Motivational Quote by Lenny Wilkens

A line like this only sounds generic until you remember who Lenny Wilkens is: a player, coach, and executive who spent decades watching teenagers turn raw confidence into a living - or watch it get talked out of them. "We should never discourage" is doing quiet work. It frames doubt as something inflicted, not discovered. The villain here isn't failure; it's the adult reflex to pre-edit a kid's ambition before reality gets the chance.

Wilkens chooses "young people", not "kids", giving the message civic weight. This isn't sentimental coaching talk; it's a social ethic. In sports culture especially, dreams are treated like both fuel and liability: celebrated in highlight reels, mocked when they sound unrealistic, rationed by gatekeepers who confuse being "realistic" with being wise. His phrasing pushes back on that gatekeeping. The point isn't that every dream comes true. It's that discouragement is uniquely corrosive because it arrives early, when identity is still soft and permissions matter.

The repetition - "dreaming dreams" - is almost intentionally redundant, a rhythm that mimics insistence. It implies that dreaming isn't a one-time wish but a habit to be protected. In Wilkens' world, belief is a training tool: you can't develop what you won't attempt, and you won't attempt what you've been shamed for wanting.

It's also an appeal for patience. Sports, like life, is full of late bloomers. The quote argues for keeping the runway clear long enough for someone to find out what they're capable of.