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Beyond Your WHY

The Basketball Game that Inspired Hollywood

Season 2, Ep. 37

Meet Coach Jim Johnson. 


His WHY is Trust. 


Interviewed by WHY Institute Founder Dr. Gary Sanchez (Better Way).



In his many public-speaking appearances, Rochester, New York resident Coach Jim Johnson relates his role in a basketball game that got Hollywood calling. He also emphasizes the importance of teamwork and sportsmanship, delivering his talks with a heartfelt style that has brought audiences to their feet.


Coach Johnson has developed winning high-school basketball teams for 30 years, taking over three losing varsity programs and turning them into winners in short periods of time. Coach Johnson was named Coach of the Year in 2006 by several Rochester-area organizations and was also presented with a National Sportsmanship Award. Coach Johnson has rolled his accomplishments and experiences into two speaking presentations, “Dreams Really Do Come True” and “Leadership Lessons from Half-Court”.


Now that he has retired from full-time teaching, he will continue delivering these messages to various businesses, associations and educational organizations around the country. You should ask him about his favorite moment in basketball. It will probably have to do with a time when he had one of his autistic players go into a basketball game and then the kid ended up playing GREAT!

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