NBA TV’s Open Court recently premiered their sixth season with Open Court: Coaches Edition, which featured an all-star lineup of NBA Coaches. In a one-hour special, the likes of Doc Rivers, Mike D’Antoni, Tom Thibodeau, Dwane Casey & Terry Stotts discussed a broad range of topics including earning respect from players, establishing a winning culture and their most difficult coaching challenges.
Following are a few excerpts from Open Court: Coaches Edition, which aired Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. ET:
Casey on the coach’s role after a loss: “You go in [to the locker room] after the game, and you want to vent. I learned a while ago that when you go in and vent like that, you are usually wrong – until you go home, watch the film and see what the game was really about, see if that guy really made a mistake. So I’ve learned to talk about a few general things, watch the film and then come back [to address the game in practice].”
Thibodeau on the most challenging player he has have ever coached: “That season – 2008 – the challenge was to get everyone onto the same page as quickly as possible, because we had so many new guys. Rajon [Rondo] was the point guard, and it was a good thing that he had that stubbornness to him because he kept us organized. I thought each year, he grew – it was a challenge, but he did great things for us.”
D’Antoni on the experience of coaching Kobe Bryant: “It’s a privilege to coach him, if you can call that coaching. He’s got a mind of his own, he’s going to do what he wants to do. I saw some things that humans can’t do – the way he battles pain; the way he prepares himself. Mentally, he’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around.”
Click on each link below to see highlights from the premiere:
- Casey, Rivers and D’Antoni discuss the role of a coach after a loss
- Thibodeau and Stotts compare approaches to calling the last play in a close game
- Rivers talks about his combined coach and GM role with the Clippers
- Rivers on what makes LeBron James so difficult to coach against