Make or miss, you still have to shoot the same shot with confidence.
Dwane Casey
The consistency of the game calls, I've been on both sides of it. I've been where the whistle has been in favor of you.
Watching a guy go from not having ever played an NBA game before to growing up and developing into an All-Star player, that's probably the most rewarding thing that you can do as a coach.
I tried to listen to way too many voices in my first stint as a head coach. The second time around, I know what I want and how I want to do it.
In the NBA, it's wins and losses. You don't have to deal with some of the hypocrisy of college athletics.
Black, white and brown people have to work together to find new answers. The only way we can stop the systemic problems that people of color have faced all our lives is through honesty and transparency.
The NBA made a big move to become more stylish and business-oriented a few years back, and it's made a big change.
You can't surprise LeBron any more. He's such a smart player. His intellect has caught up with his athletic ability.
When I was coaching at Kentucky - I was a grad assistant and I just got through playing and we won the NCAA Championship in 1978, so I stayed after I got through playing - we had Japan's national team coach Mototaka Kohama come to Lexington to spend the year and study basketball. He and I became great friends, so we hung out together.
Fred VanVleet's story - here's a kid who's not very fast, not very tall, undrafted, had every excuse to not make it big and here he is and he's gonna be one of the top free agents.
When I first became a head coach, even back in Minnesota, I'm going to go with the known and leave the unknown alone.
I totally can relate to guys going in for job interviews, and not having a tie, not having a white shirt, and that type of thing to wear. That's why I think as coaches we can do things to help. We have plenty, we as NBA coaches and players are all very blessed to be in a profession so that we can provide for.
Help me help you help yourself is kind of the motto I have.
I have a favorite poem. From Rudyard Kipling. It's called 'L'Envoi.'
My grandfather Urey was my hero. He worked three jobs. He had a dry cleaner's factory job in the day and a dry cleaner's factory job at night and when that was done with that, he mopped floors in a restaurant.
Growing up it was humble beginnings.
Fifty-four years ago, I was an 8-year-old boy living in rural Kentucky when the schools were desegregated. I walked into a white school where I was not wanted nor welcomed.
When I first became a head coach in Toronto, I was more of a dictator, wanted to do everything, all the development, defense, offense, whatever it was.
I'm quite sure there are other things that I could have done in life whether it's working for Humana, teaching in college, high school teacher. Coaching stuck.
I love watching players improve - even as a Little League coach.
The unwritten rule in college basketball is the black assistant goes and gets the black players. Don't worry about the X's and O's. Just recruit.
You can't allow yourself to get typecast as a recruiter, because that label sticks and carries. I fought it. I made myself learn the game and teach the game.
I hope I can stand up and be an example that helps change the narrative: 'He understands the game from a technical standpoint. He can teach the game. He can change an offense. He can put in a zone. He can do more than recruit.'
To me, there's no honor to say, 'I'm going to start.' As long as you're getting minutes, you're closing games, that shows more of the value to the team than to say you're a starter.
It's a different animal when you're in the NBA. You come in this league and you've got 7-footers who play 7 foot who are going to protect that rim come hell or high water.
Players want to get better with their skill set and 3-point shooting, ballhandling, their bodies, whatever it is, but everything starts with a sense of urgency.
It irks me when I read the narrative that 'Dwane is salty.' I can't say anything right.
I'm not a big car person. I'm not into lots of fancy things.
I have confidence in my manhood to be able to cry at a movie or at a wedding, too.
I'm not a very materialistic person.
That really makes you feel good when guys are using some of your terminology and some of your plays in a different country.
From a pure basketball standpoint, it's hard to say you wouldn't want Kawhi Leonard on your team.
I go to bat with people that are loyal to me.
My wife was big in a lot of work in Toronto with charity work.
I've been blessed over the years and I want to help guys to feel good about themselves when they're going for job interviews. You walk in for a job interview, you feel good about yourself, you look the part, you get that confidence going.
I was making $19,000 a year, and I thought I was rich.
It wasn't until I went to college that I started getting interested in style. Then I got jobs that started to pay a bit more money and was able to afford some nice slacks and suits.
Outside the Raptors' organization, I definitely think guys like LeBron James, James Harden and Derrick Rose will show off some great looks. On our team, Kyle Lowry has amazing style. But we have a lot of fashionable guys: Patrick Patterson, Bismack Biyombo and Jonas Valanciunas are all really into fashion as well.
In fact I only had one sports jacket when I was in high school. It was all sneakers and tees.
We don't want to keep talking about 'potential.' That word is the most dangerous word in professional sports.
Sid Lowe is someone I respect in the league. Knows the game, knows how to teach, great teacher.
Sean Sweeney is a defensive guy that did a great job with Milwaukee.
I talk to a lot of European coaches. I got friends over there that I steal stuff from, talk to, maybe have them look at what we're doing and say, 'Hey, what would you do differently?'
There's no disrespect in playing in the G League.
I'm a firm believer in young, old, tall, short, doesn't matter. Basketball is basketball. It's the way you approach it.
The only way young players learn how to get better is by playing or get the experience is by playing and getting out there and doing it.
There's nothing that can teach you about the playoffs besides going through it.
When it comes to playoff time, the game slows down, the offense slows down and you've got to be able to get stops.
You can't have mental breakdowns defensively because teams like Golden State and Cleveland will make you pay dearly.
To go from the middle to the top is one of the most difficult things you can do in sports.
