How A Torn ACL Taught Zac Owens To Play Free

Zac Owens is back on AlignedLife — and this conversation picks up right where we left off two years ago. Since his first appearance, Zac launched For the City, a foundation that gave 120 kids a free basketball camp experience. Then, right before heading back overseas, he tore his ACL — a season-ending injury that forced him off the court and into the deepest inner work of his life. We talk about what that year away from basketball actually looked like: the phone call to his coach and GM, the doubt, the gratitude journaling, discovering hot yoga, and the moment he sat down and asked himself who he'd be if everything — the money, the career, the game — was taken away. We dig into non-attachment, flow state, why injuries sometimes carry a lesson we keep missing, and how detaching his identity from basketball might be exactly what lets him play his best season yet. I also turn the questions back on myself toward the end, sharing what I'm working on and what I feel I've done well. If you've ever had to rebuild after a setback — in sports or in life — this one's for you.