- One player in the NBA who is not shy

about his Christian faith

is the Milwaukee Bucksveteran guard Jrue Holiday.

The director of media for Sports Spectrum,

Jason Romano, joins us now

to talk about the faith of Holiday.

Welcome Jason.

- It's good to be here, Mark,

thanks for having me.

- First of all, let'stalk about the NBA finals

and the Bucks winning the championship.

How did Holiday demonstrate his faith

during all of that?

- Yeah, I mean this is aguy who lives out his faith

and also does it on the court

in the way that he plays.

He plays hard, but he's always focused

on helping the team.

And you watch that.

When you watch Jrue Holidayplay a basketball game,

he's a tenacious defender.

One of the best two way guards in the NBA.

He can score,

and he can help on offense.

But he and his defense arewhat made the difference,

and really helped him in the finals.

And this is a guy, as I said,

who's humble and really is all about

pointing to others first,

and that's a demonstrationof who Jesus was.

- Did he give the victory,

did he give credit for the victory to God?

- He did.

After the game he saidonly God can do this.

And that's, when you look at his journey,

I mean this is a guy who's 31 years old,

who's been in the leaguenow for 12 seasons,

so he's been around.

He's in many ways whatyou call a journeyman

even though he's a very high paid

and very good journeyman player.

He was actually thethird piece to this pie

for Milwaukee to win a title,

their first title in 50 years.

And yeah he gave all the glory to God.

And there's actually apicture on our Instagram page

on Sports Spectrum of him,

and he's got this bracelet,

and it's that WhatWould Jesus Do bracelet,

the WWJD bracelet,

that he's wearing as he'shoisting the NBA trophy.

So you can tell thisguy lives out his faith

and puts God first.

- Yeah, he wears the WhatWould Jesus Do wristbands,

and in an interview with the lead pastor

of Real Life Church, Rusty George,

he talked about attendingchurch regularly growing up,

but also in that same interview he says

it was when he becamea professional athlete

that he made his faith his own.

Talk about that Jason.

- Yeah, this is a guy whowhen he came into the league

he came in very young,

19 years old, was drafted bythe 76ers in the first round.

So a lot of the fame and attention

are already on you whenyou're a 19 year old kid

playing in the NBA.

But he said it was at that time

when he started to grow up.

And he realized that the fame

and the pull of the world is there,

and he went back to thefoundation of his faith,

which are his parents.

He went to church everyday, or every week he said,

and multiple times during the week.

He has brothers, two brothers actually,

who are in the NBA,

which is really interesting,Justin and Aaron.

So there's three Holiday brothers

playing right now in the NBA.

And he credits those guys as well

in helping him with his faith,

but really realizing that Godneeded to be first in his life

once he became a professional.

- Holiday said in that interview, quote,

"I just feel likeputting that faith first,

"that's when God rewards you."

I understand his faith wastested during a health scare

experienced by his wife.

What happened Jason?

- Yeah, in 2016, his wifehappens to be Lauren Holiday,

who is a former member

of the USA women's national soccer team,

and as Lauren was pregnant,

they were expecting theirfirst child, a daughter,

Lauren had a brain tumor,

and had to go into surgery,

and had to have that treated.

And so it was a scare.

And we actually talked to Jrue

on Sports Spectrum about that,

and he said it was his faiththat helped him through this

in believing that God is good,

but also that God can heal,

and he did heal indeed,

he healed his wife Lauren,

they had their baby daughter,Jrue Tyler, born in 2016.

He also has a son, Hendrix,

who was born in 2020, last year.

But, yeah, he went througha really difficult time.

And he said his faith was tested.

He had to walk away fromthe NBA for a little bit

to take care of his family.

And he said that was where he really

came in touch with who God was,

not only as God the Father,

but God the healer.

- He also said, quote,

"Making Christ a priority is huge,

"just because withouthim I wouldn't be here,

"none of us would."

In what other ways is JrueHoliday living that out, Jason?

- Yeah, I'm seeing him living it out

in a bunch of different ways,

certainly as a family man first,

as a guy who takes careof his wife and kids,

which in the NBA sometimesthat can be very difficult.

As a guy who gives back,

as a guy who stands up

and is a voice for people out there.

A voice for the voiceless.

Social justice certainlyon his radar last year

with him and his wife,

and being a part of that.

So he's been a guy who's been out there

living his faith, standingup for people, giving back,

and really just making others a priority.

- What is the impact of anathlete like Jrue Holiday

walking out his Christian faith?

- Well it's what we do at Sports Spectrum.

I just think it's soimportant for athletes

who profess a faith in Jesus Christ

to be bold in their faith,

to stand up there and say listen,

I could take all the credit for this,

but it's really not about me,

it's about something greater,

somebody greater, and that's Jesus.

And I think when athletes

who are placed on a platform

like Jrue Holiday is in the NBA,

it's vital for them to stand up

and say listen, the attention,

you can bring it on me,

but I'm gonna point itback to someone else.

And we've seen many athletes do that,

and it just happens to beJrue Holiday last night

was the one who did thatfor the Milwaukee Bucks.

- [Mark] That's wonderful,gives me chills to hear that.

Well the media director ofSports Spectrum, Jason Romano,

thank you for your time and insights, sir.

- Thank so much.