Yeah, it is hypocritical. And I dont like seeing players affected like that. Its something that has troubled me, because you affect a lot of peoples lives with any decision you make. If I had my drothers all over again, I would have like to have been able to stay in one place. When you demand that out of your assistants, and you demand that out of your players, yeah, its tough to deal with.
Many coaches say, I dont care if Im liked, I want to be respected. But youre the opposite - you want to be liked more than you want to be respected. Why?
I dont know how you can play for somebody you didnt like. I dont know how you can ever accomplish anything, and be able to do your best, if you didnt like or care about the person that was your coach. I do think you can be liked and respected as well. Theyre going to see my passion for the game, and theyre going to realize I want to see them get better, and I believe that based on what I know and what Ive been taught, I understand what Im saying. But with all that being said, I want them to have fun, and I want them to enjoy playing for me, and thats critical, and will always be critical. I wouldnt want to coach anywhere I wasnt liked or wanted.
Name an NBA player you havent coached.
(Laughs) Probably anybody in the rookie class.
Do you agree that the NBA has lost a little something since Michael Jordans retirement?
Oh yeah, absolutely. But we have the greatest group of young kids that have come into this league in a long, long time. And its only going to get better. Consider the young people we have - LeBron James, Carmelo (Anthony), Dwayne (Wade), Dwight Howard - I mean the list goes on and on. In my mind, its only going to get better. But will there be another Michael? I dont know.
How did the brawl in Detroit affect you?
It was the worst. One, my little boy was there. Two, I just finished hip surgery, and I really felt helpless that I couldnt do anything to correct the situation or alleviate it in any way. The most incredible thing was leaving the arena and watching the players kids and how sad they were. How they reacted just blew me away. Even though it damaged our sport, hopefully we can all learn from it and move on.
Whats the hardest part about coaching todays game?
Getting players to understand the difference between coaching and criticism. You know, I dont think its only players now. I think its a societal problem. But I think you have to develop a trust where they know that when you say something to them, youre trying to make them better, and youre not trying to be critical of the things they do. If I came home and ever complained about the way my coach treated me, my uncles (Browns father passed away when he was six) would have me against the wall and tell me, the reason hes on you is because he cares about you. And what he says, you do. Now, I dont know if kids have the support that we had. If you got out of line in your community or village, there were people there to keep you in place, or to tell your mom and dad that you were messing up. Thats not happening now. Your high school coach and teachers used to be the most influential people, now you got AAU coaches and street agents and people like that. Kids have different things that I think sometimes get in the way.
New York Knicks general manager Isaiah Thomas says that, when he was younger, he started putting white handkerchiefs in his suit jackets to imitate you. Are Knicks going to be walking around New York with white hankies?
I dont know. It depends if they have a runny nose.
While recruiting you, the Knicks sent you a tape with the cast of The Sopranos asking you to come coach the Knicks. If you lose, think youll have to join the witness protection program?
One of the remarks on the tape is that I move more than the witness protection program. One of the Sopranos actually said that. I dont think about winning or losing. Im just concerned about doing a great job.
Youve obviously moved around a lot, even flip-flopped on certain career decisions, which is incredibly stressful. Do you have any advice for people who struggle with career decisions?
One, I dont think you can look back. Once you make a decision you have to move forward, and thats not always easy. Two, when I was a college coach, I used to tell kids to make a list of pluses and minuses. I always thought if you do that, it will generally give you an idea of whats in everybody's best interest. And then dont let one minus really sway you.
When you were in college, you got your roommate to call women and ask them out on dates, pretending he was you, because you didnt want to feel rejection. Would you recommend that strategy to todays college kids?
If you saw my wife, you saw that I overachieved. So obviously, it works.