NBA legend meets with Arizona State football team
Kenny Dillingham isn't messing around when he talks about activating the valley.
On Monday, the 34-year-old Arizona State football coach brought in Phoenix Suns legend and Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Famer Steve Nash to speak to his 5-1 team about developing winning habits.
Nash, who played 18 years in the NBA, reinforced Dillingham's message of process over outcome.
"Process over outcome. What does that mean? Do not worry about the outcome," said Nash. "The outcome is winning. Do not worry about winning. Winning takes care of itself. The process is what wins."
"Success is boring as s***,” Nash said. "It’s doing the same things over and over with consistency and intensity. That’s it."
In his Monday press conference, Dillingham spoke at length about emphasizing the process - and not talking about winning.
"I really don't care," said Dillingham when he was asked about being 5-1 and not being ranked in the AP Top 25. "I mean, I truly don't care. I mean, the only thing that could possibly make me care is recruits may care. Other than that, I really don't care at all. I don't even talk about winning with our guys. Ever. Or record. Ever. Never have, never will.
"We'll never talk about results. We always talk about the process of how to be successful. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat."
Nash was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018. He was the first Canadian to be inducted.
Nash, 50, played 10 seasons in Phoenix and was named NBA MVP in 2005 and 2006. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and led the NBA in assists five times.
Watch his message to the Sun Devils:
Process over outcome 🗣️
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) October 14, 2024
Big thanks to @SteveNash for coming out this morning and speaking to our guys! #ForksUp /// #ActivateTheValley pic.twitter.com/w7VEIHpc82
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Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.