Why the best ideas come from play | Maxwell Pearce

**Elise Hu** (0:04)
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu.
The NBA finals kicked off yesterday, so I think a lot of us are thinking about basketball. Harlem Globetrotter and mixed media artist Maxwell Pearce thinks about it all the time too, but not in the way you might think. In high school, Maxwell's coach told him to stop trying to dunk the basketball. But he didn't listen, and it changed everything.

**Maxwell Pearce** (0:33)
Although we were playing sports, we were coached to be very playful. I learned that there was a seriousness in respecting the quality of the game. But ironically, it was my playfulness that got me to this point in my career. Play is the most important ingredient in every person and every industry's evolution.

**Elise Hu** (0:53)
Maxwell, who's also known as Hops because of his ability to jump quite high, has spent his career proving creativity and discipline aren't opposites. In his talk, from our first ever Play at TED conference, he argues that the same playful mindset that got him to both places is available to all of us. He also shares more about his artwork, which he makes from a variety of mediums, including old basketballs and nets.

**Maxwell Pearce** (1:19)
Play has given me the flexibility, but also the vision to see these materials as something more than just what we use on the court or on the field.

**Elise Hu** (1:29)
Stick around after the talk, we caught up with TED's curator, Chloe Shasha Brooks, who shared a few more thoughts about Maxwell, what he shared on stage, and what it was like working with him behind the scenes. That's all coming up right after a short break.
And now, our TED Talk of the day.

**Maxwell Pearce** (1:55)
I am a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, a legendary exhibition basketball team that is credited for integrating the NBA, popularizing new moves like the alley-oop, and creating so many others. These are the new moves that have advanced the game, but they've also given joy to the people that come and watch us perform. And that right there is precisely how we have lasted for 100 years, while also earning a spot in the Hall of Fame. Getting to this point in my career certainly was not a straight line. I've always struggled with high-level sports coaching. There's a certain culture that has excessive cursing, yelling and also a hyper-seriousness that can really stunt your growth. Although we were playing sports, ironically, we were coached not to be very playful. I was a creative kid who loved art, but I was really, really shy. So the constant confrontation with my coaches was always robbing me of my creativity. I learned that there was a seriousness in respecting the quality of the game.
Whether it was basketball, football, baseball or cross-country, all of my coaches emphasized honoring and respecting the essence of their sport. And that meant taking every drill and every exercise seriously and not doing anything that will challenge the traditional way of doing things. This is exactly what led my high school coach to telling me to stop trying to dunk the basketball. But ironically, it was my playfulness that got me to this point in my career.
So here's where I've landed today, and this is what I'm so excited to share with you all. Play is the most important ingredient in every person and every industry's evolution.
I am an athlete and an artist, and I have witnessed how play can break rules to improve both of these worlds that I live in. So just imagine if play, creativity and a little bit of rule-breaking was in every industry. There once was a time in basketball where dunking was frowned upon so much that the NCAA banded for nine years. Once that band was lifted, the popularity of the game skyrocketed. This context reminds me of my coaches yelling at me to stick to the fundamentals, all because I decided or had the audacity to try and dunk the ball one time.
Thankfully, I didn't listen to them and I got more and more comfortable with it. And over time, I was able to land my first dunk contest. With a lot of work, I was able to build a global reputation for dunking the basketball. I began to experiment with the boundaries of this. I would incorporate things that we didn't normally associate with dunking, like with a dog, or catching a baseball, or catching the ball without looking from someone else who's not looking. Every time I approached this with a playful mindset, I was rewarded, not only with advancing the game, but also with the opportunities that I dreamed of as a kid. There were several video games that I used to love to play, like NBA Live and NBA 2K, and I had the opportunity to feature my dunks in both of them. I've also had the opportunity to feature my dunks in GQ Magazine, as well as SportsCenter Top 10, and eventually received an honorable mention for an ESPY Award. Unlike what my coaches constantly bickered about, being a globetrotter requires much of the opposite.