Championship DNA: what Sam Cassell and Charles Lee bring to the Celtics

Teaching within the NBA is a fickle factor, particularly in the case of assistant coaches. They’re concurrently crucial, but additionally a bit overblown by the media. You’ll be able to have the perfect assistant coach bench ever seen, however on the finish of the day, it’s as much as the gamers to execute.

Nonetheless, when your workforce has title expectations and also you’re using a second yr head coach, the precise workers can go a protracted, great distance. Coming off final season, the Celtics entrance workplace had the identical thought: get the precise coaches in and this workforce might go up one other degree. So, the Celtics went out and employed two of the perfect, Charles Lee and Sam Cassell. Not solely are they two of the perfect assistant coaches in basketball, however each are proper getting ready to head teaching jobs themselves.

What precisely do they bring about to the desk? Assistant teaching isn’t well-described within the media, so let’s attempt to do our greatest to interrupt down what precisely Lee and Cassell are doing right here.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports activities

Charles Lee | Hawks 2014-2018, Bucks 2018-2023

“His accountability is to babysit me,” stated Joe Mazzulla. “He’s labored for among the best coaches within the final 20 years of the NBA. He’s been an NBA champion. He’s had NBA (head teaching) interviews. And simply his humility and his strategy to the sport is a no brainer to have on this workers.”

Charles Lee has turn into a giant identify within the NBA teaching world over the previous 3-4 years. His profession has prolonged a lot additional than that, however ever since Milwaukee received the title, Lee’s stature across the league has taken off because the right-hand man to Mike Budenholzer in his two main stops as an NBA head coach. His finest abilities are his optimism and his capability to boost the extent of perimeter scorers.

““He’s at all times optimistic,” stated Blaine Mueller, who labored alongside Lee on the Bucks teaching workers from 2018 to 2023 and is now head coach with the Celtics G League workforce in Maine. “At all times optimistic. Like, he’s utterly undeterred by something happening. It doesn’t matter the stage of the season, received fifteen in a row, misplaced 5 in a row. He’s going to come back in with a optimistic spirit perspective and strategy. It’s simply contagious, his enthusiasm for all times normally but additionally the sport and dealing.”

This type of perspective could be enormous for any workforce, however for Boston, it could possibly be a recreation changer. That function of motivator was taken by Damon Stoudamire during the last two years and his absence in the direction of the tip of final season clearly left an influence on the workforce.

However, that’s off-the-court stuff, what does Lee do on the court docket that makes him so particular? It comes down to 2 principal issues: in-game tactician work and perimeter participant improvement.

Beginning with the latter, Lee deserves a ton of credit score for serving to develop a number of perimeter gamers in Milwaukee. He has publicly obtained credit score from each Khris Middleton and Grayson Allen for his work with them and is well-known across the NBA for his partaking and inventive exercises. This might go a great distance towards serving to guys like Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Jordan Walsh take the following step as wing and perimeter gamers. In-game, his tactician work is what has began getting him interviews for main head teaching jobs, together with the Celtics again in 2021. He’ll convey an skilled eye to Mazzulla’s bench and might need a number of tips up his sleeve to assist Boston recover from the hump.

Photograph by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Sam Cassell | Wizards 2009-2014, Clippers 2014-2020, 76ers 2020-2023

“He talks greater than anyone I ever met in my life,” stated Jayson Tatum. “However Sam is a superb man. Filled with power daily, and he additionally has a ton of tales.”

There’s no want to elucidate who Sam Cassell is to Celtics followers. We knew him very nicely as a participant and an individual throughout his transient time in Boston, and in some ways, that’s who he’s as a coach. Loud, passionate, clever, self-aware, all of the issues that made him an ideal participant have made him an elite assistant coach within the NBA.

A lot of his work for the previous decade has come below one other Boston legend, Doc Rivers. Whether or not it was attempting to get CP3, Blake Griffin, and Deandre Jordan over the hump or serving to Joel Embiid and James Harden gel on the 76ers, Cassell has been in the course of some very high-profile groups over time. Nonetheless, he’s nonetheless lacking that title as a coach. That’s why he got here again to Boston, he didn’t mince many phrases when talking to Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports activities.

“We’ve acquired an opportunity,” Cassell stated of Boston’s title hopes this season. “You’ve acquired the expertise right here. You’ve acquired to have well being and chemistry. They’re prepared. … You understand, I noticed the way it seemed when the Celtics received their final championship. I used to be part of that workforce. And as soon as we get that factor achieved, it’s a stupendous factor to win a championship in Boston. It’s superior to be again in The Bean, particularly while you’ve received there earlier than.”

What precisely does Cassell convey to the desk as a coach? In some ways, he brings lots of what Ime Udoka did: enjoying expertise and relationship constructing. As a former beginning NBA level guard, Cassell has seen all of it. He is aware of what it takes to get the job completed on the highest degree and his capability to speak that message to gamers has seen him have a training profession spanning nearly 15 years. Gamers resembling John Wall, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and loads of others have talked about how Cassell’s humor and character assist set up a tradition in a locker room.

“I’m simply very truthful with gamers, man,” Cassell stated. “Generally they don’t prefer it, however I communicate the reality. I communicate to the sport plan of the top coach, and I inform them what the top coach expects. Generally gamers attempt to be reluctant to take that, however I feel I’ve a means that I could be 100% trustworthy with a participant with out them taking it personally. And that’s a trait that I do know I’ve.”

Cassell and Lee are two nice additions to the Celtics bench, principally as a result of they bring about various things to the desk that can assist Mazzulla. Cassell will assist him construct a tradition within the locker room and preserve the gamers targeted on the sport plan at hand. We all know Mazzulla can give you some sensible concepts, however implementation and changes had been a difficulty down the stretch for Boston and Cassell ought to assist clear that up. Lee will convey a degree of positivity and humbleness that can profit everybody on the workforce off the court docket. One thing gamers talked about lacking final yr, it might go a protracted approach to this workforce successful a title. He’ll even be large for Boston in developing their protection and adjusting to groups all through the season. He’s additionally been named Affiliate Head Coach, so his voice will ring loudly within the locker room this season.