Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr got some ideas and helpful tips from his former coach Phil Jackson, who was encouraged by his success despite turning down the New York Knicks job back in 2014, when Jackson was appointed to the franchise's presidency. Among the tips was the possibility of having his team work on “mindfulness” throughout the season, knowing two loose cannons like Draymond Green and DeMarcus Cousins could detonate at any moment.
“You know, I was thinking about Cousins and how he’s a guy that’s shown a lack of — what’s a good word to use for this? — impulse control in his career,” noted Jackson, according to Kit Rachlis of California Sunday Magazine. “On the Bulls we had someone similar — Dennis Rodman. Both feel like they’re picked on by referees and officials and the league and so forth. Draymond Green’s a little bit like that, too. It gets into a little bit of an attitude. What may be needed is officially declaring that we’re going to work on mindfulness.”
Jackson would then go on to draw the parallel with his own storied franchise, citing the Chicago Bulls and how he made his players fall in line while attempting to pursue titles.
“The first season that Steve came to the Bulls organization, we got a guy named George Mumford involved in doing mindfulness training,” said Jackson. “I thought that was a really important thing — to bring a different feel, a different attitude, a way of trying to let things go on the court and move forward. What we do as coaches a lot of the time is try and get guys to refocus, and that kind of training is an aid in that.”
Kerr will already tweak a few things about his practices to break the monotony for a team that has breezed past the last two seasons, keeping the mind sharp and ready to pursue a three-peat. Doing some mindfulness training would not only help Cousins and Green but also the likes of Kevin Durant, who mustered 14 technical fouls last season after several back-and-forth jabs with the new wave of referees.
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