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Courtside with Chief CBL Commissioner
Jamar Johnson gives his thoughts on person leadership, inspiration, and comparisons of the CBL
My personal leadership experiences:
The best career advice anyone can ever get is to work in your field of passion! At a very young age I knew I loved playing basketball and like every other kid I had dreams and aspirations of some day playing in the NBA. I was successful on every level of basketball that I played on and I was able to earn a basketball scholarship to the University of Nebraska. By the time I got to college I discovered something very unique about myself. I discovered the real reason why I was so success with basketball. It didn't necessarily have anything to do with my athletic abilities. My success with basketball came by way of my leadership skills with my teammates. Come to think of it... I have "never", in all my years of playing basketball, been the best player on any of the teams that I played on, BUT! I have always been able to get my teammates to perform at a higher level. My high school coach use to call it having the Larry Bird or Magic Johnson affect, and it means one has the ability to make average players perform at a higher level for the greater good of the team, a champion or MVP characteristic. Having that type of leadership ability is where my success with basketball came from and that same ability will help me with making the CBL a successful business.
My inspiration for the CBL:
I created the CBL in 1996, but the real inspiration to actually start the CBL came when I read a book in 2007 called The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell. I guess this was when I had my AH-HA moment because the book showed me how I could use the CBL (a little thing) to make a big difference and impact in my hometown and in other cities across the United States. This is when my passion for basketball came together with my passion to serve my community. After I read the book, my league's concept became "greater and boarder" because it knocked down the barriers of being just about basketball and it became a community event and program. 
Once it evolved to being about the community I incorporated the health and wellness, life skills, and business stewardship objectives to ensure the league was serving the entire community. The Tipping Point book showed me how the CBL could engage not only basketball players, but the residents and the businesses within my community. I knew my basketball league had all the ingredients for success and this is when I knew it was time to take my idea off the shelf and jump two feet in and go all out to make the CBL a reality.
My comparison of the CBL vs. local recreational leagues:
Almost every city in America has a local recreation (rec) basketball league for youth and adult players, but what makes the CBL basketball league different from the local rec leagues is our professional basketball league structure and our emphasis on community. Here's a visual for you. Imagine a city rec basketball league as the local carnival that comes to the nearest shopping center parking lot every summer. It looks fun, everybody's going, and you know most of the games are rigged, but you play them anyway right? Now imagine and compare that carnival to Walt Disney World! Yes, you will most likely pay more money to go to Disneyland, but most will tell you that Disneyland is well worth the money you spend. See rec league vs. CBL chart comparison.