Original subtitles

No, it's...

It's a hundred. Hundred.

[man] Right. Probably...

or just that.

Hell yeah, set the mood in this...

[laughs]

Theater lighting.

Yeah. Theater lighting, baby.

[theme music]

-Welcome back. Miami game. -Yes, sir.

Miami game. Helluva game, buddy.

We are very fortunate to have incredible fans

on Mind the Game.

We put it out there to our community to ask questions.

-Love that. -We got the, uh,

Q&A episode, and we got a ton of questions.

Love that. Love that.

We appreciate the support

and all the fans out there tuning in all the time.

So thank you very much.

All right, Laker Nerd asks...

[reading question]

Um, pace and space and, um,

you know the way teams switch bask-- switch everything now,

it would be very challenging, you know, to, to,

you know, to run the triangle, obviously the triangle was great.

I mean, there was a time it was a great offense.

Tex Winter, obviously,

you know, great, and Phil and them implementing that

into the NBA,

and you know, having that pinch post game

with the gaggle action on the backside,

being able to, you know, read and react off of there.

-Two-man and three-man games. -Two-man and three-man games.

I thought it was definitely a great system-- ecosystem to have.

I just think the game is so much more spread out now,

the three-point shooting now, the attempts on three-point shooting.

The space, you know, obviously, you know,

back when they were running it, you know...

That stuff was inside the three-point line.

Yeah, inside the three-point line. Bill Cartwright and Luc Longley,

and Horace was kind of a hybrid.

He shot a lot of long twos.

Dennis Rodman. None of those guys was really shooting threes.

-Right. -You know, so...

You know, they built a system that was

perfect for their personnel.

-Right. -You know, and, uh,

but now the game's so much different.

You know, to try to run the triangle offense right now,

um, it'd be very challenging just because how the game is played.

And also how defense is covering.

You could take a lot of things away,

just like switching a lot of things,

depending on your personnel.

Obviously, that has a lot to do with it.

I think it was great in its time,

but I don't see how it could, you know,

it could be good-- You can use certain things from it...

-Post splits. -Yeah, there's still like,

you know, rerun 21,

where you pitch it ahead and chase it,

you know, that's basically an extended version

of kinda the triangle, when you hit--

-Taking components. -Yeah, taking components off of it.

You know, MJ, he would be on the baseline

and kinda use the Chicago screen off of Luc Longley

or one of the centers to get a catch in the middle of the lane.

Certain things that have been taken.

If you watch our game, there's small little bits

that's been taken from the triangle offense.

-Still there. -They're still there.

So it still has an impact in our game,

it's just, the whole landscape is not... I don't think so.

It'd be interesting to hear Tex, uh,

you know, his thoughts on how

it would adapt, what tweaks would he make.

'Cause I think you're right. It's just too punishing...

Yeah.

It's too difficult and too punishing to cover the space and pace.

Guys are stretching the floor

to the deep, deep corner, out to the hash marks,

guys are flying down, like are you in the gaps, are you not?

What are you giving up? Like, you know, you--

I think some people say maybe the game's gotten more homogenized,

but like we talked about, it's more the jazz,

-the feel, the kinda principles. -Right, right.

-That's what's hard to defend. -Right.

When you know what someone's running every time, even with their counters,

that predictability can be problematic along with the switching, so,

I'd love to hear him, how he would tweak it.

I mean, Tex is so great, I guarantee he could--

what would be, you know, it's like, almost like,

you know, like Bill Walsh, running the West Coast offense.

Like, he would, you know, what he'd do, he'd make it

to what it looks like today's game, you know.

But running it exactly how they ran it,

you know, in the '90s and early 2000s, I just don't.

Too easy to defend,

'cause you're forcing a lot of twos, a lot of long twos.

-Get hacked in the paint. -Right.

Um, so it’s just not a fit for this era,

-but it would be interesting... -It would be interesting.

...where he'd take it.

Here's one, um...

from Windy City Assassin.

[reading question]

You have anyone in mind that you're like, "That was a great defender"?

Yeah, um...

Ron Artest...

was, uh...

you know, Metta World Peace now.

He was solid granite.

Really good with his hands.

Laterally, he was really good. Strong as a ox.

Played against him in my early years when he was in Indiana.

You know, it was challenging, you know, for sure.

He was one of the-- one of the best defenders probably I've played against.

Mm-hmm. It's an interesting question, when you go back to,

you know, back in our-- my era and your early career.

-The game was different. -Yeah.

You talk about defenders, you're thinking about rim protectors.

Tim Duncan, just his feel for space

and ability to block shots, you know.

KG had some versatility to it, as well.

Incredible communicator.

Then you think about the guards, I mean,

I came in the league, MJ was one of the best defenders,

but point guards, I always give Jason Kidd a nod, you know.

He-- he didn't-- Jason doesn't have a career highlights of dunkin' the ball.

He obviously could, but that wasn't his game.

But his, like, mobility, explosive--

like his lateral quick-- like he was a freaky athlete in a different way.

-Right. -Right?

-He wasn't always gonna take off. -Right.

But I remember seeing him one time,

they take the ball, we're trying to press late in the game

and there's literally guys, 10-12 feet on either side of him.

And the guy kinda went this way and Jason faked

and he threw it that way, and he picked the pass off.

I was thinking to myself, like,

I'm in the game and I'm like, "Rewind that."

How did that ball-- like, he had him leaning and drrrp!

And stole the ball, so like,

his athleticism and, uh,

and also, when he was up for it, when he was

you know, pissed off and competitive,

he could really get after people.

But you-- my point is,

there are so many players out there that defend in different ways.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

It's hard to pick one but so many great defenders.

For sure. I had to go straight back to my early days.

Yeah.

Ron definitely had you like,

okay, this is-- this is what the league is about. Okay.

Just continue to lock in. This is a hell of a test for you

as a 18-year-old kid outta high school. You know, going against this.

-With a target on his back. -Yeah, with a ta-- I was like okay.

-I love this. This is awesome. -Yeah, for sure.

Uh, okay.

From Dustin Nel-- from Dustin Nielson...

[reading question]

[both laughing]

I wish we had a simple answer.

Oh, my goodness, I do not know the answer.

I wish I had the answer to this,

but I-- I'm not sure, man.

Yeah, it's funny, yeah. I don't know.

I don't know why it's discussed so much in our sport

and why it's the end all be all...

.-Mm-hmm. -...of everything.

Like, okay. You weren't a great player if you never won a championship.

It's like...

Or if you've won one,

then you can't be in the same conversation with this person.

But that's a great point, because what you're saying is,

no matter what you have, you need more.

-No matter what. -Right.

-Like, it never ends. -Yeah.

[stutters] And it, and it, I don't know, man. It's just like...

you sit here and you tell me, you know, Allen Iverson and...

Charles Barkley and Steve Nash,

you know, or fuckin' wasn't unbelievable.

Like, oh, they can't be talked about or discussed with these guys,

because this guy won one ring or won two rings or won like...

It's just weird to me. It's like saying Peyton Manning

can't be in the same room with Brady

or Mahomes because he only has one ring.

They don't never discuss that in their sport.

Or telling me that Dan Marino was not the greatest slinger of all time,

or he can't be in a room with those guys,

because he didn't win a championship.

They don't discuss those things, you know.

I don't know, I don't know.

Did Barry Bonds win a World Series?

-I don't think so. -[crew member] Last I checked.

-I don't think so. -I checked it.

Barry Bonds never won a World Series.

You can't sit here and tell me

that he's not the greatest baseball player to ever touch a bat.

Mm-hmm. Mm.

I just-- I don't understand where it came from,

I don't know where it started, um...

I just-- I just hope that we-- we just--

we have to appreciate more

of what guys have been able to accomplish,

what guys have been able to do.

A ring is a team accomplishment.

Right.

And if you happen to have a moment

where you're able to share that with your team,

that should be discussed.

This-- this team was the greatest team.

Or that team-- You can have those conversations.

But like, trying to nitpick a individual

because he was not able to win a team game,

or a team match or whatever the case may be,

I don't know where it started,

it's a long conversation, especially when it comes to like,

you know...

me individually. [laughs]

it's just so weird, it's so weird.

Coming from someone who's won a bunch.

Yeah, it's just so weird. It's never enough.

I feel like it was in the '90s it starting to shift,

you know, when I got in the league. Maybe I'm shortsighted,

you know, our memories are fallible.

But I felt like it was starting to become...

And I wonder if sometimes it's part

of the way we cover sports nowadays.

-Yeah. -We don't necessarily--

like, it's not 50-50 glorify and critique.

It seems like it's more critical.

-Right. -Than it is glorify.

I'm not asking for pro athletes to be glorified,

but we are talking about the best in the world.

Yeah.

So, I think, it's really like, we gotta be careful sometimes

how we can so dismissive of a team, a player,

an accomplishment, or a failure

because these are the best in the world, no matter how you slice it.

Yeah, for sure.

It's, like, you automatically dismiss people and their careers...

when you-- you just be like, "Oh, he didn't win a ring."

Or, "He doesn't have a ring." It's like...

Do you actually, have you actually sat down

and really looked at this guy's career and what he was able to accomplish?

I mean, Jerry West went to, like, nine straight NBA Finals.

Right. The logo.

-And was only able to win one. -One.

-And he's the logo of our league. -Yeah.

So, you can't sit here and tell me that, "Okay, because he only won one,

the guy can't be in the same room with the guy who won two, three, four."

Like, why not? This guy... He's our logo.

[both laugh]

Not good enough. New logo.

Yeah, it's... You know...

Rest late, great Jerry West's soul, man.

-Late, great. -Unbelievable person, too, by the way.

I love that guy. Big shout-out Jerry West.

But, yeah, I don't know when it started, man,

I just hope that we appreciate the guys who've, you know...

-It don't matter, man. -Right.

At the end of the day, when you're all done

and the game has passed you by, I hope you just...

you know, hope you just appreciate what we were able to do. I don't--

What do they say? They say life's an illusion.

This is just all noise, really.

-That's it. That's it. -You got to run your own race.

Enjoy it, be in the moment, be proud of what you accomplish.

-Yeah. -If people want to talk...

-well, or poorly, that's on them. -Yeah, that's on them.

I always say that, like...

What we say is a representation of us, not the subject we're talking about...

-Right. For sure. -...as much as anything.

All right. Here's a question

from DANIELMAINA.N on IG.

[reading question]

That's a great question, Daniel.

Let's set the stage on that question for some people.

They played the Bucks in the first round,

-came back from a crazy situation to win. -Crazy.

I think the deciding game...

Yeah, that was Game 5...?

-Yeah. It was Game 5. In Indy. -In Indy. Yeah.

-Overtime. -Overtime. Mm-hmm.

-Gary Trent had a big game. -Huge game.

Couple of turnovers, couple of threes, drive to the basket, um,

by Hali and game flips like that.

Game flip likes that.

They go and plays the Cavs.

Um, most people know this,

but they had this crazy comeback against the Cavs.

I think... Did they miss a free throw?

Hali missed a free throw, got the rebound, got it back.

-Dribbled out... -Dribbled out...

Now, the shot is the shot, but it was like another 14-point...

-Right. -I'm gonna call 'em all 14-point comebacks

in two-and-a-half minutes.

-That's their whole thinking. -Right? It feels like it.

Then they go on and play the Knicks in the Garden.

-Yeah. Game 1. -Crazy game.

The Knicks had no business losing.

-They... come back... -Nesmith.

-Hits all the threes. -Hits the threes.

-Hali hits the shot that bounces off... -Yeah.

-Reminded me of the Kawhi shot, -Yeah, yeah.

Toronto-Philly, that bounced around a bunch of times.

-And they win in overtime. -Win in overtime.

Game 1 of the NBA Finals, on the road, we think they're done...

-Yeah. -...and here they come again.

I'll set the stage.

But it's pretty remarkable mental toughness and resilience they have.

-They never stop playing. -Yep.

-Never stop playing. -Yep.

-Boom. Bingo. -That's...

-That's the answer right there. -They don't stop playing.

The other part of this I think it's important for fans to recognize,

as players, we don't want to admit this,

but you play to win, or you play not to lose.

-At times when you have a 14-point lead... -Large lead.

...with three or four minutes left,

you are looking at the clock, like, how do we manage the clock?

Because that would be stupid not to.

-But what does that do to you? -Yeah.

You're trying to find the balance with being intelligence,

still being forceful and aggressive, but not being silly, not being cavalier.

And what it does is it innately sometimes gets teams on their heels,

they're trying to manage the clock, they win the game.

So, I think there's really a nice switch in dynamic.

-Yeah. -That's why basketball is great, right?

One team's got nothing to lose, "We already got beat.

We're down 14 with three minutes left.

-We're beat. Let's go." -"Let's see what we got."

And for the winning team...

-"If we lose now..." -Yeah.

So, you're on your heels, or you're negative.

I don't know. I love the way they play, they play fast, they shoot threes,

they've good free throw shooters,

um, they're more physical

and I think better defensive team,

especially than prior years, than we give 'em credit for.

And they're just incredible, I think, at mentally staying.

Yeah. There it is, right there.

They just don't stop playing and they're just mentally engaged.

They don't waiver.

No matter, win, lose or draw, they don't waiver,

so that's the answer right there.

-Amazing skill for a team. -Mm-mm, for sure.

[theme music]

Question here from Lakers Lead.

[reading question]

Um...

-Quite a bit. -Mm.

I think the responsibility that a head coach has on,

you know, the things that he has to prepare for

and the things he has to get the guys ready to play...

it's so much, already, you know.

And, you know, for the assistant coaches

to be able to take some of the burden off the head coach,

either with helping with substitution patterns,

helping with all the personalities in the locker room,

you know, head coach shouldn't have to deal with that all the time.

I understand... Like, I've had the fortune in my career to have head coaches

that had open-door policy,

"If you had a problem, come and talk to me."

But on a day-to-day basis,

head coach shouldn't have to be facilitating that all the time.

Because it's ups and downs,

guys have their emotions throughout the course of a season.

If you have greats assistants, they can tune that down.

They can help with that, facilitate that, um,

and also, just the stuff like the small things that happen

when guys get to the arena early

or guys get to practice early,

being able to have an assistant coach that come out and work with you,

watch film with you, get on the court with you,

and they can just conversate throughout the rest of the day,

throughout the rest of the games, on the road, whatever the case may be,

so I think assistant coaches are very vital to team's success.

Yeah. Great rundown there.

I think... it just doesn't work with us...

-Right. -...in all capacities.

I think fans have to understand

that whether it's them dealing with personalities for the coach,

or the coach dealing with the personalities,

and the assistants dealing with film, tactical elements, preparation,

there's a scale there.

But all that work needs to get done.

You're playing three, four games a week.

-You have to cut up responsibilities... -Absolutely.

...and collaborate.

Maybe we should break down for fans

what an NBA assistant coach's responsibilities are.

[sighs] I mean, where do we start?

Yeah. First of all, usually, NBA assistant coaches

have one, two, three players

-that they're responsible for. -Mm-hmm. Yep.

So, they have to work on film, their routine...

In the NBA, just for fans, everyone's gotta have a routine.

You play so many games, different time zones, you're traveling,

some guys are high-minute guys,

some guys don't play and got to stay ready.

Maybe we start there.

Like, what does it look like on a staff with an assistant coach

and his responsibility to a player?

Well, yeah, you started off by saying, in the sense of when it comes to routine,

guys have a routine, and they're locked in on that.

Like you said, you're changing time zones, you're in different cities,

but the one thing that never changes is the time

that you're supposed to be on the court,

the time you're supposed to be in the weight room,

the time you're supposed to be in the training room,

gettin' that work done.

Now, you have some of the older vets,

sometimes it could change, kind of, just a little bit

depending on, you know, if they played a lot of minutes the night before,

or if there's three games in four nights, they might switch it up a little bit,

but for the younger guys, and for the guys that's like, you know,

fifth, sixth, seventh year into the league,

it has to stay the same, and guys go off that routine

and the assistant coaches are the ones that are...

You're accountable for your own work, obviously,

but the assistant coaches be on you about it.

So, every day when it comes to...

this is what time you need to be on the court,

if you shoot at 90 on the clock, or if you shoot at 50 on the clock...

okay, before that, come out ten minutes early

so we can watch film.

You know, we can lock in on the film from the previous three, four games

or just last game, or we just clip in the defensive side

or whatever the case may be.

Um, so they're locked in on everything that needs to get done.

Now when the game starts, you're already prepared.

And if you're not someone that's in the regular rotation right now,

then, like you said, they're ready, stay ready.

They have those games... Sometimes you could come...

I get to the arena so early,

there's times where...

if I don't beat everybody there,

that you could have a couple guys that's not playing out there,

actually running up and down the court with assistant coaches, stayin' ready.

-Yeah. -You know?

Going through the same offensive things that we're gonna run,

the same defensive coverages that we would do,

so they're always prepared whenever your number is called,

because we're all professionals, you have to stay ready.

The assistant coaches, they stay on that.

So, essentially, what LeBron just mentioned here is...

the player development component.

That happens to the star player,

all the way down to a guy who is trying to make his name in the league.

It's different.

Obviously, a star player, it's about refining, tweaking, staying optimal.

For a young guy, it might be like a three-year plan.

-Right. -Trying to build there.

Um, you mentioned playing... the "stay-ready" group,

you know, we used to call 'em in Brooklyn.

Guys that don't get a lot of minutes need to run up and down,

so one thing just to mention is,

usually, NBA film rooms nowadays are built

with four, five, six guys that have played,

at least four or five of them have played in college or maybe overseas,

so they can play against your young guys.

-Yeah. -Just to have enough bodies,

because the rotation guys can't play every day.

-Yeah. -So, you need guys to play,

whether it's one-on-one, three-on-three, five-on-five,

so that's an important thing for people to recognize,

you find guys that are intelligent, hard working, that play the game,

that you can teach the film stuff to, but they're able to get on...

Yeah. It's funny you say that, because one of our assistant coaches

who pretty much works day-to-day with Bronny

was James Harden's college backcourtmate, so...

Okay. So did he get any shots in college?

Uh, probably not. Probably not.

-No. -[both laugh]

No, he brought the ball up, gave it to James...

"James, do your thing."

Uh, but like you just said,

those guys are, you know, either played in college,

played overseas, you know, um, and so when they're getting out there,

they're like really going, obviously they're going at the guys,

and those guys are going at them, as well. And it's still fun.

-It's still competitive, you know? -Right.

You know, having that, uh, that ordeal is definitely,

um, great for the stay-ready guys, for sure.

As far as the extended responsibilities, so a lot of NBA teams

have an assistant coach as an offensive coordinator,

-a defensive coordinator. -Mm-hmm.

-Um, they also have to do scouts. -Pregame scouts.

-Yeah. Mm-hmm. -So you'll break down,

-um, the next opponent. -Mm-hmm.

So typically, for fans out there, an NBA assistant coach may have,

who knows, five to, you know, all the scouts depending on how your staff

-divides them. -Right.

But that coach has gotta probably watch, typically,

like the last four games that team's played.

-Mm-hmm. -Start to put together clips,

start to formulate a game plan.

Then they go and talk with the head coach about it,

how we wanna play 'em.

"When are we blitzing? When are we switching?

What are we doing after the switch? What's our second line of defense?

Like, what actions can we, can we go out with them?"

-So there's a lot of scouting... -Mm-hmm.

...that goes into it. I'm sure you've had some coaches that were incredible

-at game-planning over your career. -Yeah.

I mean, my first stint, um, in Cleveland when Mike Brown took over,

um, you know, two guys that was basically, you know, ran a lot of our things, um.

-Mike Malone was our assistant coach. -Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

You know, um, you know, Lloyd Pierce was our player development guy.

Chris Gent was one of our player development guy.

Um, and Mike Brown gave them a lot of the reign.

-Right. -You know, and, um, obviously we,

you know, Mike Malone's a NBA champion

as a head coach, you know, and obviously, you know, you see Lloyd Pierce now

is right there next to, you know, Rick Carlisle in the Finals right now.

You know, so, um, you know, those guys get a lot of responsibility, you know,

and I think there's a sense of pride, too,

when you become, like, an assistant coach

and you start getting that responsibility where now you're doing,

uh, the breakdowns of teams and you're doing the scouting.

Um, so you come in, you, you, you do the scouting.

You're, you're saying, okay, this is the personnel.

This is who you're guarding, this is things they're gonna run.

Um, this is how we're gonna prepare for 'em.

And if that assistant coach, if you win that, if you win that game

that night because of your scout, you know,

the players start to feel a certain way too about it.

Like, you know, you, you start knowing, like, if you got three or four coaches,

and one of the coaches is doing the scout, and they're, we're winning those games,

you know, you get like excited for that coach to come up and talk again, you know?

Because, like you said, it could be, you got three or four coaches

that does scouting throughout the course of the season.

So there's a sense of pride from assistant coaches, too,

when they get up there and they do their scout

and they win those games, you know, so, that's pretty cool, too.

They're keeping score.

They're definitely keeping score for sure. For sure.

They hope they had a good draft at the start of the year on the opponents.

-Right, right. -They're keeping score.

Right.

Um, you know, one thing that, uh,

you know, I think is, is, uh,

an interesting topic of conversation is NBA staffs have gotten so big now.

I don't think there's one way to do it,

but I do think that having a big staff can be too much sometimes.

-[chuckles] -You know, nowadays, you know,

you got a head coach, you got eight or nine assistants.

You know, you got four on the front, you got four on the back at least.

You know, that's before you mention film guys, analytics guys,

like we've mentioned, guys in the film room that are playing.

-Yeah. -You know, it adds up to

you're managing a lot of personalities.

-Yeah. -And frankly, at times, you know,

coaches are trying to make their way in the league.

-You got eight other coaches with you. -Yeah.

-You're trying to validate your presence. -Right.

It can be very difficult for a head coach to manage...

-Yeah. -...the personalities on the staff.

And I don't even remember when it took the spike.

I don't remember. I just re--

I guess I just remember just one day just coming to the bench,

and then just like looking down, I was like,

"Holy shit. There's as many coaches as players...

-Right. -...sitting on the bench."

I think it was probably head coach and three assistants...

-Yeah. -...on the front.

I don't remember guys being

behind the bench when I, when I first came in, like...

Now you have more coaches behind the bench than you do in front.

-Yeah, yeah. -Um,

now I think there's plenty of work, there's enough work for everyone to do,

but managing the voices, the opinions, you know, even sometimes the egos,

that, that, that sometimes, especially I would say this,

especially for young coaches, I think that can be a challenge.

-Yeah. -Right? Um,

you know, the, being a coach in the NBA has never been more difficult

in a lot of ways, because you're kind of a startup CEO.

Right, right.

If you're a young coach, you come into a situation, it's a new project.

No matter if you have a veteran team or not,

you got eight, nine assistant coaches, staff of ten coaches.

You got four, five, six in the video room.

You got, depending on the organization, four, five in analytics.

You got ten on the-- ten in the performance team.

-Yeah. -You got a general manager, assistant GMs.

Yeah.

You know, player personnel director, all that stuff.

So you look around and you're kind of in the middle, with the GM,

of 50 people plus. Fifty or sixty people. So--

-That sounds like a-- -It's not--

That's running a business.

It is running a business and it's not, and unfortunately,

depending how you divide and conquer the work.

-Right. -You know, a lot of times it can be

-more managing than it is coaching. -Yeah. For sure.

-Than it is Xs and Os. -Yeah.

Especially in a player empowerment era,

you know, trying to facilitate the way agents are involved in our game,

the way owners are involved in the game.

You know, there's a lot of dynamics that I think make it very difficult.

So sometimes really being very, very focal...

-Yeah. I agree. -...in how you build your staff

-can be super important. -I agree. You got me thinking now...

If a head coach, the head coach can, can he decide how many coaches

he actually wants to be on the bench?

Or is it, or is it, is it mandatory?

So the league allows a certain on the front,

and then there's only a certain amount, I think, because of space on the back.

-Right, right. -Now the team can decide...

The team can decide though, right?

...how many seats... how many they wanna fill on the back.

Right, right.

That's limited, because, say you go play the Lakers.

The Lakers might say, "In our building, you got six seats behind the bench.

-Use 'em how you wish." -Yeah, yeah.

I was just wondering if I was a head coach,

like if I was like, okay, I just want,

you know, three, you know, seats in the front and two in the back.

-Yeah. -And that's it.

-You absolutely can. -Okay.

I think either you have to have a minimum of three or four assistant coaches,

-obviously to fill the front of the bench. -Right.

Um, I think the interesting part comes now,

what's the general manager's relationship with the coach?

-How do they feel about it? -Right.

What is the owner as far as salary?

I probably, I just want my number one assistant on the bench

in the front, you know, and my number two and three assistant behind,

and then one more guy, and that's, you know-- I don't know.

-I actually don't know the rule, -Yeah, yeah.

but I think the philosophy you're coming with is interesting.

Yeah. Yeah.

Because I think one thing that I maybe struggled with as a coach

and I wonder if other coaches-- is clarity...

-Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. -...at times.

Being over-thoughtful.

Thinking of too many perimeter-- parameters,

thinking of too many, you know, this, that...

Then you start getting side conversations that's going on in the timeout

as we still preaching the same thing or is...

-Right. -...this guy telling me

I should be doing, I, I don't know.

So your point of like, obviously, you're exaggerating,

but you got one assistant here, like, keeping it clear.

-Yeah. -Keeping it simple.

Making sure you start with your North Star,

-you stay as focal to as possible. -Mm-hmm.

We need to adjust, we need to think of everything.

But I think fans have to understand NBA coaches,

especially with these big staffs, they've thought of everything.

-Yeah, for sure. -It's a matter of what do they think

they can transmit to their team and their team can execute, right?

And so that is a part of this that I think is really important to recognize.

For sure. But I do think, I think a head coach is...

I think a head coach is great, but I think a head coach,

as great as they can be, is only as great as their assistants.

-Mm. -I think their assistant coaches

really, really help throughout this micromanaging things.

You know, you know, head coaches are so locked in, you know,

you guys are standing up throughout the whole game pretty much,

and you guys are trying to watch everything that's going on and...

"Okay, is that guy in a rhythm?

Is that guy not in a rhythm?" Or maybe even missed that.

-Like, I, you know, I'm so locked in on-- -Right.

Okay, we didn't blitz this guy the right way.

Like, you know, and to have the assistants to be able to

sometimes just lock the head coach back in.

Not saying you were-- you wasn't locked in.

It's just, I, maybe I was just focused on this, you know, we didn't,

we didn't get a great shot the last three or four possessions.

You know, oh, I wasn't thinking about, you know, this guy right here.

I hadn't put him in in four or five minutes.

You know, and having the assistants being able to just be able to micromanage

a lot of things and bring things to the forefront of your mind, too,

while you guys are focused on so much. I think,

you know, when you have great assistants,

I think it matters a lot.

Important point. Important point.

I think there's great coaches, but there's also great staffs.

-Yeah, for sure. -Right. That make a coach better

-and, and the totality... -Mm-hmm.

...the way they work together is really important.

We got a few questions about coaching.

You know, "What makes a good coach?" from, uh, AYEECOACH32.

-Um, this is a sliding scale. -Yeah, it is.

What makes a good coach?

Um, um, I think what makes a, a good coach, um...

-one, holding guys accountable. -Hmm.

Um, you know, being very clear about what you want to get accomplished.

-Mm-hmm. -You know, um, and that's every day.

Like, this is what we want to do, this is how we wanna play, you know?

Um, and, and also being able to have, um, you know, once that trust is built,

being able to, if you have the personnel, you know, to be able to,

you know, have that extension from that guy on the floor

that y'all can kind of have that relationship that's even,

-even deeper than just the other 14 guys. -Right.

You know, or if it's two guys, you know, that you have.

Um, but I think, you know, as far as coaching, I've, you know,

coaches have always gotten the most out of me

and got the most out of the teams that I've played on,

since I was a kid to now, it's just like,

you know, not sugarcoating it, not being afraid.

Um, to, to, to have that conversation.

Um, and then just having a clear-cut, you know, understanding

of like, okay, being prepared.

You know, when, um, when a coach is prepared and,

and, and you know, it's every day.

It's the practice, it's the film sessions, it's, um, it's the games, obviously.

Wins and losses take care of themselves.

You know, the ball bounces in different ways and,

you know, that's things you can't control. But what you can control is like

how prepared you feel when you walk out on the floor as a player, you know?

And I think your coach and the coaching staff,

you know, um...

put you in a position to feel like, okay, we have the answers to the test,

and let's go out and execute that.

You know, so I think those are great qua--

Obviously, there's so much more...

-But communication, preparedness... -Communication and being prepared,

I think, are two of the great qualities that a coach can start with.

Being prepared and just being able to communicate.

And we're all different people, you know,

your communication might be very, very, ha-ha-ha-ha,

or some guys' communication may be

just more pull you to the side or something.

Or I may talk a little louder or talk lower.

You know, and I think for players,

you can't always listen to how they say it.

It's about what they say.

You know, and you can't be emotional about the process.

So communication and just being prepared, I think those are...

two great things you can start with.

And then all the other stuff, you just start to learn,

we all learn as the days go by, the years go by

and if that's something you're passionate about, you'll continue to learn.

You made a great point about having tough conversations.

I think it's really important for coaches to be honest.

Because when you skirt an issue,

when you sugarcoat something, then the player leaves

maybe with a different interpretation of that conversation than what's intended,

Yeah.

and now, you start to get this gap in understanding, and then they lose trust.

So I think it's always important for a coach to be pretty direct, honest...

It's not emotional. We're trying to get better.

This is what we need to do. Let's just be clear with it.

I think that's an important part of coaching.

Now the Xs and Os, the game management, that's a whole other side...

-Yeah, it's a whole other side. -...of the business.

But it's a sliding scale, like,

some coaches can be incredible communicators and motivators.

-Mm-hmm. -Some coaches may be incredible Xs and Os,

or on the practice or teachers.

So there's a whole bunch of ways to coach

and be effective and be tremendous coaches.

Not everyone's excellent at all those things.

You have to be true to your personality.

To your background, to your acumen, so that, I think,

to answer the question, in other ways, coaching can take on many different forms.

No, for sure.

Especially, depending on your team, personnel, staff, environment.

Is it a developing team? Is it a contending team?

Is it a team trying to find an identity?

They all need slightly different coaching.

That's really important for fans to recognize,

is a coach has to meet that team where they are.

Try to impart a vision, a clarity like you said,

on the way we operate, not just on how we behave everyday

but also, how are we gonna play? What's our style of play?

And then, you're able to hopefully build those habits.

You're always talking about that, too, building habits everyday,

and a team that's gonna be able to trust each other to do the right things.

[theme music]

[reading question]

From Ball Muse.

Um, how important is drawn plays...

and being able to have the ability to have the player be free and just make--

-I love great ATOs. -Yeah.

Obviously, you draw the play to start the game,

you draw the play to start the second half.

Um, and I think that throughout the course of a game

when timeouts are happening, great ATOs catching the team off-balance,

it's something that's really cool and really dynamic

and I've always acknowledged the coach.

If the coach draw up a play and we go out there, execute it, you're like...

"That was some good shit right there. That was dope."

You know what I'm saying?

But throughout the course of the game, you know, being able to--

You have to have the personnel.

To answer that second part, you have to have that player,

you have to have that person that is an extension of the coach,

is an extension of him out on the floor

that knows what you're trying to get across,

how you wanna play and he's able to put guys

in position that benefits their skill set.

You know? And if you have that player that can not only get himself going,

but also put the guys in position

of how we want to execute and play out on the floor, then...

you let him go, you let him do it, you trust that, you just know that--

Play out of principle, play out of space.

Play out of principle, play out of space. Okay, this is how we wanna play,

and you know that he's gonna put guys in position, um,

to not only help the ball club, but help his guys on the floor individually, too.

He's gonna make sure that they're in the right positions,

they don't do things out on the floor that doesn't benefit their game.

Or doesn't benefit their skill set.

Know your personnel.

Yeah, you know, KYP. Know your personnel. [laughs]

[chuckling]

If you got that guy, then that's awesome.

So I think it's...

It depends on the personnel.

It depends on your personnel, but like I said,

having a coach that can draw up a great ATO after a timeout,

you know, catch a team off-balance, I think that's pretty cool, too.

Yeah, great ATOs are always fun.

-Oh, it's always fun. -It's always fun.

The reality is, and I'm not sure this is where the question is coming from,

we don't see a lot of set plays in the NBA anymore.

We've talked about this before, but the reason why,

two main reasons.

-Teams switch a lot of stuff. -Yeah.

So you could run the best ATO, if they switch it all,

you're gonna end up on the clock in iso and getting to your spacing, anyways.

And so the other part of that is, it's easier to play with pace and space.

So when a team's retreating, they're on their heels,

you got your star player coming down the floor. What do you want to do?

Have LeBron James walk the ball up the court and call a play?

Or have LeBron catch that ball on the move,

try to fight that defense while they're recovering.

They're not set, they're not ready for rotations.

So the pie of offensive plays is becoming more and more pace and space,

quick decisions, play out of principles, because defense has said,

"I can't let you have this easy quick hitter.

We'll take that away by switching, we'll help from behind,

we'll flood, we'll load to the ball. Whatever it is."

So the ATO is becoming important

but also in its own little part of the game.

End-of-game plays, ATOs, like you said, first play of the game,

first play of the half.

But essentially, the toughest thing to guard in our league

is a team coming down full speed, wide spacing,

getting to do a quick hitter, or having the star just go.

You can get downhill, that's the best option we got.

Yeah, for sure.

That's an important thing I think for fans to recognize.

All right, this question from Ron... [reading question]

This is a different question. Of course, we can.

Of course, we can.

But why would we?

Um...

There's a couple things in FIBA that actually I like

when it comes to the rules, and obviously, I've played a lot of FIBA games,

being part of Team USA.

The physicality that you're allowed to play with, um,

is awesome, but we talked about this, too.

You're asking this question, but do fans wanna see playoff-basketball physicality

for a full 82-game season? We discussed that.

We don't have the answer to it, we don't know.

It's for the fans, you guys talk to us.

Um...

But also, straight zone.

Yeah, or--

The center can just sit in the middle of the paint.

Do we wanna have it where you could just play straight zone,

and Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert and those guys can literally just

sit right there in the middle of the paint,

and they never have to leave?

Do we wanna see that type of game?

Um...

-I don't know. -Yeah.

The 40-minute game,

-um, is intriguing. -It is.

Because the game happens so damn fast. [snaps fingers]

-So there's no... -Isn't that crazy

how international games can be over? [snaps fingers]

Oh, my goodness. Yes, and you have no, like...

There's no easing into an international game, you know.

And that gives it a little bit more sense of urgency, you know.

So that's something to discuss, that would be something that could,

we could possibly have a conversation about.

It'd be hard, because you start messing with the history

of the game and all that stuff.

-Stats. -You take eight minutes.

All that type of stuff, but something to discuss.

That's something that can be talked about, too.

I've been very intrigued with the goaltending.

Mm, I was gonna ask you.

-I actually love it. -Mm-hmm.

I love it. It's exciting.

-Mm-hmm. -Um, you know,

it doesn't happen as much as you would think.

Right.

And even when you're playing against

the international guys, and this is their rule,

there's times where the ball is tinkering around the rim,

and you kind of get like, "Oh, shit, I should wing at it."

-It's harder than it looks. -It's harder than it looks.

But I think that's...

I actually like the goaltending rule. It's pretty cool.

That's an interesting point, because...

Maybe I'm biased, thinking NBA athletes are so...

you know, amazing athletes.

that it would become such a big part of our game, but...

I don't know. It's not that easy, right?

You're looking to box out, you're looking to defend,

you're in a rotation, whatever it is, then to be there flat-footed

to go up and get a ball through, it's not as straightforward as it sounds.

No, it's not straightforward.

I'd be scared if it did.

I wouldn't like it if it was happening all the time.

-Right. -There's a lid on the bucket, you know.

But I think there is something to it.

-I wouldn't be opposed to exploring it. -Yeah.

-We have the G League. -We have the G League.

We got Summer League, the Showcase.

We can try a couple...

I don't think the whole FIBA rules. I don't.

But there's some things that we could possibly just tinker with,

maybe in the G League and the Summer League

and see how it looks.

Yeah, look...

-The FIBA game's great. -Yeah.

It's great. It's different.

The NBA game though, why we've tried to, like,

no three-second defense in the lane...

We've tried to create a more athletic, fast-paced,

guys getting downhill, making plays, getting on top of the rim,

now the game stretched, so there's even more space.

I love all that. I love seeing our athletes,

our players, our skilled players

thrive in the way that we've become accustomed to playing in the NBA.

Is it perfect? No.

But neither is FIBA.

I think it's great to have this contrast.

-For sure. -It's a challenge.

Like when you guys start playing for Team USA,

-it's not easy the first few games. -Oh, no. It's a challenge.

It's different, like, feeling the other team,

it levels it a little bit.

And then for it being such a contrast for NBA players,

-it takes time. -Yeah, it takes time. For sure.

So, in all, I think I vote NBA.

-Yeah. -I would take--

I think the NBA should stay with its ethos

of trying to make this as exciting and athletic.

But that doesn't mean that a FIBA game isn't great.

And we could experiment with more things to meet in the middle.

[reading question]

-Let me just stop that one right now. -[laughs]

-Please don't coach. Please. -[chokes]

There's no way. There's no way, guys.

Please don't coach. Alfonso Taylor, thanks for the question, but, uh...

Alfonso Taylor, appreciate you for the kind question, but it ain't happening.

No team.

[both laughing]

-No. -That's a zero chance.

-Zero chance. Zero chance. -If you're counting at home.