Mike Brown witnessed the growth of Lebron and KD and how he witnessed their rise from young players to generational talents.
Mike Brown mentioned during an interview when he was still an assistant for the Golden State Warriors that Kevin Durant and Lebron shared similar work ethics that helped them lead to successful runs in their career.
Brown was the head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2010, where he handled Lebron during the early stages of his career, while during his time with KD he was the assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors that won back-to-back championships and was arguably one of the best teams ever assembled in NBA history.
They weren’t Superstars overnight
“When you have superstars like Lebron and KD, the competition gets tougher, they usually rise to the moment or to the occasion – KD is no different than Lebron in that regard, the reality is both of those guys work really hard on their game. A lot of people kind of look at Lebron, and look at his size and strength and athleticism for granted. People don’t usually see how hard he works”
Mike Brown witnessed Lebron develop in his career, but not with his recent accolades and championships. He saw Lebron win his first MVP and also the roughest of experiences as he was bounced out of the playoffs multiple times in his career. Despite not coaching Lebron after his Cleveland days, he supported and witnessed his growth from a ring chaser to a ring winner.
The same is well for the growth of Kevin Durant in the Golden State Warriors; KD was eliminated from the Western Conference finals by the Warriors the year before and also failed to win a championship in his first year in the NBA finals. He then signed with the Warriors, where he did not just win multiple titles but was able to dominate with 2 finals MVPs and sweeping Lebron out of the finals.
Both players achieved success because they used their failures as motivation to become even better than they are today.
The older they got, the more they worked
No player has ever been father time, and both KD and Lebron know that. But instead of just waiting for their weaknesses to come, they instead worked on things that could help prolong their careers.
“I believe in the older his gotten, the harder he’s worked, cause he knows that one day, the athleticism is not gonna be there, the strength and quickness might be there, so he’s gotta find a way to fine tune his game, in all aspects and he does that really well”
Mike Brown feels that KD and Lebron were able to succeed where most players fail, which is when they start to get older and lose a bit of step on their game; instead, they work on ways to play better without having to use brute strength or speed. That is why we see KD and Lebron as 2 of the most skilled players in NBA history, and hopefully, we can see more of that in the future.
Source: basketballnetwork.net
