The Basketball Podcast: EP139 David Nurse on Optimization and Player Development

In this week’s basketball coaching conversation, life optimization coach David Nurse joins the Basketball Podcast to discuss optimization and player development.

David Nurse is an NBA life and optimization coach, future bestselling author, and worldwide motivational speaker. As a former professional basketball player (both international and domestic) and a coach for the Brooklyn Nets, David has personally helped over 150 NBA players with their personal and professional development both on and off the court. He has been invited to speak in over 50 different countries on the topics of overall personal development, confidence building, leadership, and motivational growth.

David’s new book, Pivot & Go is a compelling, hands-on blueprint to changing course and leading the life you want to live—today.

In this energizing, adventurous, and actionable guide, David Nurse, a renowned optimization and life coach of more than 150 NBA players and CEOs, outlines a clear 29-day plan; not to living the life, but to living your absolute best life.

His key is making mindset pivots, ones that allow you to shift your perspective by incremental, but profoundly powerful, degrees. Focusing on redefining success, failure, passion, joy, and confidence, Pivot & Go is here to help you find your genuine rhythm—one that will carry you through each chapter of life with energy and ability to make the most of every day.

Listen Here

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

YouTube

Stitcher

Art19

David Nurse Quotes:

“It’s a term I use ‘life optimization coach’ because it’s the thing that I have done in my past working with NBA players . . but it’s so much more than that. For everybody in every walk of life, it’s how do we live to become the best versions of ourselves.”

“A habit is the foundation . . that habit is the starting point . . it’s about doing the habits day after day after day to make it a lifestyle.”

“The first thing that we’ll look at it with players will be their skill sets . . in the NBA, if you give me a player who’s good in all areas, they’re not playing in the NBA. But if you give me someone who’s great in one area, they can have a long, long career.”

“The biggest issue and the biggest point where the biggest change is made, is in the mindset. Mindset is 90% of development . . especially for NBA players.”

“A lot of people . . will have routines, will have habits, rituals, for their on-court stuff . . but not many people have habits for their mindset, daily things that they do to strengthen their mindset.”

“We have on average, 50,000 self talk thoughts a day; 80% of those are negative, that’s 40,000 negative self talk thoughts . . that’s crazy . . we hold ourselves back . . It’s not other people holding us back, it’s us holding us back because we’re afraid to step out, we’re afraid to just take that chance.”

“Every single morning, we all wake up with that superhero power of choice. You get to make the choice of who you’re going to be. who you’re going to take steps towards being every single day.”

“Redefining vocabulary is very big for athletes in general, because it’s such a such a results driven game . . he was very, very successful because he wasn’t worried about the results, but instead was solely focused on the process.”

“So I think having somebody in your corner like that is big for anybody, for athletes, for coaches, for anybody in life . . having somebody who can be a genuine truth teller to you is very important.”

“It’s a tough thing to tell anybody that it’s going to take time. But it’s also a refreshing thing to know that all it takes is just 1% steps.”

“We’ll do physical training, it’ll be maybe two hours maximum on court. But it’s the other 22 hours that is how you’re going to actually improve so you’re ready for that actual performance on court . . I’ll do much more with the mental [training] throughout the season.”

“So, it’s much more mindset . . mindset shapes everything. You’re not going to get full performance out of your players, your team unless they have this type of unshakable mindset.”

Breakdown:

1:00 – What is a Life Coach
3:00 – Habits
7:00 – Changing NBA Player’s Habits 
10:00 – On and Off the Court Routine
14:00 – Positive Thought Process
18:00 – Habit Changes
20:30 – Changing Struggles
25:30 – Serve
29:00 – Changing Negative Thoughts
31:30 – Dealing with Player’s Ego
34:30 – Changing Routines
38:00 – Sharing Experience
40:00 – Swag Real
42:30 – Roadblocks Along the Way
46:00 – Importance of Educating Players
49:00 – Player’s Physical Training

Selected Links from the Podcast: