This is something that even NBA players themselves cannot answer fully but can be simplified. Success is based on a variety of things and upon all else, luck. You may be the most talented basketball player ever but if luck doesn’t work in your favor, you can find yourself on a tough road. The NBA has a collection of great players, some that decide to resort to lesser roles for the team’s benefit, while others take it upon themselves to take over. A great NBA player doesn’t have to win anything and can always be on a losing team. However, their inability to win will make others question whether they are a good player at all.

Here are several key things in order to become a good player:

1) Drive: Good players are motivated to be better and to do things that others normally cannot. Those that have a drive to do things get more done. Those that want the things the most in life grab for them and sometimes push others and stand on them to get it.

2) Skill: In order to be able to do anything, you have to hold top notch skills where you can actually perform daily. This is something that certain people are lucky enough to be born with, something that makes them stand out. This is something natural can never be fully developed.

3) Patience: Even the best have to wait for things that they believe should be done quickly. Those that can wait have a good chance to accomplish things that they dream of.

4) Practice: If you do not practice the normal fundamentals of the game, you cannot be good because there are people that are going to be skilled and hard working. All of the skills that go along with basketball rely on how much they are used. This is why the term, practice makes perfect is used so often.

5) Help: Players that are good still need some form of assistance in what they do. If it was not for their coaching staff or their trainers, nothing will be done to the best. Even players that are the most talented of all are taught new things everyday by people who are better than them. When someone starts out, they are helped achieve things and need to repay others afterward.

6) Passion: Those that have all of the above, will not be able to be a good player if they do not love the game. When you love the game, you have another reason to play, not for money but for pure enjoyment. Only when you do things for several reasons, can you become fully connected.

7) Learner: Every great player started from somewhere, on the ball court, in the gym, but need to learn more things everyday. When you learn new things, you become better, you build new things into your work field. This allows you to act like a student, who routinely gets better grades.

Learning how to play basketball takes passion, commitment and talent.