No matter how you viewed the season for the Sacramento Kings, the franchise seems to be heading in a positive direction under the guidance and leadership of head coach Dave Joerger.
Have an open mind, and trust the process some would say. Joerger deserves props, but was he satisfied with the season? Let’s dive in.
It’s crazy to think about all the things he had to deal with early on and throughout the season. At one point during the season, Joerger managed to bring the Kings to playoff contention.
Joerger brought competitiveness to the Kings. During an interview with The Ringer’s Chris Vernon, Joerger said he wants to build a dynasty in Sacramento to the point where it could attract free agents.
“You want to go be competitive, you want to go out every night and just compete,” Joerger told the Ringer. “That’s the biggest thing when we talk about what can you do to change the culture, that’s what it is. Whatever it is about picks, going forward, and development and all that, if you know ‘gosh darn it, I’m playing those Kings, they just play their tails off man’, and if you’re a free agent like ‘hey you know what, I don’t know a lot about Sacramento, but I know that teams plays really hard and I’d be willing to be part of that going forward’. You know, that’s part of how you want to be going forward.”
Joerger definitely is all in with the Kings. You can easily tell just by how he handles himself not only on the court, but in the community as well. While doing an interview with the Deuce and Mo podcast, Joerger explained to us how important it is to have a positive relationship with the community.
“If you walk around the community, talk to the people, you’ll love it,” Joerger told Deuce and Morgan.
Joerger also wants us to know that the love for the game of basketball doesn’t just end on the court, it goes beyond that.
What Joerger is describing is something that is truly important in the basketball community. By having a strong relationship with the community, the fans will not only love you more, but also will more than likely keep attending games. After all, this is a business.
He definitely put this into effect during his tenure as the Memphis Grizzlies head coach, as one of his top priorities. It got to the point where his players, more so Mike Conley and Zach Randolph would take on the role as well. Now, both Conley and Randolph are up for the KIA Community Assist Award.
So with that being said, Joerger will more than likely pass this on to his current players in Sacramento.
Also on the podcast, Joerger discussed the importance of coaching and gave advice to those thinking about joining the coaching field as well.
“Stay single,” he said in a happy manner.
He kind of does have a point when you think about it. Not everybody is made for this because it requires so much sacrifice away from family and you have to be brave to take on this type of role.
Being away from your family for 41 games and additional games if you make the postseason, is a huge deal for any family.
“Some of the best coaches we have in our country are high school coaches,” Joerger said. “Reason why this is accurate is because although they make sacrifices, the level of competition they are coaching isn’t that of NBA, so therefore they can teach the kids fundamentals instead of ‘winning’ if that makes sense.”
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