Época 2022/2023

[FaithNoMore]

Hello, my name is Dennis Clifford and I am no longer a basketball player. 

Basketball has been one of the biggest blessings in my life.  It gave me structure - something that I have often lacked.  It gave me a purpose. A reason not to go out drinking when everyone else did, a reason to do my homework and do well in school.  A reason to care about my future.

Most importantly, it gave a regular kid from Bridgewater, Massachusetts countless opportunities that I couldn't have imagined growing up.  Not a lot of people get these opportunities, and so I am extremely humbled and grateful.

I want to share a bit about my journey, why I decided to retire at an early age, and what my plans are moving forward.

My Journey
Basketball took me out of a small town and gave me a dream.  Growing up, I had no inclination of playing college basketball, nevermind professionally.  I just loved playing sports - soccer, basketball, baseball.  All day, all year.  And then I just started growing.

As soon as I reached the height of abnormality (6'4" in 8th grade), basketball became a more serious part of my life. Soon after it would bring me all over the world, giving me some of the best memories, experiences, and friends I will ever have. 

I was faced with obstacles and challenges along the way, but I can happily say that basketball and I are ending on good terms. I say this because people often feel bad for people retiring, but I feel really good about what I did with the sport.  It forced me to grow in so many ways that I can be nothing but grateful for the time I spent on the court and in the locker room. 

It Is Time (rafiki voice) - Why I'm 'Retiring' Early
Alas, it is time for a new chapter.  The past few years have presented new challenges for me.  The biggest challenge is the fact that I am getting older, and I don't use that phrase in the conventional sense, because I really feel like I can physically play until I'm 55 years old.  I'm that stubborn.

I'm 'getting old' because there are other things that I want to accomplish in my life, and it's difficult for me to justify 10 and a half months of being physically, mentally and emotionally consumed with the basketball season away from my family.

I'm 30 years old, and maybe if my career had been more sustainable, I would still be playing.  But that's not the case, and I am okay with that.

Again, this journey has led me to where I am today, and I am proud of the things I've done and the decisions I've made.  I am going to stop playing for 3 reasons:

I don't want to feel like I am wasting anymore time.  2 practices/day, listening to a coach who often doesn't know more than me.  August 8th- mid june.  Year after year...
My career has become stagnant.  Me and basketball are at a stalemate, and I am not producing as much as I had hoped when I started my Professional Journey.  The spark just isn't there.  And that is because my mind wants more than this lifestyle.  I want to build something more important.
I want/need to do more things.  Different things.  I have visions for my future self, and spending my 30's playing basketball 24/7 is not the vision I have.  I want to build something that is impactful and meaningful to other people.  I want to build my own empire of businesses.  I want to break free from financial bondage.  And even though you get paid a lot more, playing professional basketball (overseas) is still financial bondage. 
So let's move on to the good stuff.

What's next?
Over the past few years, I've given a lot of effort into my 'escape plan' from basketball, answering the question: how do I live without this income? How do I get paid without having to listen to someone else - without being the part of a system that I don't believe in?  How do I get paid for my dreams without working for someone else's dream?  Thus, my entrepreneurial journey was underway. 

Since then, I have been a part of a couple startups (have a good amount of equity in one), I've been a freelance copywriter and I've started my own (semi-successful) digital marketing agency.

However, it is extremely difficult to build something, especially in the basketball season.  I didn't have the bandwidth or energy to pour into a business and basketball at the same time.  No matter how much time I had during the day, I always felt like I was sacrificing one of them.   I'm also doing something that I've never done before, which comes with a lot of mistakes.  Like learning a new sport without a coach - it takes time and a lot of failing (learning).

I've spent a lot of time these past few months trying to build my digital marketing agency, specifically for personal trainers.  I've had my ups and downs, and I've learned a ton about starting a service-based business.  Recently, I have decided to pivot my business approach into full-time personal training and using my marketing resources to launch my brand. 

Personal Training is something that I have been very passionate about throughout my career, and for now, I feel that this is the best way for me to serve people. 

My knee was injured in college to the point where multiple doctors said it would never recover, and that I wouldn't be able to play again.  So I took my health and fitness into my own hands, and had to fight my way out of injury to make sure that I could finish my college career and play at the next level.

I honestly think that with the lessons I've learned and my obsession with this industry, I can help anyone improve the status of their lives through holistic health and movement practices. 

We were made to be healthy and mobile.  But we have been programmed to be a part of a system that makes you pay a bunch of premiums, copays, subscriptions, and fees to be healthy; to think that we cannot succeed or live a healthy lifestyle on our own.  And once you are in it there seems to be no escape.  So instead of taking ownership, we fall subject to a system that doesn't care about our health, as long as we pay the bills.

I want to show people that you can be healthy AND happy at the same time.  And you don't need to ruin your life in order to get the results you want.  The point of life is to be healthy while living the way you want! 

I will be writing to you more often.  Later this week you can expect an article on 'How The Health and Fitness Industry is Being Saved by Marketing' and also 'What the Fitness Industry is Missing'.   

Thank you for reading and I look forward to interacting with you all more often.

Your Personal Trainer,

DCliff

O nuliberto acabou com a vontade que o homem tinha em jogar basquete...







...aos 30 anos.

Uma época inteira a ouvir um gajo que não percebe nada de basquete a falar sobre o jogo num tom monocórdico de padre da terrinha fodeu o juízo ao homem.

Deixou de jogar basket por questões de saúde.

[José Seidi]

Sérgio Silva já se despediu do Imortal...

[Jayson Tatum]

Contratação da Oliveirense, Darius Carter, vindo do Ourense (LEB Silver):

https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Darius-Carter/Summary/57202

[lancadordedois]

Sérgio Silva já se despediu do Imortal...

entao vem mesmo?

[José Seidi]

Sérgio Silva já se despediu do Imortal...

entao vem mesmo?

Quero acreditar que sim, há duas semanas davam-no como emprestado ao Lusitânia...

[lancadordedois]

Sérgio Silva já se despediu do Imortal...

entao vem mesmo?

hummmmm entao   ou o tomas fica a bater palmas ao Sergio ou o Sergio é emprestado.

Quero acreditar que sim, há duas semanas davam-no como emprestado ao Lusitânia...

[jjlope00]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

[Jayson Tatum]

Sérgio Silva já se despediu do Imortal...

entao vem mesmo?

hummmmm entao   ou o tomas fica a bater palmas ao Sergio ou o Sergio é emprestado.

Quero acreditar que sim, há duas semanas davam-no como emprestado ao Lusitânia...

O que sempre depreendi é que este ano o Sérgio volta ao Benfica.

Ainda que saibamos que as páginas na internet muitas vezes dão tiros ao lado, há muito que o Sérgio consta do plantel 22/23 no "zerozero" e que, por exemplo no seguinte site/link, a mesma notícia é confirmada:

https://www.nbaportugal.com/benfica-reforca-se-com-antigo-jogador-da-nba/

Para mim a questão é o Gameiro: o Sérgio Silva é melhor; o Tomás é o capitão e é um elemento agregador; o Gameiro está a mais.

[Jayson Tatum]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

Fixe, fixe, entretanto, era poderes avançar o rumor 

[lancadordedois]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

estas a meter a malta a espumar.

so desejo que venha com saude e muita motivaçao!

[Bethinho]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

nome?

[Gonçalo Santos]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

Se não vais dizer o nome, guarda essas informações para ti. Assim evita-se o show off.

Andou-se a por aí a pregar que era ex-nba e agora já é ex-euroleague. É importante é que acertem, independentemente do seu historial.

[Jayson Tatum]

Hello, my name is Dennis Clifford and I am no longer a basketball player. 

Basketball has been one of the biggest blessings in my life.  It gave me structure - something that I have often lacked.  It gave me a purpose. A reason not to go out drinking when everyone else did, a reason to do my homework and do well in school.  A reason to care about my future.

Most importantly, it gave a regular kid from Bridgewater, Massachusetts countless opportunities that I couldn't have imagined growing up.  Not a lot of people get these opportunities, and so I am extremely humbled and grateful.

I want to share a bit about my journey, why I decided to retire at an early age, and what my plans are moving forward.

My Journey
Basketball took me out of a small town and gave me a dream.  Growing up, I had no inclination of playing college basketball, nevermind professionally.  I just loved playing sports - soccer, basketball, baseball.  All day, all year.  And then I just started growing.

As soon as I reached the height of abnormality (6'4" in 8th grade), basketball became a more serious part of my life. Soon after it would bring me all over the world, giving me some of the best memories, experiences, and friends I will ever have. 

I was faced with obstacles and challenges along the way, but I can happily say that basketball and I are ending on good terms. I say this because people often feel bad for people retiring, but I feel really good about what I did with the sport.  It forced me to grow in so many ways that I can be nothing but grateful for the time I spent on the court and in the locker room. 

It Is Time (rafiki voice) - Why I'm 'Retiring' Early
Alas, it is time for a new chapter.  The past few years have presented new challenges for me.  The biggest challenge is the fact that I am getting older, and I don't use that phrase in the conventional sense, because I really feel like I can physically play until I'm 55 years old.  I'm that stubborn.

I'm 'getting old' because there are other things that I want to accomplish in my life, and it's difficult for me to justify 10 and a half months of being physically, mentally and emotionally consumed with the basketball season away from my family.

I'm 30 years old, and maybe if my career had been more sustainable, I would still be playing.  But that's not the case, and I am okay with that.

Again, this journey has led me to where I am today, and I am proud of the things I've done and the decisions I've made.  I am going to stop playing for 3 reasons:

I don't want to feel like I am wasting anymore time.  2 practices/day, listening to a coach who often doesn't know more than me.  August 8th- mid june.  Year after year...
My career has become stagnant.  Me and basketball are at a stalemate, and I am not producing as much as I had hoped when I started my Professional Journey.  The spark just isn't there.  And that is because my mind wants more than this lifestyle.  I want to build something more important.
I want/need to do more things.  Different things.  I have visions for my future self, and spending my 30's playing basketball 24/7 is not the vision I have.  I want to build something that is impactful and meaningful to other people.  I want to build my own empire of businesses.  I want to break free from financial bondage.  And even though you get paid a lot more, playing professional basketball (overseas) is still financial bondage. 
So let's move on to the good stuff.

What's next?
Over the past few years, I've given a lot of effort into my 'escape plan' from basketball, answering the question: how do I live without this income? How do I get paid without having to listen to someone else - without being the part of a system that I don't believe in?  How do I get paid for my dreams without working for someone else's dream?  Thus, my entrepreneurial journey was underway. 

Since then, I have been a part of a couple startups (have a good amount of equity in one), I've been a freelance copywriter and I've started my own (semi-successful) digital marketing agency.

However, it is extremely difficult to build something, especially in the basketball season.  I didn't have the bandwidth or energy to pour into a business and basketball at the same time.  No matter how much time I had during the day, I always felt like I was sacrificing one of them.   I'm also doing something that I've never done before, which comes with a lot of mistakes.  Like learning a new sport without a coach - it takes time and a lot of failing (learning).

I've spent a lot of time these past few months trying to build my digital marketing agency, specifically for personal trainers.  I've had my ups and downs, and I've learned a ton about starting a service-based business.  Recently, I have decided to pivot my business approach into full-time personal training and using my marketing resources to launch my brand. 

Personal Training is something that I have been very passionate about throughout my career, and for now, I feel that this is the best way for me to serve people. 

My knee was injured in college to the point where multiple doctors said it would never recover, and that I wouldn't be able to play again.  So I took my health and fitness into my own hands, and had to fight my way out of injury to make sure that I could finish my college career and play at the next level.

I honestly think that with the lessons I've learned and my obsession with this industry, I can help anyone improve the status of their lives through holistic health and movement practices. 

We were made to be healthy and mobile.  But we have been programmed to be a part of a system that makes you pay a bunch of premiums, copays, subscriptions, and fees to be healthy; to think that we cannot succeed or live a healthy lifestyle on our own.  And once you are in it there seems to be no escape.  So instead of taking ownership, we fall subject to a system that doesn't care about our health, as long as we pay the bills.

I want to show people that you can be healthy AND happy at the same time.  And you don't need to ruin your life in order to get the results you want.  The point of life is to be healthy while living the way you want! 

I will be writing to you more often.  Later this week you can expect an article on 'How The Health and Fitness Industry is Being Saved by Marketing' and also 'What the Fitness Industry is Missing'.   

Thank you for reading and I look forward to interacting with you all more often.

Your Personal Trainer,

DCliff

O nuliberto acabou com a vontade que o homem tinha em jogar basquete...







...aos 30 anos.

Uma época inteira a ouvir um gajo que não percebe nada de basquete a falar sobre o jogo num tom monocórdico de padre da terrinha fodeu o juízo ao homem.

so retiraste isso do texto?

Não. Mas foi a parte que mais me interessou porque não posso ver o nuliberto nem  pintado numa parede.

Odeio medíocres.

Pois, mas não sei se reparaste, pelo menos, assim o interpreto, ele não estava a falar do "nuliberto", ele falou de uma forma genérica sobre o que se passou ao longo da carreira e de nenhum período em particular.

Eu sei. Mas deu-me jeito.

Gosto de ser intelectualmente desonesto de vez em quando. A diferença para muitos que aqui andam é que faço de propósito.

Olha, não por acaso, desonestidade intelectual clara está precisamente na forma como o Record aproveitou esta "carta aberta" dele para construir uma espécie de notícia, em cujo título pretendem associar ao Benfica as declarações gerais de carreira do jogador:

https://www.record.pt/modalidades/basquetebol/detalhe/apos-sair-do-benfica-clifford-termina-a-carreira-dois-treinos-por-dia-ouvir-um-treinador-que-sabe-menos-do-que-eu?ref=HP_1BucketDestaquesPrincipais

Isto na Cofina é constante e diário e não está longe das descontextualizações e das "citações" truncadas feitas pelo Porto Canal e pelo Fanculo J. Merdas há uns anos.

A mensagem de despedida de carreira deste jogador nunca seria notícia no Record, a não ser que os jornamerdas pudessem fazer uma associação inviesada ao Benfica e forjar um título para o clickbait.

[jjlope00]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

Fixe, fixe, entretanto, era poderes avançar o rumor 

https://www.zerozero.pt/player.php?id=575635
sem certezas amigo que será este pois não deve ser muito barato e com os mesmos do costume a tentar bloquear fica difícil acredito que na Europa já não tenha tanta procura o problema é se aparecer os primos la das asias,japao aí fica fodido

[Jayson Tatum]

o alvo parece estar definido para poste e está neste momento livre no mercado conta com vários anos de Euroleague a ver vamos mas seria um excelente reforço ficaríamos com o melhor plantel dos últimos anos

Fixe, fixe, entretanto, era poderes avançar o rumor 

https://www.zerozero.pt/player.php?id=575635
sem certezas amigo que será este pois não deve ser muito barato e com os mesmos do costume a tentar bloquear fica difícil acredito que na Europa já não tenha tanta procura o problema é se aparecer os primos la das asias,japao ai fica fodido

Thanks!

Comentário rápido: o número de jogos e as médias de pontos e ressaltos nos últimos anos são muito baixos.

O profile dele: https://basketball.realgm.com/player/Maik-Zirbes/Summary/26995

Por outro lado, também é verdade que uma coisa são os números de um jogador de 32 anos em equipas de topo e na Euroliga, outra coisa são as "necessidades" do campeonato português. Fico de todo o modo com dúvidas que este seja um bom perfil.

Se for um gajo "no mercy" para o Traveco e para os bullies de contumil, já se faz parte do caminho.