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This video of The Rock giving a motivational speech to the Lakers will make you want to run through a brick wall

Dwayne Johnson, better known as “The Rock,” stopped by the UCLA Health Training Center to talk to the Lakers about how to stay motivated amidst success.

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Via the Rock’s Youtube Channel

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson always seems to be on the hunt for his next blockbuster, and his latest video with the Los Angeles Lakers might be the most ambitious crossover event in cinematic history.

Okay, so that’s probably overhyping things a bit, but while we knew The Rock had spoken to the Lakers earlier this year, we didn’t know what he had said, until now at least. The Rock’s speech was as charismatic and funny as anyone who has watched his movies would expect, but it was also surprisingly introspective and inspiring.

In his speech to the Lakers, The Rock didn’t waste their time talking to the young players about how awesome it probably is to be him. Instead, he gave them advice that only someone as successful as he is would have the cache to give to a bunch of millionaires already playing at the highest level.

For those of you that can’t watch it at work, The Rock spoke to the team about how to stay motivated in the face of reaching their goals, and how he pushes himself to reach higher by remembering the bad times, like when he and his family were evicted, the times he was arrested, and reminding himself of how the stardom he’s reached was something he could only dream of back then.

He also reminisced about getting beat out in a positional battle by Warren Sapp while at the University of Miami, how it led to a “terrible” senior season followed by a forgettable CFL career in which he made $250 dollars a week in Canadian money.

The Rock later spoke about getting cut from the CFL with $7 in his pocket, something he permanently reminds himself of by naming his production and advertising agencies “Seven Bucks Studios.”

He then (profanely) urged the Lakers to continue to fight like their backs are against the wall, and that it’s the only way to continue to reach higher.

The whole thing looked like solid prep work for a movie role as coach of the Lakers, or at the very least a spot on Luke Walton’s staff as chief motivational coach, although The Rock would have to take a significant paycut from his movie salary in order to make that work.

In all seriousness though, this video (apparently only part one of the speech) demonstrates the value in the unique way Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and president of basketball operations Magic Johnson have approached rebuilding this team.

Throughout their first year at the helm, the two have consistently tried to send the message to members of the organization that they need to be well-rounded people in order to be successful, and tried to find innovators in every field to help the team find common strategies for success that could work for basketball and beyond.

If the other speakers were as good as The Rock, then the team would appear to be getting a lot more than just the chance to hobnob with a celebrity out of these “Genius Talks.”

You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen, or support his work via Venmo here or Patreon here.

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