What Will Your Coaches Say About You?

This is a quote from Golden State Warrior coach, Steve Kerr.  He did an interview with legendary coach Phil Jackson, and he was asked, 'Can you pick one or two athletes and tell what made them great?"

He said that Steph Curry is unique in that you rarely see guys his size impact the game the way that he does, and of course, he talked about Steph's ability to shoot the ball.

What I love most about this quote is that Steph Curry is a guy who has made it to the top of his profession with faith-based values, humility, and concern for others, and he has confidence in himself and his abilities on the court.

When we think of the ultimate competitors in sports, in business, and in leadership, we often think about guys and girls who win at all costs.  Steph has won at the highest level, but it has not been at all costs.  He has done it the right way.

I don't think that we should spend too much time worrying about what other people think about us, but it would be a good practice to think about what you want people to say about you.  Know what your values are, what you believe in, and the type of person you want to be.

It's important to be aware of how you are impacting others and how you want to impact others and to make sure that these two things are aligned.



Here is the question, the quote in its entirety, and responses:

CS You each have coached phenomenal players. Could you pick one or two and talk about what makes or made them great?

KERR Well, Steph is the obvious one, so I’ll talk about him a little bit. He’s one of the most unique players who’s ever played. Very few guys his size have ever had this kind of impact on the game. He’s pretty much exactly my size, 6 foot 3, 190 pounds. It’s a different game today. You can’t put your hands on him. Twenty years ago, you would have been able to put two hands on him to try and slow him down a little bit and be physical with him. You can’t do that now. Still, I’ve never seen anybody with this kind of shooting range and the ability to shoot off the dribble or catch and shoot. Most guys are significantly better one way rather than the other, but he can shoot standing still, off the dribble, left, right, forward, backward — it doesn’t matter. He’s got just incredible touch.

I think what makes him unique is his personality. Sometimes I’ll refer to him as the short Tim Duncan, because he’s got that same impact that Tim had on the Spurs in terms of this genuine humility in his daily life and concern and thoughts for other people and for the world and for his community, and yet, he has this great arrogance on the floor, where he knows he’s the best player out there. Pretty wicked package. Very few players I’ve ever been around have possessed that combination. 

JACKSON Steph comes from a basketball family. His father was a massive influence on his basketball game, and his mother’s been a big influence on his spiritual life. Does that sound right to you, Steve?

KERR No doubt. His mom was a hell of an athlete, too. She was a volleyball player at Virginia Tech.