A legendary NBA player and beloved teammate shares his hard-earned wisdom about finding your true purpose and mastering your inner game, whatever that game might be.Chris Bosh is on any list of the Top 100 NBA players of all time--an eleven-time All Star, two-time Finals winner, Olympic gold medalist, and currently the league's Global Ambassador. Always an uncommonly philosophical NBA star, he found himself needing all the mindfulness he could muster in 2017, when his career was cut short at its prime by a freak medical condition. Suddenly, he was thrown out of the work that had given so much more than just a livelihood, and had to think deeply about his identity in the world. This game had taught him so much; what could he make of it all?
Out of that place of deep reflection has emerged an uncommon book for a retired superstar to write. While it has the best elements of a memoir--the portraits of the great players and coaches, from LeBron and Kobe to Pat Riley and Coach K, and the accounts of extraordinary competitive moments--it is really a wisdom book, a blend of
The Inner Game of Tennis, Wynton Marsalis's
To a Young Jazz Musician, and Rilke's
Letters to a Young Poet. It is rich with insight about basketball, but even richer with insight about life. It's a book about finding a purpose that is deep and real, not shallow and external, and about navigating success and failure as the twin mirages they are--pushing past fear, past ego, past fatigue to the pure flow of sustained accomplishment in a mesh with teammates who have given themselves to the same thing. Chris Bosh found that flow, and sustained it at the highest level. He misses basketball keenly still, but he has no regrets. Deep, honest, unflinching, this book is his friend's hand up to those coming up behind, whatever their pursuit might be.
A legendary NBA player shares his remarkable story, infused with hard-earned wisdom about the journey to self-mastery from a life at the highest level of professional sports
Chris Bosh, NBA Hall of Famer, eleven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, and the league's Global Ambassador, had his playing days cut short at their prime by a freak medical condition. His extraordinary career ended not at a time of his choosing but "in a doctor's office in the middle of the afternoon." Forced to reckon with how to find meaning to carry forward, he found himself looking back over his path, from a teenager in Dallas who balanced basketball with the high school robotics club to the pinnacle of the NBA and beyond.
Reflecting on all he learned from a long list of basketball legends, from LeBron and Kobe to Pat Riley and Coach K, he saw that his important lessons weren't about basketball so much as the inner game of success-right attitude, right commitment, right flow within a team. Now he shares that journey, giving us a fascinating view from the inside of what greatness feels like and what it takes, formulated as a series of letters to younger people coming up and to all wisdom seekers. A timeless gift for anyone in pursuit of excellence, Letters to a Young Athlete offers a proven path for taming your inner voice and making it your ally, through the challenges of failure and the challenges of success alike.
“I highly recommend [
Letters to a Young Athlete] if you have a kid interested in basketball or if you yourself want to know a little bit more about what it takes to become a champion in any aspect of your life.” —
Rachel Nichols, ESPN “Chris Bosh, one of the smartest pro athletes of my life . . . goes deep on so many topics. . . . [
Letters to a Young Athlete] is so smart, so thoughtful.” —
Colin Cowherd “On the court, Chris Bosh was a rare superstar who put his team above himself. His book is a wise, candid look behind the scenes at what made him great and how he made others even greater. It should be required reading for up-and-coming athletes—and their parents, teachers, and coaches too.”
—Adam Grant,
#1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife“CB was the ultimate teammate and competitor. As his coach, I learned so much about leadership, sacrifice, and persevering through great challenges and adversity. His basketball experiences are deep and loaded with life lessons. Whether you want to improve as an athlete or just gain more thoughtful perspective on this game of life, you will be inspired by this book!”
—Coach Erik Spoelstra“
Letters to a Young Athlete is a thoughtful, helpful manual for aspiring athletes to follow. The strength of the individual is the team and the strength of the team is the individual. Chris Bosh says all that and more to young athletes.”
—Phil Jackson
“Chris Bosh understands the complex reality of becoming a champion, and his book will show you how to navigate those challenges and win.”
—Tim S. Grover 
