Appreciating Good Teammates and Loyalty
As I watched Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals, there was a lot to appreciate – Klay Thompson completing his return from a torn ACL and a ruptured Achilles tendon, Draymond Green’s tenacity, and Steph Curry’s artistry as a shooter, to name a few. But what I really appreciated was how good a teammate Andre Iguodala is and the loyalty Steve Kerr showed Iguodala in return.
With less than four minutes left in the 3rd quarter and the Warriors holding a 17 point lead, in the span of 36 seconds, Gary Payton II (GP2) committed an offensive foul that turned the ball over to the Celtics and then committed a defensive foul. Iguodala came off the bench to lecture GP2. This was not the time to be committing fouls and stopping the clock. GP2 was removed from the game and as he came to the bench Iguodala high fived him, but could be seen going over to where GP2 sat down and continued to give instructions. I loved how he was “coaching him up,” a veteran player acting as a mentor to a younger player. The coaches weren’t going over to talk to GP2, Iguodala was taking care of things for them.
On his podcast, The Draymond Green Show, immediately after Game 6, Draymond Green had these words to say directly to Iguodala about his role on the 2022 Warriors team:
“We probably felt your impact this year, more than any year that you were playing and competing and dominating…I am one hundred percent certain we don’t do this without you and your leadership in showing us the way.”
With 1:01 left in the game, Kerr subbed in Iguodala for Andrew Wiggins (another Warrior player, Iguodala coached up throughout the series). The television broadcasters noted the moment, praising Iguodala’s “championship DNA” and acknowledging that this may be the final time he takes the court as a player. I love that Kerr put Iguodala into the game so he could be on the court (with Curry, Thompson, and Green) as the Warriors won their fourth championship in the last eight years.
In 2015, Iguodala was the MVP of the NBA Finals.
In 2022, he hardly played, but his impact as a good teammate contributed to the championship.
You can always be a good teammate and contribute to the team. And a coach should reward that loyalty whenever they can, with a meaningful gesture.
As a cross country and track & field coach, it made me think of athletes on the SHC team who did small things that contributed to our overall success through the years. These people weren’t the stars but I appreciated their contributions and I would talk about them to the whole team to acknowledge how we should never overlook or forget what they did for the team.
Jared Wicklund. In 2006, our top returning runner (Nick Cannata-Bowman) suffered an ankle injury over the summer and missed the first half of the season. The team hung in there during the early season meets and Jared Wicklund was a big part of that. Unfortunately, right when Nick returned, Jared got injured. But at the end of the season I gave a big thank you to Jared because his early season race successes really made a difference. Without Jared in the early going, I think we would have been behind Riordan and Mitty at WCAL #1 and probably had a pretty bad showing at the Stanford Invitational. It would have been hard for me to keep everyone motivated to keep chasing the dream while we awaited Nick’s return if that had happened.
Robert Manoos. In 2010, we came up with the “Bobby race plan.” Bobby (Robert Manoos) would surge hard and lead our pack between mile 1 and mile 2. The goal was to get everyone to the 2 mile mark “on schedule.” The others could key off of him and let Bobby set the pace. Then at the 2 mile mark, hopefully not mentally fatigued because they were just following Bobby for the mile from 1 to 2, they could then go to work and get the final times and places the team needed. Their work was about to begin. Bobby’s job was done. I assured Bobby that if he did this, it wouldn’t matter what his final time or place was. That he would keep his spot in the varsity line up because he had an important role.
Katherine Tse. In 2012 we were a big mess heading into CCS. Pretty much every girl on the team was having an issue causing them stress/anxiety about their ability to race well at CCS. The team energy and confidence was low. The only girl who put “great” for mental attitude on their post-race critique after WCAL Finals was Katherine Tse (Kat). We decided she was the key. I really believed that we just needed everyone having fun and we’d qualify for State. I purposely set things up so I would give her a ride to practice after SAT. During that car ride, I assigned her the job of being the fun/positive energy leader for CCS week. I told her to hype up her teammates, be energetic and bubbly all week long, send out group texts with positive thoughts. She did all that and our mental attitude changed and at the end of CCS, we were heading to State.
Carolyn Scott. Carolyn Scott’s career was full of amazing races, but what stands out the most in my memory is one of her slowest races, from her junior year in 2015. It was a rough season for her that included a weird allergic reaction to something at the end of practice that ended with her in the emergency room. It was when things weren’t going so well and she was in a slump, that she most showed who she was and what kind of character she had. We asked her to not worry about her own race but to instead pace the freshmen — somewhat of an insult to a veteran varsity runner. But that’s what the team needed. So that’s what she did. The plan worked to perfection. But the part that I replay in my mind because it’s such a special memory is after the race, amidst the craziness of congratulating everyone and needing to get to the starting line for the upcoming boys race, I see Carolyn out of the corner of my eye. I go over to her and with tears in my eyes, I say “thank you, we wouldn’t have done this without you” and gave her a hug.
Chloe Poon. In 2016 Chloe Poon was on the varsity as a sophomore. But she struggled as a junior in 2017 and found herself on JV. Despite not racing as well as she wanted, she was still contributing to the varsity girls through her leadership and her unique ability to get our fastest runners to overcome their nervousness before races. Towards the end of the season I decided I was going to keep Chloe as an alternate for the post-season. And that meant that to be fair, anyone who beat her would also be invited to be an alternate. The final tally was we kept eight alternates. One day she came to my office asking why I was keeping her training for CCS as an alternate. I told her it was because she had a job to do to help us get to State. She took that job to heart, helping to calm the nerves and build the confidence of her teammates. I remember right before the race, she came over to me and said, “don’t worry, they’re ready.” Half an hour later, we were going to State. The next day I texted her my thanks: “You came thru. No one may ever truly know how we don’t get to State if not for your behind the scenes help, especially with the twins. But I’ll never forget your contribution.”
Cassie Borromeo – I had to make a tough decision at the beginning of the 2018 track & field season. In the end I decided to put Cassie Borromeo on JV (instead of Varsity) with the idea that she would be the leader of the JV sprint squad. Most meets she would run the 100, 200 and both relays. At WCAL Finals we had the plan to have five girls be ready for the 4X4 and we’d then decide who we thought would be the four fastest given the circumstances come the end of the meet. Throughout the meet, the other coaches and I had several discussions about who to run. After the 200, I decided that as difficult as it would be to pull the leader off the relay team at the last minute, that was the right decision to have our fastest foursome on the track. I called Cassie over to talk. It was as if we were on the same wavelength….almost before I could tell her I was going to go with the other four, she said she wanted to talk to me about running the other four. What a great teammate! We would go on to win the 4X4 to be WCAL Champions and I went out of my way to make sure Cassie was in the group photo and that she received a WCAL certificate for being the alternate on a WCAL Championship relay team.
Having people who are good teammates are the key to any successful team. As a coach, I always appreciate people who are good teammates and I try to always be loyal to them and reward them for their behind the scenes contributions.
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