Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts on Culture, Process, and Team (CPT), preparation, and not being content

There is no shortage of great coaches in the NBA, but I still believe Terry Stotts to be one of the best. What he has accomplished in his career has been remarkable. In this episode, Coach Stotts shares why the Blazers organization puts so much emphasis on Culture, Process, and Team (CPT), how he first got into coaching, how he prepared his team for the bubble, and advice for listeners about dealing with loss and failure.

Don’t miss this outstanding conversation with coach Terry Stotts, head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Episode Contents:

 

01:26 - Why Coach Stotts is always on the lookout for inspirational messages that will help his team grow 02:45 - How Coach Stotts got his first gig in coaching, after he thought he was going to go to college to become a dentist 04:19 - Why Coach Stotts doesn’t look back on past decisions with regret 05:30 - Coach Stotts on Culture, Process, and Team (CPT) 10:25 - How Coach Stotts characterizes his leadership style 12:50 - What advice Terry Stotts would give his younger self 12:49 - Mental health during the pandemic 18:16 - How Coach Stotts prepared his team for the NBA Bubble in Orlando 20:58 - Who is in Coach Stotts’ bamboo circle, i.e. who helped groom Coach Stotts into the leader he is today 23:22 - Coach Stotts on whether he’s an introvert or extrovert 24:33 - Proudest moments of Coach Stotts’ life 26:15 - Why Coach Stotts stays away from getting too comfortable, and when he’s the most content. 28:35 - Advice for listeners about recovering from loss 30:52 - How Terry Stotts stays sharp as a leader and coach

Guest at a Glance

Terry Stotts is the head coach of the NBA team, Portland Trail Blazers. He is one of the longest tenured coaches in the NBA, and enters his 9th season with the Blazers. Overall, his record as a coach is 475-456, and has been to the playoffs 7 of the 8 seasons he has coached the Blazers. He won an NBA championship as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks under coach Rick Carlisle. 

Stotts was drafted in the second round of the 1980 NBA draft to the Houston Rockets. Stotts also played overseas in Italy before joining George Karl’s CBA coaching staff as his first basketball coaching job.

Learn more about Terry Stotts on Wikipedia | NBA.com

Notable Quotes

Terry Stotts on Watering the Bamboo: “I think one of the reasons why it resonates so much with athletes is that you don't get the immediate gratification from the work that you're doing, whether it's in the weight room, on the track, court, gym, field, or whatever it is. The athlete is relying on all this work that they’re putting in that eventually, it's going to pay off.” Stotts on decision-making: “Once you make that decision, go all-in and don't look back.” Stotts on culture: “having a culture that you believe in and everybody buys into is paramount. And then establishing a process that is built on that and doing it as a team, I think that's a formula for success.” On loss and losing: “A big part of coaching is managing a team in difficult times.”

Learn more about Greg Bell

More than just a motivational speaker, Greg Bell is a Portland, Oregon based thought leader, business consultant, and leadership coach. His popular books, What’s Going Well? and Water The Bamboo: Unleashing The Potential Of Teams And Individuals, have inspired an array of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies like Nike, Disney and Comcast, to the Portland Trail Blazers and Division I NCAA athletic teams like the Oregon Ducks Football and the Gonzaga Bulldogs Basketball. 

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