The Basketball Podcast: EP354 with Derek Fisher on Lessons from an NBA Champion

Derek Fisher Quotes:

“I try to be intentional about bringing and raising expectations and standards in terms of winning habits, but not making players feel like they aren’t loved and invested in if we don’t win the game.”

“They [players] don’t really show up to the game or the competition with an open mind, a free spirit. There’s already anxiety going in. For me, the anxiety was only around wanting to be the best version of myself, it wasn’t in comparison to what somebody on the other team was going to do. I was only sad or upset if I knew I didn’t play to my potential regardless of the opponent. And so, trying to help players understand that is something I spend a lot of time on at the high school level.”

“I think players really are struggling with maintaining a level of belief and confidence in themselves because it’s not in alignment with the amount of time that they feel like they’re putting in.”

“For young players, one of the most important skills to develop is embracing delayed gratification as a basketball player. If you’re 13 years old and you have dreams of playing professionally and, let’s say everything works out, you’re going to play basketball into your mid-30s. Why are we rushing what will be a 23-year process?”

“That’s a big piece of making sure that our players can stay healthy, keep their energies where they should be. If we’re prioritizing academic excellence, then the kids must have room to be excellent academically. They can’t go home every night at 7:30pm or 8pm with no gas in the tank. And so, how you design practices day-to day and week to week, it needs to fit the highs and lows of where you need the guys to be academically so that they can be great in the classroom as well as on the court.”

“For me, I learned at a very young age that I didn’t have to be the best player on the team in order to lead the team. I found that my advantages, my superpowers were in the intangibles, were in the details, in the fine print. And I found that whether it was more talented teammates of my own or when I played against more talented players, I believed that my way of beating a more talented player was for me to be smarter, for me to be a step ahead, for me to have better anticipation skills, for me to really study.”

“Everybody can have leadership qualities. We all should be taking 100% ownership of what is happening with our team. Right? That’s another thing that really helped me to connect to what leadership is, is whether I average two points in two minutes or 20 points in 20 minutes, I am just as responsible for how our team is performing.”

“Building culture, environment really does take time . . What I’ve tried to do is start from a place of service and being an example of how committed we’re all going to be to all hands being on deck, to rolling our sleeves up. We’re going to collaborate, we’re going to be partners in this, we’re all going to work together.  We’re going to care about one another and really focus, prior to strategy and tactics, on creating an environment of care, compassion, excellence, work ethic. Those are the things that I believe matter just as much or more than the tactical and strategical aspects.”

“I want to be a leader that is constantly about putting a hand out so that somebody else can come up and I can constantly try to help someone else. I had my opportunity as a player, had a great career. My entire job now is around serving players and helping them improve and get better . . And let’s help them figure out the right routines, the right processes and systems to reach their potential.”

“I do think it’s important not to judge people from the job that maybe they did prior to you arriving . .  sitting down, talking to people, getting to know them, understanding their goals and objectives. There’s someone that could have been low performing before, that could be a more high performing person to you. So, I think connecting with people is it all . . Connecting with people is where I really start in terms of culture.”

“A lot of those early lessons  helped shape my mind on how you coach, how you lead, how you must allow space for case-by-case decisions and player-by-player decisions. And as long as you believe truly that you’re doing those things from the right place, and that it is with the player’s best interest and the team’s best interest at heart, you may have to live with some people being uncomfortable sometimes.”

Derek Fisher Breakdown:

Derek Fisher Selected Links from the Podcast:

Derek Fisher
Phil Jackson
Chris Webber
Jalen Rose
Michael Jordan
Joel Embiid
Jonquel Jones
Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O’Neal
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Durant
Scott Brooks
Jerry Sloan
Mike Montgomery
Pete Carril
Tex Winter
Pau Gasol
Dell Harris
Nick Van Exel
Eddie Jones
Corliss Williamson