MAY

The theme of this issue of Inspire is “Generations,” so I’ll start with the fact that you and your wife, Hayley, welcomed your first child, Lucas Philip, in June last year. How has becoming a father impacted or changed you? It’s brought new light to what life really is and how you can feel and see that decisions are not made only for yourself, but now for my son, too—and, of course, they continue to be made for my wife, as well. I am also more aware of how many blessings God gives, especially when times are tough. [God] has helped me navigate through so many tough times.

Your son’s middle name is also your father’s name (“Flip” was a nickname for “Philip”) so clearly there’s an intentional connection of the generations there, too. What qualities of your dad’s would you hope that your son exhibits as he grows up? I hope he grows into a human being that treats people right. Someone who stays positive through tough situations and knows that nothing

will just be given to you—you have to work for what you want in life. A strong work ethic is very important to me. important. You know that even the bad days are not just bad days because God is with you. That’s really important.

Between your appointment as the youngest head coach in the NBA in 2019, the birth of your son in 2019, your marriage to Hayley in 2017, and your father’s death in 2015, you’ve had a whole lot of major life transitions in the past few years. Can you share a bit about how your faith has impacted how you have experienced and understood those events and experiences? It’s impossible to process any of those experiences without my faith. Both the good and the bad are better understood when my faith is strong. Over the last four years, after my dad passed, my faith was critical to navigating through that experience. If I didn’t have something to fall back on, something to hold me up, I wouldn’t have been able to fully experience any of those things—the grief or the joy. I’d just be going through the motions. Having a faith-based life clarifies what’s

There is a lot of pressure in professional sports for coaches to be instantly successful, giving little grace for growth and building a team. How do you respond to that demand and try to remain balanced in all aspects of your life? I just try to take everything in stride. Pressure and expectations are usually formed through outside forces, if you stay true to your own expectations and process of how you do things, it’s easier to deal with those outside expectations.

Describe a typical day in your life. What does it look like in your world to balance being an NBA head coach and a dad? Days vary throughout the week. One thing I’ve learned is that however you plan your day, it will not end up as planned. That is where my faith comes in. Being an NBA head coach is just my occupation—how I

lead my life as a man, a father, a husband, a son and a brother is what matters most. This is my dream job, but being all those other things help me balance my thoughts, even if the time given to my career is demanding.

Does your faith play a role in your work as a coach? If so, how? My faith informs how I’ve developed my coaching philosophy, incorporating servant leadership. I believe in that. You serve the people around you before you serve yourself or your own needs. You help those around you before you help yourself. It’s a big part of my coaching philosophy.

A couple of questions about the “generations” of the game of basketball itself, and how the game has developed and changed over the years. Let’s start with the impact of analytics on the game—something you were instrumental in introducing to the game, as I understand it. First, how would you describe what analytics is? Analytics is used everywhere in the game now. I use analytics every day as a coach. As a team, we’ve been doing things with analytics for a long time because the numbers don’t lie. It’s important with players that you are able to reinforce common themes. You can show that your decisions are based on the numbers, which helps people be more open to change and to embrace and accept my decisions. Analytics is trying to find the most efficient way to do something, using numbers to get there. That’s a basic way of looking at it.

How has analytics changed the game? It’s changed the game greatly. All of the coaches make decisions based on numbers and probabilities, seeing possible outcomes and scenarios. Analytics puts you in a position where you can make educated decisions and not just have to rely on your gut instincts and feelings.

Still on that vein of how the game has changed: Is today’s game in the NBA more about individual stars? Or is the team approach still important? Individual stars may look like they run the NBA, because that’s what gets a lot of press, but it’s still a team game. The most successful stars are team-oriented guys. That’s a big thing in this league, having a group that will not just buy into a system, but come to believe in each other.

You’re currently the youngest NBA coach. How does that impact your coaching style? What opportunities does that create, and what difficulties does it present? I’ve never really thought about my age as positive or negative. I just think of myself as a basketball coach. If I dive deep into it, I’d say there are plenty more positives than there are negatives, because at the end of the day, I share a lot of common interests with my players. We like similar music. We like to go to movies. Or we might just be hanging out, talking about our lives. That’s something that comes easily to our group. I think that my faith and my faith journey has also helped me connect with several players, which has gotten us to a deeper place relationally.

What attributes or qualities allow you to be most effective as a coach? My skills for organization, honesty and having a genuineness in how I do things help me to be effective. At the end of the day, people only follow you if they know that you care about them and that you believe in them, and that you are genuine in how you deal with them.

I know you’re close to your mom. What has it been like for her to watch you become the head coach of your dad’s former team? I’m sure it’s bittersweet in a lot of ways. She misses him every day. So, I’m sure that seeing me out there brings back a lot of memories. She knows that there’s a lot of tough times that come with this job, but I know she’s proud of me. It’s got to be a thrill for her to have our family feel so welcome around the arena.

If your dad were still around, what advice do you think he would have for you? He would tell me to be myself. That’s the biggest thing—don’t try to be anyone else—even him. At the end of the day, when you’re in a position of leadership, players and other people can read right through you if you’re not who you say are.

You’ll be with us on May 14 for our Faith & Life Series. If people come to that event, what can they expect to hear? I’ll be talking about faith and perseverance, and they can expect to hear a casual conversation about my faith and where it has led me, the ups and downs through my life. They’ll hear how my relationship with Jesus Christ is the only thing that I can point to and say was bigger than all the challenges I faced. So why stop now? If you stop believing when things get hard, what does that say about you as a person of faith?