A Quote by Jeff Van Gundy
Providence had a graduate assistant job opening. They asked me if I wanted to apply, and I applied. That break right there put me in position to learn from great coaches. It really jump-started every other good break I ever had in coaching.
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In the old days they, the promoters, wanted more and more from me. They wanted me to jump or spill my blood and break my bones. Every time they wanted me to jump further, and further, and further. Hell, they thought my bike had wings.
"Look," I said, "We knew Jason and Becky would be back, the break would end. This isn't a surprise, it's what's supposed to happen. It's what we wanted. Right?" "Is it?" he asked. "Is it what you want?" Whether he intended it to be or not, this was the final question, the last Truth. If I said what I really thought, I was opening myself up for a hurt bigger than I could even imagine. I didn't have it in me. We changed and altered so many rules, but it was this one, the only one when we'd started, that I would break. "Yes," I said.
One thing that the coaching staff and the assistant coaches did a really good job of working me on was shaping myself into an NBA guard.
I went to many coaching clinics, talked to other coaches, read articles, books, etc. Anything I could do that would help me prepare to be the best coach possible. Fortunately, the coaches I had as a player were good men and were excellent role models in setting priorities and relating to the team members and coaching staff.
Capello put me behind Demetrio Albertini, so I had the right position. I had to follow him like a shadow. It was to learn the basics, but at the same time, it was also a great vote of confidence.
That result at the French was a big break for me. I had been playing quite well up until that point but nobody really expected me to do well on clay - it was my worst surface. I had had some success on the clay but I was a set and a break up in the semi-final against Jausovec and maybe the enormity of the occasion got to me.
I couldn't forget. I couldn't break. She had the power to break me. No one had ever been given that power, ever.
When I left Portsmouth, I was happy. I'd had a great two years there, but I wanted a break. I needed a break.
I break people's faces. I break their arms. I break their legs. That's a part of the sport. That's my job. That's the job of the opponent who's trying to do the same thing to me.
I started off as a right-winger, but my coaches pushed me further and further back. So much so that I ended up in defence, because I wasn't good with my hands and there was nowhere else to go! So they put me there and that's when I found my position.
Until I became a nurse, no one had ever asked me to sign a book contract. I had been writing for decades, read thousands of books, and even worked in publishing for 10 years. Who knew that nursing would be my break?
I put myself around good people, including my assistant coaches. A lot of head coaches are intimidated by their assistant coaches, they'd rather get people that are far less talented than them because it's not threatening.
Ossie Ardiles got the job at Tottenham. I knew Ossie well and he brought me back as his reserve-team coach. That was my intro into coaching. Over the years I have known lots of other potential coaches who couldn't see a pathway. They couldn't see role models. There were so many BAME coaches who would apply for jobs and not even get an interview.
If I had a lover who wanted to hear from me every day, I would break with him.
You look at the assistant coaches under [Pat Riley] that played and they have become prosperous within this game. It triples all the way down from the assistant players to the coaches. Patrick Ewing went into coaching as well as myself.
The only way to really change perceptions, to break down barriers, break down homophobia, is through representation. That's definitely not something I had as a kid. I never saw a gay athlete kissing their boyfriend at the Olympics. I think if I had, it would've made it easier for me.
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