Mick Unplugged
George Mumford Discusses Pure Performance, The Zone, and Lessons from Champions
Mon, 02 Jun 2025
George Mumford is a highly sought-after mindfulness and performance coach, renowned for his transformative work with elite athletes—including legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. As the author of "Unlocked" and "The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance," George blends wisdom, curiosity, compassion, and selfless service to unlock the divine spark in every human being. With a captivating personal story that spans addiction recovery, close friendships with icons such as Julius Erving (Dr. J), and decades of coaching at the championship level, George’s teachings have changed countless lives both on and off the court. Takeaways Pure Performance Is About Presence: The highest level of achievement, or "pure performance," is found when you perform an activity solely for the love and authenticity of the moment—expressing your true self rather than focusing on external outcomes. Unlocking Potential Requires Letting Go: Growth and progress come from giving yourself permission to make mistakes, learning from them, and then letting them go so you can move forward—true freedom comes from self-acceptance and self-regulation. Leadership Is Empowerment: Great leaders, like Michael Jordan after working with George, learn to meet people where they are, inspire them to grow, and give others a meaningful say in the mission, shifting from control to collective ownership. Sound Bites “Elite performers are unlocked by their hunger for growth—the willingness to embrace discomfort and uncertainty is what propels them to the next level.” “Creating space between stimulus and response is the heart of emotional intelligence; it unlocks the freedom to choose your attitude and actions.” “You don’t need to be perfect to make progress—mistakes are just feedback. The key is to make the next play and stay present.” Quote from Mick: “Unlocked has changed my life. It’s literally a book that I reference at least three to four times a week... we have unlocked sessions where we talk through things as a group and as a team—because what one person is struggling with is probably something someone else is going through.” Connect & Discover George: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/george.mumford/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-mumford/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=george%20mumford Website: https://georgemumford.com/ Book: Unlocked: Embrace Your Greatness, Find the Flow, Discover Success FOLLOW MICK ON:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is pure performance?
so it was like not just performing but i'm talking about pure performance not elite performance is one thing but pure performance is when you're doing the thing for the activity in and of itself for no reason other than being in the moment and expressing yourself honestly and love and and being who you are because you're unique there's no one like you
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Chapter 2: Who is George Mumford?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mic Unplugged. And today we're talking to a gentleman who didn't know, but two years ago literally changed my life and my approach to leadership and the mental preparedness. He's the mindfulness coach behind the legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
He's a master of unlocking peak potential and the author transforming the way we think about focus and flow. Please join me in welcoming the wise, the transformative, the legendary, the guy I call the GOAT, Mr. George Mumford. Mr. Mumford, how are you doing today, sir?
Thanks, Mick. I appreciate you. It's my honor to be here. And I can't tell you how delighted I am to hear that the book had value for you. And more importantly, that the book is helping you unlock you. Unlocked. We need you to be unlocked. We need everybody to be unlocked.
Unlocked has changed my life. It's literally a book that I reference at least three to four times a week. I pull out quotes on a weekly basis. I talk to my team internally and we have once a month. George, I got to give you credit.
We have unlocked sessions where we talk through things as a group and as a team, because as you know, what one person is struggling with or going through is probably something else that someone else is going through. They were just afraid to talk about it out loud. And so we really have unlocked sessions and we have a lot of mental clarity on a monthly basis. And to that, I owe you, brother.
I like that. So before we go into Unlocked, George, one of the things on the podcast that we really talk about is your because, right? That thing that's deeper than your why. I like to call it like your true purpose, your true reasoning. And for a lot of people that changes over time and it should change over time. If I were to say today, 2025, George Mumford, what's your because today?
To unlock the vice pocket in each and every human being.
Hmm.
So I'll give you the whole spiel. It's a child I developed several years back, and I forget when I did it, but it's a lifelong thing to unlock the divine spark in each and every human being. The values that are at the heart of who I am are love, curiosity, truth, wisdom, integrity, selfless service, compassion, courage.
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Chapter 3: How did George Mumford's journey start?
I mean, wait, wait, but I knew about him once he told me it was because my friend of mine said, Hey man, this is this guy, Julius Irving. You got to check him out. He's, he's the real deal. And so, and that, and that's, that's how we became friends. And, uh,
And then eventually, you know, we were roommates, uh, and I was his roommate, you know, while he was, um, when he was, uh, just about to go pro. Um, so yeah, so I had that experience. And then my other roommate, uh, Al Skinner, uh, actually played, played with Julius and, and, um, and, and, uh, uh, New York nets and with, uh, 76ers. So he was my other roommate. Um,
And of course, Patino, Rick Patino was there when I was there. So I knew all those, we all hung out together. Patino was from Oyster Bay. So sometimes we used to ride home, you know, with him, me, him and Al, you know, sometimes we, you know, if I was going to hang out with Al on the weekend, sometimes we'd drop Rick off. on the way to long Island.
You know, we're going to have to have a separate story because I know you got some stories, all of it. We probably can't tell on this podcast, but wow, to be a fly on the wall with George Mumford and some of those conversations have to be legendary.
Yeah. So just to show that you're not the only one that feels that way. I don't know when it was several years back. The last time they had the NBA all-star game, in LA and Julius had a podcast. And so he went, he interviewed me for the podcast. So I actually was there right in the middle of it all. And as I'm going in, Isaiah Thomas is saying, wait a minute.
you two going in there, I want to come in. And Judy said, well, I'll get with you later, but we just got to do this thing. Because Isaiah was saying, oh, man, I want to hear what these roomies are going to talk about.
Right, right. We're going to set up a separate one for that one. That's going to be amazing.
Right.
Exactly. Exactly. That's wild, man. So, you know, obviously you've worked with legendary, I'm going to say the best of the best in Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. How, I mean, I know the story, but I want the audience to know, how did it come about working with Michael Jordan?
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