I get asked a lot a questions about muscles. Which one is best for shooting? Which one should I target most for jumping higher for dunking? What are the 3-5 most important muscles in basketball? Can you give me a straight answer? 

This post is the straightest of answers. The most important muscle in basketball is heart.

You can't bench press with it. There's no program to buy for it. You can't develop it in an empty gym or by crossing over folding chairs for your Instagram highlight films. Heart has nothing to do with what kind of shoes you're playing in today.


Heart comes from being in, and surviving, live, real-life situations both on the court and off. To get and develop it, you must place yourself in the challenging situations that are uncomfortable for you, over and over again, and survive (you've done an excellent job surviving so far in life -- the result being you're alive).