Show notes
This week on the Way of Champions Podcast we welcome Ron Adams, Golden State Warriors Asst. Coach. Ron is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, his 21st season overall on the bench as an NBA assistant. In his first year with the Warriors, Ron helped the team finish first in defensive rating (98.2) en route to an NBA Championship. During our discussion, we dive into Ron's philosophy of being a great assistant coach, navigating hard conversations with players, and working on a staff where another assistant coach is trying to undermine the head coach. Highlights and great quotes from the this episode: Ron talks about his journey as a coach "A good coach is someone who has a job." "There is no formula for good coaching." How has social media changed the halftime locker room experience? Why does Steve Kerr call Ron the "truth-teller"? What makes an assistant coach effective? ...what are your "ego needs"? How do you handle disagreements with the Head Coach? Having hard conversations with players Ron talks about his relationship with Kevin Durant How do you know when it's time to move on as an assistant? More About Ron Adams Adams, 68, owns previous coaching experience with Boston Celtics (2013-14), Chicago Bulls (2003-08, 2010-13), Oklahoma City Thunder (2008-2010), Milwaukee Bucks (1998-2003), Philadelphia 76ers (1994-96) and San Antonio Spurs (1992-94). During his time as an assistant coach, Adams has made 14 appearances in the NBA Playoffs. In addition to his coaching roles, the Laton, CA, native also served as a player personnel scout for the Portland Trail Blazers from 1996-98. Adams joined the Warriors following a one-year stint (2013-14) with the Celtics. Prior to working in Boston, he had spent the previous three seasons on Tom Thibodeau's staff in Chicago. The Bulls made the playoffs in each of those three campaigns, including a trip to the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals. During this most recent stint with the Bulls, the team ranked in the top-three in opponent scoring each season, leading the league in the category in 2011-12. Before joining the NBA, Adams coached collegiately for 20 years with head coaching stints at Fresno State (1986-90) and his alma mater, Fresno Pacific (1972-75). He also served as an assistant coach at U.S. International, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV and at both Fresno schools. Additionally, Adams has coached professionally in Belgium and Japan, as well as for the Canadian national team. Adams and his wife, Leah, have a daughter, Hayley, and a son, Jared The Way of Champions Podcast is brought to you by Sports Refund. When kids sign up to play youth sports there are always fees involved. And parents pay those fees so their child can be on the team, not the injury report. That's why I love Sports Refund, and parents will too. Sports Refund is low-cost sports fee insurance – NOT health insurance, sports fee insurance. So if your child becomes injured or sick and can't play, you get your fees reimbursed for that lost time, from one game to an entire season. It's that simple. This product not only saves families wasted fees, it saves injured athletes the stress of feeling like they're wasting their parents' money. The fees come back until the player comes back. So they can focus on fully recovering and making a healthy return to the game. Sports Refund has options for individuals and organizations. Ask your club if they offer it, or visit SportsRefund.com/Game to learn more and sign up today. That's SportsRefund.com/Game. Can't Play? Don't Pay. With Sports Refund. Help Support the Podcast! Become a Podcast Champion! …and get FREE access to ALL of our online courses. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will have access to never before released and bonus material, including: Downloadable transcripts of the podcasts, so you don't have to crash your car trying to take notes! A monthly discussion with John, James, Jerry, and other special guests talking about the previous month's episodes and answering some of the FAQs we received that month A code to get free access to our online course called "Coaching Mastery," usually a $97 course, but yours for free for becoming a patron. Access to an online community of coaches like you who are dedicated listeners of the podcast, and will be able to answer your questions and share their coaching experiences. Thank you for all your support these past two years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions