Brad Stevens shares his non-negotiables for life.
"I wanna enjoy who I'm working with. I wanna enjoy where I'm working. I wanna have a goal, but I also wanna enjoy the journey of getting to that goal."
"For me, it starts with being a great teammate. That is something I look for in people. Those relationships are probably the most important thing."
It starts with the people and the character of those people.
Then he explained what it means to show up every day:
"You put your signature on your work every day. You give it everything you have."
"You do it for the good of the whole. You do it to get better at your own job. You do it to improve the whole and see where the chips may fall."
It means giving your best effort and bringing a mindset of excellence to yourself and your team.
"I've been lucky enough to be on really good teams. Teams that have had chances to play for things that are really, really special."
Then he shared what stays with you:
"Very rarely when you look back on those teams - whether at Butler or here - do you think about the individual games or even the moments of the games."
"You think about the people and the individual times with the people."
"That's the special part about being a part of a sports team. That's why you walk through the building every day."
The relationships always stay.
Stevens' wisdom is simple: it comes down to character.
• Be a great teammate.
• Strive for excellence.
• Enjoy the people and the process.
Character isn't what you say - it's what you do consistently.
(🎥 Way of Champions)
Cool story. Dusty May on why he wanted his son to be a manager
"I wanted him to do it because you learn to be 100% selfless. You learn that you can't have any ego if you want to make it in this business, & there's nothing that teaches humility better than being a student manager
All basketball managers and aspiring coaches will appreciate this answer from Michigan HC Dusty May today:
“It’s just a full-circle moment from chasing around coaches trying to beg for a GA spot to now be back here with this team. It’s surreal.”
Cornerback Montaric “Buster” Brown is staying in Jacksonville on a three-year, $33 million deal, per @JFowlerESPN and me. The 2022 7th-round pick would have had a strong market in free agency, but didn’t to want to leave Jacksonville.
Deal negotiated by his agency Milk & Honey Sports.
Bane is one of three NBA players with 800 made 3-pointers and 40% 3-point shooting since entering the league in 2020, and has shot 43.2% on catch and shoot 3s in last 5 seasons. He'll be a major boost for the Magic, who ranked last in 3-point field-goal percentage this season.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson spoke at length today about the importance of staff retention being part of the program's "secret sauce."
"All of my auxiliary staff that we have in our program were former managers," Sampson said. "I don't take résumés and I don't take phone calls. I hire everything from within. Everybody thinks they need to go hire the best recruiter or the best this. We develop our staff like we develop our players. That's culture."
The combination of Houston's players development and portal evaluation is why they are THE model program in college basketball rn and continue to be elite year in and year out. When a great player leaves, either a younger guy steps into a larger role or they make a great addition.
The backcourt of Cryer, Sharp, and Uzan has been unreal this year
S/o to the guards before em who helped create the foundation and pave the way:
Damyean Dotson, Galen Robinson, Rob Gray
Armoni Brooks, Corey Davis, Quentin Grimes, DeJon Jarreau, Marcus Sasser, Jamal Shead