Derek Fisher (DF) is an NBA Champion. Drafted in 1996 to the Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, along with his teammates Shaquille O'Neil and Kobe Bryant, established an NBA dynasty. His career has continued to flourish over the past 13 years, and this past season, Derek once again helped lead the LA Lakers to another NBA title. Through the years, Derek's character and leadership on the floor and in the locker room were evident to everyone who came in contact with him. Today, he is sharing what he has learned off and on the court in his new book, Character Driven: Life, Lessons and Basketball." Derek is interviewed by Dr. Schuller (RHS).

RHS: My guest today is the National Basketball Association's Champion Derek Fisher! Drafted in 1996 to the Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher, along with teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, established an NBA dynasty. His career has continued to flourish over the past 13 years and this past season Derek once again helped lead the Lakers to another NBA title.

Through the years Derek's character, moral inspiration and spiritual leadership on the floor and in the locker room were evident to everybody who ever met him. Today he's sharing what he's learned off and on the court in his new book, Character Driven: Life, Lessons and Basketball. Welcome with me, Derek Fisher.

Well, a lot has happened since you were here last.

DF: Yes a lot has happened since I was here. Thank you for having me again.

RHS: What is it like to be able to be there, throw the ball and it goes in the basket. Three points and it wins the championship! What does that feel like?

DF: It is truly a humbling experience. I think about all of my experiences and the life I've been blessed with; to have the opportunity to do something that so positively impacts other people is humbling. The cool thing about hitting those kinds of shots is that it's for my teammates, for the city of LA, for people watching and for your congregation. I love being able to bring so much joy to other people. That's why I love what I do.

RHS: These are the hands. Wow. Wow. They held the ball. When it's going up, do you know it's going in?

DF: Yes that happens all the time, the ball goes in.

RHS: I love your book, Character Driven: Life, Lessons and Basketball.

DF: Thank you.

RHS: I hope everybody reads this book. I hope the young people read it. There is not a book needed to be read by young people today in America more important than this book because of who wrote it. And you live it! Character. What is the taproot of your character? I know, but tell the audience.

DF: Well the taproot of my character, first of all, begins with my faith, which was instilled in me by my parents and in particular my mother. She really was the quarterback and the center piece of our Christian beliefs at home.

And then from there, growing as a young person and understanding God's place in my life and in our family and what it meant to us. All of the good and bad times that I've experienced have always brought me back to my faith.

And so I try to live a life that is driven, really, by my character. My character is what I use every day to bring me back to that place so that when there are bad times, which we all know will come, and even in the best of times, to remember that I'm a person of integrity, a person that lives a life of faith, a person that is willing to serve others even more than myself and live an unselfish life, and to live a life that my children and my wife can be proud of. All of these different facets are driven by my character and my character is who I am.

A lot of people see athletes and basketball players as just that, athletes and basketball players, but we're people. And I'm a person and my character is what I'm driven by.

RHS: You know I'm so close to you, that when I move my hand like this I can almost feel it's touching something; a spirit, an emotion that's real. Hallelujah. What do you have to say to young people today?

DF: I mean things that I've said in the book, but also just raw and honestly here for young people. For me, as a young person growing up there were so many examples, good and bad, that I could learn from. And I think today there are so many mixed messages for our young people. Being a father and having a step-son who's fourteen, all the way down to having twins that are three, there are so many things that pull at our kids.

So for young people I think it's important that you find what's important for you. Be a leader, don't be a follower. Don't follow the pack just because it's what other people are doing. Have the confidence and the faith, have the belief in yourself that you are a person of high character and that you make decisions that are best for you, not what is best for your friends, or not what seems to be the cool thing to do, but really what is going to move you to a better place and a higher place. I know that's a hard thing to figure out as a young kid but it's in you and its there and you just have to believe in it.

RHS: And people will see it if they go for it.

DF: They will see it and they'll respect it.

RHS: Even people who are unbelievers are tempted and usually choose people like you because they know its character.

DF: It is character and its faith.

RHS: Tell me, you were playing for the LA Lakers, then you went to Utah and you came back. What brought you back from Utah?

DF: Well like we talked about, so many things have happened since the last time I was here. I was traded to Utah from Golden State in 2006 and while we were in Utah we found out one of our twins, our daughter, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma which is a rare form of eye cancer. So over the course of our time there, we went through a lot. We finished the basketball season there and then we had to make a decision related to the care of the eye cancer. In order to maintain her health, we decided to move to a city with better hospitals and medical care. The doctors we needed were not available to us in Salt Lake City so that's really what brought us back to Los Angeles, that decision to do what was best for my family.

RHS: How is your daughter today?

DF: She is absolutely wonderful today. She's three years old and is going through that three year old thing of being defiant and not wanting to listen or adhere to what mommy and daddy ask her. But it's so funny and inspiring because kids really live their lives day to day.

And sometimes as adults we get caught up on the past or we start thinking about the future and we tend to forget that there's really only this one day that we have to deal with that is in front of us. So it's a joy and a blessing to raise kids and see the joy and the excitement, the enthusiasm they get out of just living today. So much fun.

RHS: Her cancer; what's the score?

DF: Her cancer, the score is we're winning. The score is we're winning. I think every family that's been hit by cancer understands how serious a battle it is. They know that the battle is never completely over. It's never totally won, but we're winning right now and we're blessed every day that we get.

She's doing great and she's strong. We're really inspired by other families and the stories we've heard that are dealing with much tougher circumstances than we are. And we really thank them for their inspiration and the prayers that they've prayed for us even when they've gone through their own tough times. So we're winning right now and we're going to keep up the fight.

RHS: Derek Fisher, a lot of people are here today because they wanted to see and hear you in person. Now we don't have time to tell you to preach for twenty minutes; I'd sure like to listen to it. But take a moment or two and tell people what's on your heart, what God wants to say to them, especially young people in terms of character.

DF: Well I'm no Robert Schuller, that's for sure, so I'm not going to try and preach at all. But honestly speaking, I fully believe that we all have a purpose in life and sometimes we don't know what that purpose is. God uses people as vessels to send us messages so people carry and bring messages to us to help us understand what our life is about.

I've fully come to understand more what my purpose is. God's given me the gift of basketball so playing for the Lakers is really to be a light and a vessel for other people. It's really not about me. What I do on the court and what I do in my life is really for other people to learn from. To accept the good and the bad, the mistakes and all of the things that comes with the life style that my family's been blessed with.

And so for young people and for adults alike, the one thing that I would say is it's not un-cool to be able to stand up and say that you need help. And I firmly believe that there is no me without God. I lean on Him all the time. I get hard headed just like everybody else and think that I can do it on my own. I know for young people that's what they battle. They believe that they can do it on their own.

But we have to be the examples for them. We have to show them that there is a way to live a life that is high in character, high in integrity, high in praise, high in serving of other people, but that you can still be successful in living that type of life. That type of life does not hold you back from accomplishing anything that you've ever wanted to accomplish.

So I'm thankful that I can be a light, an example and somebody that even one person can look to and say "you know I enjoy you, I appreciate what it is that you try to do."

RHS: Thank you Derek Fisher, God bless you.

DF: Thank you, thank you.

© Copyright Hour of Power 2009. This interview was conducted by Robert H. Schuller from the pulpit of the Crystal Cathedral and aired on the Hour of Power September 27, 2009.