Haven’t eaten pork, but haven’t seen a pig run? He’s not the kind of person who can only be managed, but can’t manage others.
Larry Bird clearly knows that for an NBA team, when a coach is managing players, the ones that need the most attention are often those on the bench.
Because players who can become starters on an NBA team are often very responsible and train very hard, the coach doesn’t need to worry too much about them in this regard.
And those sitting on the bench, especially the ones at the end, their morale and mindset often determine the team’s atmosphere.
This is the bucket effect in team management. If the players at the end of the bench are energetic, train hard, and are always ready to play, then your team will definitely have no problem.
Besides the players at the end of the bench, you also need to pay attention to the unruly players, of which there are many in the NBA.
They are often rebellious and temperamental, especially some black players from the lower socioeconomic classes. To put it nicely, they have character; bluntly, they’re trash, degenerates, outside of playing basketball.
Such scum and degenerates emerge in the NBA frequently. Fans see players on the court as glamorous heroes, but only those inside understand how many of them would be useless without basketball.
This is also one of the biggest challenges for NBA coaches. You must cooperate with some people with poor conduct and terrible personalities, even criminals, to appease, help, and persuade them to play well.
If it really doesn’t work out, you can only kick them out—although the reality often is that coaches are booted before the players.
Larry Bird specifically consulted Rick Carlisle and Dick Hart and made a list of who in the current Trail Blazers needs the most discipline and who’s most likely to be sitting at the end of the bench.
Hart and Carlisle gave Bird four names: Chris Dudley, Ruben Embad, Van Exel, and Isaiah Riddle.
Among them, Chris Dudley and Ruben Embad are fringe bench players.
Dudley came to the Trail Blazers in the 1993-1994 season, a typical white intellectual player. He graduated from Yale, majoring in political science and economics.
He comes from a typical white intellectual family; his parents, grandfather, and uncle all graduated from Yale University, and his grandfather was the ambassador to Denmark during the Nixon Administration.
This guy’s future goal is to enter politics, and his political destination is in Portland.
During his time playing with the Trail Blazers, he was more interested in political activities than in basketball.
This seems to be a "glorious tradition" left behind with the Portland Trail Blazers starting with Bill Walton.
Bird has always disliked political activities, and he always keeps himself as far away from them as possible.
Before the training camp, he thought he should perhaps have a good talk with Dudley, or simply find a chance to trade him for a useful small forward.
The Trail Blazers’ resources in the frontcourt are relatively abundant; Ah Gan, PJ Brown, and Little O’Neal are enough to support a normal rotation.
Ruben Embad was a second-round pick for the Trail Blazers, average in all respects and could be cut at any time.
Compared to motivating and managing him, Bird needs to think more about how to tell Embad that he has been cut from the team.
That’s the head coach’s job, which Bird doesn’t want to do. He knows that every player who enters the NBA has gone through a lot of hardship and scrutiny to get there.
No one wants to give up easily, and telling them in person that they’ve been cut is a cruel thing to do, but Bird believes he is prepared to do such things.
The remaining Van Exel and Isaiah Riddle are typical unruly players.
Van Exel graduated from the University of Cincinnati. Due to conflicts with coaches during high school and hitting someone, many schools didn’t want him, but Cincinnati took him in.
The situation was similar during the NBA draft; he had talent, but many teams didn’t have a good opinion of his behavior. Finally, before leaving the Trail Blazers, Jerry West picked this big-eyed guard hoping to leave some talented assets for the Trail Blazers.
Van Exel indeed has talent and ability. Within just two seasons, he snatched the starting point guard position from Terry Porter.
In his best 95-96 season, he averaged 16 points and 8 assists per game. Just looking at the numbers, he was already an excellent point guard in the League.
However, besides his outstanding on-court performance, Van Exel’s off-court conduct is notorious, and his character is very rebellious.
As early as 1993, when he decided to enter the NBA draft, Van Exel had shown his rebellious character. It’s said he dared to talk back to head coach George Karl during a tryout with the SuperSonics.
George Karl asked him to run six times back and forth from the baseline to the free-throw line, to test his speed and endurance.
As a result, Van Exel jogged leisurely, not wanting to give his all. George Karl told him he could go faster, and Van Exel replied that he wanted to stay cooler.
Naturally, the SuperSonics lost interest in Van Exel, and Van Exel felt the same way, as the Sonics’ backcourt was crowded and had no room for him.
Later, Jerry West called Van Exel and said that the Portland Trail Blazers had chosen him. Van Exel wasn’t even on site, he got drunk and couldn’t believe he was selected.
In his first season with the Trail Blazers, he dared to mock Gary Payton in a game against the SuperSonics. A rookie daring to trash talk Payton on the court requires tremendous courage.