28 | Kevin Eastman on working with Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett's silent work ethic, winning an NBA Title with the 2008 Boston Celtics, and lessons from a career of working with the best of the best

Team BuildingTeam Chemistry
Written By Evan Burk
 

Kevin Eastman is an author, speaker and former NBA coach. Kevin has coached the game at the college and professional levels over a career spanning 35+ years, and recently published his first book, Why The Best Are the Best.

In this conversation, Evan Burk talks with Kevin about what he learned working for with Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett’s “silent work ethic”, the team concept that separated the 2008 Boston Celtics NBA championship team, and the most important components to achieving success in basketball and in life.

Tune into this episode to hear:

  • Kevin's college coaching career prepared him for coaching in the NBA

  • Finding his voice early in his coaching career

  • Being a NBA assistant coach and "learning to talk in bullet points"

  • What it was like to work for Doc Rivers

  • How accountability was established on the Boston Celtics

  • The Ingredients of a Championship team - 2008 Boston Celtics

  • Adding Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and How the 2008 Celtics team came together so quickly

  • Reggie Bullock’s Development over his career

  • Getting Players to Understand the Value of Failure

  • Values and People: The Keys to Building a Championship Team

  • “Coaching is leading in a highly competitive environment - and I want to know how they are doing it.”

Screenshot your favorite part and post to your Twitter or IG story and tag me @CoachEvanBurk and @KevinEastman so we can see and repost to our profiles and stories!

 
 

Top Quotes from Kevin Eastman

The change he had to make coaching in the NBA

“As a [college] head coach, I talked in paragraphs. When I got to the NBA, I understood I had to talk in bullet points. Get in, make my point, and get out.”

How accountability was established on the Boston Celtics

“There is a word that has to precede accountability. And that word is clarity. In order for us to hold people accountable, we have to be clear as to what they are being held accountable for.”

The foundation of the 2008 Boston Celtics NBA title run

“The message at first was WHY are we here - He wanted to make sure that the players knew that he felt they had enough in the room to accomplish the goal....BUT, a championship is won by a number of days stacked upon of each other where we give the best effort we have, focus on the things we are..., so that when we get to that point, we will not only be ready for it, but we will be prepared for it.

Many teams are ready for it....but are you prepared to play? That preparation is in the daily, at times boring, but no question needed things that we did everyday.”

What Kevin Garnett brought to the Boston Celtics in 2008

“The key for us was fit. Whoever we were going to bring on board had to fit. Kevin Garnett brought more than his talent to the Boston Celtics. Championship teams don’t want players with talent. What we did want was talented players. Talented stood for an extra dimension. Beyond their talent, what else did they bring beyond their just pure talent?”

The key to development of young NBA players

“To survive in professional sports, especially for young players, it’s a race to maturity….Who seems to mature quicker than others. The players that succeed, they get it! Teams that win championships, they get it!”

 

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Evan Burk

Evan Burk is a speaker, former NFL coach, and podcast host who uses the sports world as his backdrop to engage audiences with thought-provoking lessons of leadership, team-building, and creating championship cultures.

Evan Burk is not your typical football coach. Despite not playing football beyond high school and no network in the coaching profession, Evan's unlikely football journey began as a 4th grade coach, where he quickly worked his way to the NFL in just 6 years, and included coaching for teams such as the Miami Dolphins, UCLA, and SMU.

After spending fifteen-plus years working with the highest-performing athletes, coaches, and teams on the planet, Coach Burk uses his unique football coaching background to teach people how to utilize the same strategies in business and life that elite players and teams use to perform at a world-class level.

Evan received his B.S. in business management from the University of Colorado, and his Master of Liberal Studies degree from Southern Methodist University. He also hosts his own weekly sports leadership podcast, The Highest Level, where he reveals how championship team cultures are built and the keys to leadership excellence at the highest level.

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29 | Alan Stein Jr. on strategies to improve performance, how NBA stars Kevin Durant and Victor Oladipo blend confidence with humility, and his new book, Sustain Your Game
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27 | Yogi Roth on Playing and Coaching Football, Working with Pete Carroll, and the Power of Stories