Zaza Pachulia played under Jason Kidd during the 2014-15 season.
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Zaza Pachulia played 16 years in the NBA with six teams. He is now a consultant for the Golden State Warriors. These are the three best leaders he played with.
Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors guard
I was so lucky to watch him work out. Before games, after practice, drills.
It was also how he treated people. It was just fascinating. He treated everyone in the organization the same.
I’ve seen it myself so many times with employees at the Warriors. He walks up and just asks them: “How are you doing?” Just a simple question. But to me that is leadership. That is caring. That is the type of leader you want to work with and work for.
One day I was talking to Jeff Addiego, who is in charge of the Golden State Sports Academy and works with youth players. Jeff and I were having a conversation while Steph was lifting weights.
Steph came over and asked Jeff how he was doing. And then he asked how Jeff’s daughter was doing with basketball; he knew Jeff’s daughter was playing basketball.
Jeff answered him, and the conversation lasted two or three minutes. Then Steph left to go back to his workout, and Jeff turned to me and said: “Zaza, this is why I enjoy coming here every single day.”
That care and leadership you feel from your best player motivates and inspires you.
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks forward
One of the things that made Dirk so special was his ability to keep it fun. His humor was next level, and he understood when it was the right time to do it.
He had great work-humor balance.
It was just so fun to be around him in the locker room. He would bring jokes to you, but he would also take them as well.
He dedicated his time to his teammates and to conversations with them.
Every day was fun with him.
But when the preparation for the game started, he would have his game face on. I remember one time we played in Madison Square Garden against the Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis. Fans and media love to compare players to others, and everyone was comparing KP to Dirk.
Dirk was getting old at the time. It’s not easy to perform at the highest level when you’re older.
There was so much hype around that game. Dirk just wanted to remind everyone.
To me that was leadership: This is how you respond to outside noise. This is what it takes to be great. It pushed him. It was a cool moment for me to watch.
Jason Kidd, Milwaukee Bucks head coach
He was such an important part of my career.
I had the best year of my career with him in 2014-15 with the Milwaukee Bucks. I believe it was why the Warriors later showed interest in me.
It was because I had a chance to play for Jason Kidd.
Everything was so structured with him. Even how he would run practices. He helped everyone on the team to become proactive instead of reactive.
That was one of the things I truly learned from him: be proactive. Read the play ahead of time. Understand what’s going to happen.
Not every coach can do that. There are a lot of coaches who are great with Xs and Os and different parts of the game, but this guy flat-out taught us how to see the play before it actually happens.
He knew what it took to motivate players, and he was so smart.
I was so lucky to spend a year with him.
— As told to Jayson Jenks
