Net Work: Training the NBA's Best and Finding the Keys to Greatness - Softcover

McClanaghan, Rob

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1982114800 ISBN 13: 9781982114800

Verlag: Scribner, 2020

Inhaltsangabe

From the NBA’s most sought-after trainer and skills coach comes a “backstage pass to a part of the NBA that most fans never see” (Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports)—how superstars like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Love work to excel at the game.

When Rob McClanaghan failed to make the Syracuse basketball team as a walk-on freshman, he asked the coaches what he needed to do to achieve his goal the following year. They all agreed: get stronger. So that’s what he did. For months, Rob traded fraternity parties and hanging out with buddies for hours in the gym lifting weights and shooting baskets. He was single-minded; the only thing that mattered was defying the odds. He returned to Syracuse for his sophomore year thirty pounds heavier and caught the coach’s eye.

In Net Work, McClanaghan’s “experience, knowledge, and keen understanding of the sport jumps off the pages” (Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company) and he delivers what he brings to each of his training sessions: the same grit and spirit that got him into the college game. He calls it “the grind,” and he knows that without it, even the most talented players will come up short. McClanaghan pushes his clients hard; he does whatever he can to drive his players to the edge and to simulate fourth quarter, at-the-buzzer adrenaline and fatigue.

An all-access pass to the practice courts of the NBA, Net Work combines McClanaghan’s hard-earned wisdom—both on and off the court—with rare glimpses into the dues-paying life of professional athletes determined to stay at the top. McClanaghan shares stories of working one-on-one with some of basketball’s greatest names, explaining how each athlete works to shore up his offensive and defensive weaknesses; perfect his nutrition; treat injuries; build mental toughness; and find occasional refuge from the glare of the spotlight. This book is life inside the NBA as you’ve never seen it, where players differentiate themselves by their willingness to put in relentless “net work.”

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rob McClanaghan is the premiere basketball trainer to the stars of the NBA. He lives in Rhode Island and has three children. Net Work is his first book.

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Chapter One: Perfect Reps CHAPTER ONE PERFECT REPS
It’s another sunny, beautiful morning in Santa Monica, California. I’m behind the wheel of my car, circling the block near Saint Monica Catholic High School in search of a parking spot. The 9:00 a.m. workout doesn’t begin for another twenty minutes, so I’m good. Or so I think.

My cell phone rings. It’s Russell Westbrook. “Yo, Mac, where you at?” he says, already irritated.

“I’m parking,” I say. “Don’t worry, man, I’ll be there. It’s only eight-forty.”

“Don’t be late.” He hangs up.

That guy’s crazy, I think, not for the first time. I park and hustle into the gym. Russ has already worked up a sweat and he’s ready to go. “Where are the other guys?” he asks.

“They’ll be here,” I say.

“They better not be late.”

Pretty soon the other guys—Derrick Rose and Kevin Love—hustle into the gym. It doesn’t take long for them to stretch and get ready, too, and the net work begins. We start with some basic moves—jab step right, jab step left, one-dribble pull-ups, right side, left side, pump-fake drives—with some hard sprinting in between. When they’re in the NBA, these guys are competitors, but today they’re… well, competitors. That’s why the three of them like working out together. The energy they bring is contagious. Most days it starts with Russ—that guy’s got stupid intensity—but Kevin and Derrick will never let him get too far out in front, whether it’s how many jumpers he makes or how hard he dunks.

After a while we graduate to more challenging moves. Pump-fake two-dribble pull-up. Jab step, crossover, drive to the rim. A series of shooting drills where they run across the court to five different spots behind the three-point line, and then catch and shoot. They attempt ten in a row and then do a sprint to the far baseline and back. They’re breathing heavily, but I won’t let them stop, and they don’t want to show weakness. Especially if I’m keeping score.

It’s the summer of 2009. All three guys are coming off rookie seasons. They were all top five picks in the draft. They played well that first year, but they’re just kids—not even old enough to drink yet. They know they need to get better. That’s why they’re here.

And why, you may ask, am I here, a six-foot-one, 170-pound, thirty-year-old dude from Rhode Island whose only hope of getting near the floor of an NBA game is by scoring a courtside ticket? Well, I’m the trainer, which makes me the boss, I guess. Except they’re also paying me (or their agents are), which also makes me their employee. I jump in and participate in the workouts, sometimes joining games of two-on-two or full-court pickup, so in a way I’m their peer (just shorter, slower, and much less talented). Often, when the workouts are done, we go to lunch or dinner, which makes us friends. And I like to stay in touch with them during the season to talk about their progress and what I’m seeing on video. So I’m kind of a coach. We talk on the phone a lot. I know they need to vent to someone, so I’m there to listen to their stresses and hear out their frustrations and insecurities. Kind of like a therapist.

This is the job of a full-time basketball trainer, a rapidly growing occupation that didn’t really exist back then, at least not in the NBA. At the time, I was employed by Wasserman Media Group, an agency that represents dozens of top NBA players. There were plenty of agencies doing business, but at that time Wasserman was the most prominent for one reason—Arn Tellem. He was a real trailblazer, not only as a basketball agent but for Major League Baseball players as well. Wasserman had hired me as an extra service for their clients. It was a great part of their sales pitch—sign with Wasserman, and we’ll provide you with a trainer who will help prepare you for team workouts in the run-up to the NBA draft. Those auditions can make a difference of millions of dollars to the players. It was a smart idea for Wasserman, and a smart investment. Believe me, I wasn’t all that expensive.

I started out thinking I would try to be a college or NBA coach, but the more I got down the road of being a trainer, the more I liked it—and the more it became a viable way to make a living. Those sessions with the Wasserman guys were a huge learning experience for me, too. They gave me three of my best clients, as well as three of my best friends.

Over the years, various cities have organically evolved to be gathering places for NBA players over the summer. For a while, Chicago was the place to be. That’s where Michael Jordan’s longtime trainer, Tim Grover, set up shop. Las Vegas later became a popular destination, especially after the opening of the IMPACT training center, where I worked before getting hired by Wasserman. Miami had a run when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade were there, but Miami is real hot during the summer. New York is New York, but it’s hard to get a gym when you need one. Space is at a premium.

Right about the time I started working with Derrick, Kevin, and Russell, Los Angeles was becoming for NBA players the place to be during the summer. In fact, I might argue that the Wasserman workouts, and those three guys in particular, were a big reason. I mean, why not L.A.? The weather is great in the summer (sunny but not too humid). You’ve got the beach, the bars, the restaurants, the night scene, show-biz types, all kinds of celebrities. And if Vegas is your thing, it’s an easy trip. Other agencies followed Wasserman’s lead in hiring their own trainers, and since many are also based in L.A., that brought even more players to town. Pickup games would take place at UCLA, Loyola Marymount, and other spots around the city. When word spread that there were intense workouts happening at this little private high school in Santa Monica, lots of other NBA guys wanted to participate.

For the most part, Russell, Derrick, and Kevin were okay with having outsiders join us. But they were picky. If somebody didn’t measure up, Russ would pull me aside and say, “He ain’t in our group anymore.”

They took a lot of pride in their work—maybe too much pride. I literally had to beg those guys to take days off. I’d specifically ask them not to work out on Sunday, in hopes that it would make them fresh and ready to go when we resumed our work on Monday morning. Most of the time, they’d ignore me. I remember one time on a Sunday a buddy of mine called me from UCLA and said, “Russ is up here with his dad shooting.” He always found a way to get into a gym.

Eventually I told them, “Okay, let’s meet on Sunday and we’ll just do some light shooting.” So Sunday came, the four of us were in there alone, and we started some light shooting. It didn’t take long, though, for things to get a lot less light. Russ would do a shot fake, hard dribble, elevation, and slam dunk, so Derrick and Kevin had to outdo him. Before long I was jumping right in, guarding and bumping them and talking trash. The sessions were productive, but not because my drills were so innovative. It was because of the attitude we brought to the exercise.

And then when the net work was over, the four of us would often hang out together… in...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Scribner
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1982114800
• ISBN 13: 9781982114800
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Simon and Schuster Netherlands BV; info@simonandschuster.nl; ; Herculesplein 96; Utrecht; 3584 AA; Niederlande