A coach's main job is to reawaken a spirit in which the players can blend together effortlessly.
And yet as a coach, I know that being fixated on winning (or more likely, not losing) is counterproductive, especially when it causes you to lose control of your emotions. What’s more, obsessing about winning is a loser’s game: The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. The ride is a lot more fun that way.
My first act after being named head coach of the Bulls was to formulate a vision for the team. I had to take into account not only what I wanted to achieve, but how I was going to get there.
I won't coach this team next year if he is still here. He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid.
I don't believe in curfews, because you can't treat men like they were boys without forfeiting a certain level of trust.
Everybody has an opportunity to play a role, a playmaking role, so it makes it harder to coach. It takes a little more time.
I think the most rewarding part of the job, and I think most coaches would say it, is practice. If you have it, a very good practice in which you have 12 guys participate, and they can really get something out of it, lose themselves in practice.
I know what it takes to be a coach. I've gone through that. I think I came up short my last season. Lots of things were happening physically to me, and emotionally, perhaps mentally, too. I thought it was time to tend to more important things, like health and like family. I still enjoy that, and I don't think I have any need to go back to coach.
I probably would have no capability of absorbing a 60-defeat season as a coach. It would be a foreign experience. My whole career, even as a player, has been on winning basketball clubs and it just seems to have been a part of the make-up of what’s been given me. That’s what I’ve been given and that’s what I’ve had to deal with. Some people can make fun of it or some people can have a good time with it, or some people can resent it. It’s just what it is.
My job as a coach was to make something meaningful out of one of the most mundane activities on the planet: playing pro basketball.
Despite their tremendous talent, (NBA players) are still, by and large, young adults, seeking validation from an authority figure, and there is no greater authority figure on a team than the coach. Needless to say, in today's warped, self-indulgent climate, too many players couldn't care less about appeasing the coach.
I'm not going to coach again. I've done my coaching, and I think I can put that aside.
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