Back on the Court

Over the last 2 years I served as the NBA Senior Director of Basketball Operations in India. It entailed traveling all over India conducting grassroots projects such as coaches clinics, youth camps, team competitions, school visits, and more. Although I enjoyed this position there was one main thing missing....Coaching a Team. After 30+ years as a coach I missed the connection with my players, coaches, and even the opponents. I missed the daily contact with the players. I missed the camaraderie with the coaching staff. I missed the conversations with the players off the court. Although I love the challenge of the games my favorite part of coaching is practice. This is where I really have a chance to impact the growth of the players and the improvement of the team. I am comfortable in public settings but I feel that there is a greater impact in the daily relationships that form with players. To support that, it seems like I can't get through a day without hearing, in one way or another, from one of my former players. (Certainly technology has influenced this) This makes it worth it all.

I have now accepted the position as Technical Director of the NBA Academy in India. It reminds me of my days when I served as both Athletic Director and Head Coach at the college level. We scout and select the top 24 boys in India from ages 13-18. This is a holistic boarding school where they leave their families for much of the year. Our staff consists of myself, Player Development Coach (Ron Cass), Strength & Conditioning Coach (Todd Gates), Operations Coach (Shiv Kumar), and an Operations Assistant (Prem Kumar). I am very fortunate to have such a capable and passionate group to work alongside.

I started this position in June and we have already been to the U.S. and back for competitions. We first arrived in San Diego to play in Point Loma Nazarene University's team camp. There we were able to play 4 games against southern California high school teams. It was a good warm-up for what was to come. Our main purpose of the trip was to participate in the NBA Academy Games held in Atlanta, GA. This is where all of the NBA Academies from across the globe (China, Africa, Australia, Latin America, India), plus some additional international and U.S. teams participated. This event was held at the Atlanta Hawks new practice facility. It was a major challenge for us since all of these countries are far more advanced in basketball, and we were only together for 2 weeks prior to this event. We improved steadily throughout the tournament finishing with an upset victory over China in our last game. Ironically, it was almost 5 years ago, to the day, that my Indian National Team had a historical win over China, in China at the FIBA Asia Cup.

We are now back training at our Academy in Greater Noida (just south of Delhi). Much of our time is spent in player development and strength & conditioning. We will begin competitions again in late August, as we host a college league. We will then travel to Hungary in September to participate in the European Youth Basketball League. There we will play teams from all over Europe.

The boys have full days at the academy, as they attend school, have practice, participate in strength & conditioning, and then study in the evenings. They have some down time too just hang out with each other. I have already witnessed how they are becoming close, just as a family.

I have conveyed before a philosophy that was shared with me years ago that has impacted me in all of my life course decisions. "Do What You Do Best, and Go Where It Is Needed Most". At this point of my life serving at the NBA Academy in India fulfills that mission.