{"id":3227,"date":"2013-03-01T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/inspiringathletes\/?p=3227"},"modified":"2013-03-22T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2013-03-22T21:44:51","slug":"a-conversation-with-phoenix-suns-center-luke-zeller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/2013\/03\/a-conversation-with-phoenix-suns-center-luke-zeller.html","title":{"rendered":"A conversation with Phoenix Suns center Luke Zeller"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Phoenix Suns center Luke Zeller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the 2013-14 NBA season rolls around, there\u2019s a very good chance that the Zeller brothers will make league history. That\u2019s because youngest brother Cody, although just a sophomore at Indiana, is considered to be good enough to be selected in the 2013 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

So whether next season or the season after, he will likely join his older siblings Tyler and Luke in the pro ranks. That would make them just the third trio of brothers to play in the NBA at the same time, along with the Jones brothers (Major, Charles and Caldwell) from the 70s and 80s, and the more recent Barry brothers (Jon, Brent and Drew) who played simultaneously from 1998 to 2000.<\/p>\n

Inspiring Athletes recently had a chance to catch up with the Luke Zeller, the oldest brother, before one of his games with the Phoenix Suns. In that conversation, he talked about his unique relationship with his brothers, why it\u2019s important to share his faith publicly and how he tries to follow God\u2019s lead:<\/p>\n

Chad Bonham: Tell me about you and your brothers\u2019 upbringing.<\/p>\n

Luke Zeller: We grew up playing and now we\u2019re just playing at a higher level. We grew up the right way and our parents taught us to do the right thing off and on the court. Faith has been a huge foundation for all of that. Mom and dad started us off right.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How much are you able to keep up with your brothers\u2019 careers?<\/p>\n

Zeller: We talk about every day whether it\u2019s a text or a phone call. They were my best men at my wedding and they\u2019re two of my best friends. It makes a big difference when they\u2019re not just your brothers.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How important is it for you to use this platform to share your faith and your personal experiences?<\/p>\n

Zeller: When God\u2019s first in your life and your family\u2019s second, the perspective is that the platform as player is for the purpose of lifting up His name and glorifying Him in all you do. No matter what the platform is, that\u2019s the goal and that\u2019s the prayer before tonight\u2019s game and before every game.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How do you harness your expectations and make sure you don\u2019t get ahead of God\u2019s plan for your life?<\/p>\n

Zeller: I\u2019m not great at that. I\u2019m not trying to say I\u2019ve got it all figured out. But I\u2019m trying to figure out what God\u2019s plan is for me and where my plans fit. One of my old high school friends used to tell me, \u201cIf you want to make God laugh, tell Him your dreams.\u201d God\u2019s dreams might be bigger and better and something completely unexpected. So I just try to follow what He\u2019s go day in and day out. I\u2019m here to live for Him no matter what that looks like or where I might be.<\/p>\n

Bonham: How important as FCA been to you throughout your athletic career?<\/p>\n

Zeller: FCA has been huge for me. My family also started our own organization called \u201cDistinxion\u201d and we do camps and share our faith through that. We work closely with FCA and a lot of the small groups around Indiana and across the country.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Is it encouraging when you see more NBA players starting to take their faith into the public square?<\/p>\n

Zeller: Definitely. There\u2019s a community of believers in the league and there\u2019s definitely a growing sense of that. Everybody has a personal decision to make but hopefully my actions speak louder than words. Hopefully that\u2019s my testimony day in and day out.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the Zeller\u2019s ministry organization Distinxion, check out the official website HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the 2013-14 NBA season rolls around, there\u2019s a very good chance that the Zeller brothers will make league history. That\u2019s because youngest brother Cody, although just a sophomore at Indiana, is considered to be good enough to be selected in the 2013 NBA Draft. So whether next season or the season after, he will…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[387,3,382,5],"tags":[1304,1308,1307,1300,1305,214,21,1301,1303,1298,1306,37,1302,1299],"class_list":["post-3227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-basketball","category-christian-athletes","category-qa","category-sports-features","tag-brent-barry","tag-caldwell-jones","tag-charles-jones","tag-cody-zeller","tag-drew-barry","tag-fca","tag-fellowship-of-christian-athletes","tag-indiana","tag-jon-barry","tag-luke-zeller","tag-major-jones","tag-nba","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-tyler-zeller"],"yoast_head":"\nA conversation with Phoenix Suns center Luke Zeller - Inspiring Athletes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A conversation with Phoenix Suns center Luke Zeller - Inspiring Athletes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the 2013-14 NBA season rolls around, there\u2019s a very good chance that the Zeller brothers will make league history. 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Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3227"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3231,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions\/3231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspiringathletes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}