wherever books are sold. |
| 1:53.2 | Well, Welcome into the Sports Spectrum podcast, where we bring Jesus into the sports conversation. |
| 1:54.6 | Here's your host for today, Jason Romano. |
| 1:58.0 | And hi, everybody. |
| 1:59.2 | Welcome to the show. |
| 2:00.1 | I am Jason. This is the Sports Spectrum podcast. |
| 2:03.2 | We are the intersection of sports and faith. So glad to have you joining us here on today's |
| 2:09.0 | podcast. You can find us on our website, sportspectrum.com. That's the best place to go for all of our |
| 2:15.2 | content articles, devotionals, podcasts, testimonials, |
| 2:20.0 | stories, wonderful resources, all free, all that you can share with others at sportspectrum.com. |
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