Five months ago, when 11 coaches who were former NBA players appeared in the NCAA Divisional Tournament, more than a dozen retired players who were once active in professional basketball sat in a small conference room at the NBA league headquarters in New York. Their careers vary from role players who have been in the league for many years, to NBA passers-by, to college league champions, to female athletes who have been successful in the NBA. They come from many parts of the United States and gather in the still cold Big Apple, why?

Popovich

As if dreaming back to their student days, more than a dozen people sat around a long conference table, listening intently to a lesson that would be crucial to their future development: how to network, how to design a resume, and how to complete a successful "elevator lobby" (about 30 seconds to two minutes by the elevator, giving a short introduction to the product, service, organization, and value proposition, and selling their ideas to the other party to gain their approval). This is an assistant coach training organized by the NBA league, and what these attendees have to learn is not how to arrange roster rotation or how to call a timeout at the right time, but how to sell themselves in this circle and find a job of their choice.

"In today's era, if you can't master the new technology, if you don't have the ability to polish yourself, if you can't talk and laugh and deal with interviews, you will lose the foundation that you can gain a foothold in this industry." NBA Senior Vice President of Player Development Greg Taylor said in an interview a few days ago that this assistant coach training program is mainly for former professional players, helping them improve their abilities, especially the ability to communicate with the outside world, hoping to make these retired players find a satisfactory job in the basketball field. "And we know that you're losing your competitiveness from the start."

"It's about 'knowing who you are.'" Charlotte Hornets assistant coach Stephen Hilas said, "People want to hire people who they know well enough and make it easier to work together." So the more connected you are, the less likely it will be for you to get a job and the more likely you are to be recommended by others, and that's just the way it is. ”

As in many industries, coaching requires ability, but it also requires timing and a little bit of luck. That's why the league is doing this work, hoping to help these people who want to get into the coaching industry.

When many coaches talk about their experience in the industry, they all make an analogy: the process of finding a job and finding a relationship is no different from the NBA joint tryout for rookies and playing in the Las Vegas Summer League. In order to find a job of their choice, they have to do everything they can.

But there are also coaches who are lucky enough not to go through the "hard beginning" stage where they don't have to bother looking for a job. Current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown was at the time of his time in Australia, when he was just a scout for the Spurs. Although Brown went to college in the United States, he left the United States shortly after graduation to work on various basketball teams in various leagues overseas, and he and Buford hit it off and quickly formed a strong friendship. In the 1998-99 season, Brown was introduced by Buford to get an NBA scouting job with the Spurs. "I was very grateful for the opportunity to get it that season and the dream came true, and I embraced the challenge." Brown is proud to be part of that NBA-winning team, "I'm not good at relationships, I don't like to say that kind of polite thing, and I don't like to play social media. I just do my best to get my job done and do my best to do it well. I'm really lucky. After that, Brown rose from scout to assistant coach and remained there for nine years. In 2013, he became the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Theo Ratliffe, a retired center, played 16 seasons in the NBA and was named an All-Star. And he participated in the assistant coach training program organized by the NBA to find a new job in the league. Ratliffe admits that he wants to be an executive on an NBA team; This is another goal of the training program. In Ratliffe's view, participating in training programs or even working as an assistant coach would give him the opportunity to reconnect with people he knew when he was a player. "I've been retired for 7 years, and many of the people I knew back then haven't seen each other for a long time. It reminds me of some of the past, and it's a useful connection. Ratliff sighed.

Theresa Stamford-Odom is a female coach with a collegiate league coaching resume, including at UCLA, Duke, University of North Carolina, and Concordia University Irvine. In May, she was hired as head coach of the women's basketball team at Central University in North Carolina. However, Coach Odom is more ambitious, saying that she has never given up on entering the NBA, hoping to get a job like Becky Harmon (assistant coach of the Spurs) or even become the head coach of an NBA team. While coaching the women's college basketball team, Odom became friends with many of the boys' players, many of whom are now NBA players. According to Odom, these relationships have benefited her enormously. Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder invited Odom to the team's training gym to interact with some of the team's staff and watch the team practice live. A big reason why Odom is able to enjoy this treatment is that she has an old acquaintance here - All-Star point guard Westbrook. while

When Westbrook played for UCLA, the two men were good friends.

"It doesn't matter who you know, it doesn't matter who knows you, it's who is willing to help you." Odom said.

In 2014, Jay Hernandez received a call from the Orlando Magic asking him to work in player development. He feels that his basketball training experience on Long Island, New York, has finally come to an end.

Unlike the Letleffes, Hernandez's resume is complex. At the beginning of the 21st century, he panned for gold in the Puerto Rican league and later switched careers to sales for Johnson & Johnson. Hernandez left the company in 2004 to work as a trainer at the basketball company ProHoops. Since then, Hernandez has gradually built relationships within the basketball community, meeting NBA stars including Camba Walker, C.J. McCollum and Tobias Harris. When his abilities were recognized, Hernandez began to make a name for himself in NBA circles and eventually knocked on the door to the NBA.

As a result, Hernandez accepted the Magic's offer to continue to show his abilities in his new role. Now as an assistant coach of the team, he has been given the opportunity to sit on the bench to help the coach with advice, and he has grown enough. 'The first time I went to a team meeting, I didn't know what to do. "You might have to quantitatively study what they're saying, or you might have to look up a dictionary to figure out what they mean." ”

Also an assistant coach, Stephen Hellas' approach to the NBA is different from Hernandez's. Veteran fans familiar with the NBA should remember the name Paul Schillas. The former NBA coach, who coached LeBron James, helped his son Stephen Hellas get a job as a scout with his former club Charlotte Hornets. However, the titles of "After the Famous Door" and "Tiger Son" did not make it smooth sailing for Hellas Jr. in the NBA. In the blink of an eye, he has been in the NBA for 10 years, successively working as a scout and assistant coach for the Hornets, Cavaliers (again the team his father coached), and the Warriors. Last summer was the closest Hellas Jr. came to an NBA head coaching position, when the Houston Rockets' top brass was interested in him and offered him a head coach. But in the end, it fell short, and Hellas Jr. lost to the more experienced Mike Dantney, who was named Best Coach last season.

After so many years of coaching career, Hellas Jr. has always hoped to get rid of his father's shadow and rely on his true skills to make achievements. He participated in training camp before the NBA draft, participated in basketball without borders, and even learned about medical care, as long as he can improve his ability and build fame, Hellas Jr. is very willing to do it.

"Everybody looks at you and says, 'You can get this job just because you have a father like that.'" It's very important for me to be able to work independently, to get to know others and to get to know me. That way they don't think I'm just my father's son. Silas Jr. said.

Adrian Griffin, assistant coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, played for seven teams in nine seasons in his NBA career. He knows very well how difficult and important it is to find a foothold in the league. Back then, Griffin's first job as an assistant coach came out of nowhere.

In 2008, the 34-year-old Griffin had already been traded three times to the Milwaukee Bucks. Just as he was preparing for his 10th NBA season, bad news came: then-Bucks coach Scott Skels told him that the team was going to cut him. Recalling what Skels said back then, Griffin laughed and said, "He said, 'Wait a minute, how about joining my coaching team?'" Give yourself a few days to think about it. I wanted to play another season or two, but I knew that no matter which team I ended up going to, that day would come. I also know that it's not easy to get a job as an NBA head coach. So the day before, I was in the locker room talking and laughing with my teammates; But a day later I was already in the coaching office and working with the coaching staff. ”

If you want to eat this bowl of rice in this circle for a long time, it is very important to be able to stay in the alliance, build relationships with people and keep in touch. However, there is no need to put too much energy into networking, and more people believe that the way to build a reputation in the alliance is actually very simple, which is to do your job well.

"When I first started coaching, I was often reminded of what my father taught me, and that quote still sticks to me today, 'The best job is what you do now.'" "It doesn't mean I'm not aggressive, but it makes me feel better at work every day." I firmly believe that good times will come, and opportunities will come sooner or later. ”

Hernandez shares the same adage, and his dedication to working with NBA stars has paid off handsomely. "I heard about Jay before he entered the NBA and knew he had a good reputation among players, he worked with Camba Walker," Hellas Jr. recalled. If you work with anyone, whether it's a player, an assistant coach or a general manager, and you can do your job, you're sure to get praise and recognition. So, networking is very important. However, it all comes down to your ability to do the job and your reputation for being able to do the job. ”

Of course, Hernandez is also well aware that his roots in the NBA circle are still shallow, and he could lose this job at any time. In his first season with the Magic, head coach Jacques Vaughn was fired after 52 games due to poor coaching record. However, Hernandez remained in the squad. The following season, Skeys became head coach of the Magic, but parted ways with the team a season later and Frank Vogel took over, but Hernandez stayed on again.

"I'm a layman, I've never played in the NBA, I haven't had any connection to the NBA before, I'm just a guy who works here." Hernandez lamented, "I could have only had 52 NBA games in my coaching career, when the coaching staff was fired, and we could have been fired in a week. But they just brought in a manager to play the rest of the game. "Hernandez's ability to become a multi-dynasty veteran in the turbulent Magic team is undoubtedly the most important reason for his excellent work ability and good reputation." It's a league of players, they're going to be the first person in the team to say 'I don't want to work with him' and then the team will look for someone else. ”

When Coach Brown first joined the 76ers, he knew exactly how important his status as a "Spurs coach" was to him. "Whether it's in sports or business, Spurs have shaped me." "I think there's a lot of interest in people wanting to know what you've got, and I'm sure the background with Popovich and Buford at the Spurs has helped me a lot," Brown said. ”

Being a coach in the NBA, even as a head coach, is a chore, and many people are worried about their future. But for those who love the sport of basketball, this is undoubtedly one of the most promising jobs, as long as you have the ability and willingness, it is no problem to be 80 years old. Just like Coach Winter, the founder of the Triangle Offense, he did basketball related work for 63 years until he retired at the age of 87.

Hernandez hopes to one day become the head coach of the NBA in the future, and from trainer to head coach, he hopes that he can complete this great transformation.

Hellas Jr. would like to have a team interview him, but this offseason doesn't seem to have much of a chance, saying that if he does get the chance, "I'd be happy to challenge myself." ”

Odom herself doesn't know when the NBA will have its first female head coach, but she firmly believes that "that day is not far off." "Her work experience, her ability to deal with people, and her relationships with several NBA players will help her to challenge for the position of NBA head coach one day.

Griffin is also convinced that he will one day become the head coach of an NBA team, but he also says that such a thing cannot be rushed. For Griffin, all he can do now is work hard and get everything at hand. "I'm just trying to do my job. As I said before, talk about work and grades, and the door will always be open for you. ”

This is also the attitude that all aspiring to become an NBA head coach should have.