MavsBoard

Best wishes to Skin Wade, who was apparently diagnosed with cancer over the holidays --


https://twitter.com/SkinWade/status/1478...07971?s=20

(01-03-2022, 10:23 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: [ -> ]Best wishes to Skin Wade, who was apparently diagnosed with cancer over the holidays --


https://twitter.com/SkinWade/status/1478...07971?s=20

Ugh! Get well Skin!!

Terrible news. Glad to hear he's in good spirits with a good prognosis. I pray for a speedy recovery for Skin!

Wasn't KP there yesterday? SMH

Three pretty significant developments IMO:

1) The Mavs are now 10th in the NBA in DRating, giving up 107.8 pts per 100 possessions.

2) The Mavs are 3rd in the NBA in DRating over the last 12 games, giving up 105.3 pts per 100 possessions.

3) The Mavs have a net rating of +7.9 over the last 12 games.

https://twitter.com/MarcJSpears/status/1...6974048259

Quote:I felt like I was at home at Nike. I was in my element. I learned the business, which wasn’t my background. My ability to connect the dots and then build relationships, and then basketball, combining business and basketball, that’s what I was born to do. My job is very undefined. It’s like, ‘Hey, go out here and build relationships with these teams and players and take care of their needs off the court, and basically play a support role,’ which is fine.

But it all comes down to building relationships. And then, they have Nike contracts, so they need anything, they call you, you send them shoes, whatever. And the goal is, you service them and meet their needs and try to predict what they need before they need it.

I was initially a field rep. I had players on 12 teams. And I literally would fly in, I would work with the equipment manager, make sure that they all had their game shoes, and then I would work with them to make sure they had the stuff they needed for off the court, like sweats and stuff like that, Air Force 1s back then. That’s what I did. And then basically, I was just representing Nike. I was their conduit to Nike. I wasn’t signing contracts, I was just the conduit to everything Nike. So I was their face. They didn’t know Nike, they knew me. And that was my goal, to make sure that everybody knew me.

Quote:What was the key to bonding with these NBA stars?

It wasn’t challenging. I’m not forceful, I’m respectful. And if it happened, great, if it didn’t happen, then I would have to figure out another angle. And my goal was never to be everybody’s best friend. I just wanted them to know that I’m here, I’m available, if you need anything, call me and I’ll get on top of it ASAP. And I’m going to deliver.

If I say I can get it to you by Friday, I’m going to get it to you Thursday, just so you know it. So, it wasn’t hard. And then I was everywhere. I was on the road constantly. So, you would get tired of seeing me, because I was going to be there all the time.

Quote:How did you learn the business side of Nike basketball when you didn’t have a business background?

I read through every single contract with every player to understand how we put contracts together. I sat in on all the marketing meetings to understand who and why they market players. I sat in all the footwear meetings to understand how they make … I went to shoe school to understand how they make shoes, what they do to put in the shoes. It’s a class Nike used to offer for incoming shoe designers to teach you the parts of the shoe, what goes into making the shoe, how long the process is, all that. I went to shoe school with [sports marketing businessman and media personality] Maverick [Carter].

I wanted to learn everything. I used to get kicked out of meetings because they’d be like, ‘You’re not supposed to be in here.’ [Then-Nike basketball executive] Lynn [Merritt] was my boss and mentor. He’s like, ‘Just go.’ And even one time I’m looking through contracts and this one guy says, ‘Hey, you’re not allowed to do that.’ I was like, ‘Well, you’re not my boss. And if you don’t think I’m allowed, you can ask my boss.’

I’m trying to learn everything. By the time I was done at Nike, I knew the business of basketball. I knew apparel. How stuff was put together. Footwear. I knew the process. I knew everything that went into it. So, all the different groups, I knew what they did. And then I knew basketball and had a relationship with the players. I could not only do anybody’s job, but I knew their job. So then it just made me better at my job, because I knew what they were doing. So, you couldn’t come in and bulls— with me.

Quote:Was it hard to leave Nike?

I had a great job at Nike. I was being groomed to be in the No. 1 job in sports marketing. So I’ve never been a grass is greener on the other side person. My father worked at an aluminum factory in Spokane, Washington, for 35 years. That’s just what I come from. I’m never looking around to see what’s better. I make the best of where I’m at.

It was timing. My oldest daughter was going into eighth grade. So, I’m thinking about how do you get her through high school. So, timing mattered. I think the city mattered. Are you in a city where you think you can get guys to come and would want to play there? Having a guy like Luka on the team. Do you have a good enough player that you can win around? Yes. City? Yes. Owner, an owner that will spend the money? Check. A coach that you can partner with and believe in? Check. So, just go down the line, and you add that along with timing, it just made sense.

Quote:What kind of relationship do you have with Kidd?

We’re friends. We can challenge each other. He has a different job than I have. He’s the coach and I’m trying to make his job easier. My job is how can I enable his job to be easier? Get him better players, get him players that fit what he likes and what he needs. And also trying to help our roster long term.

Seeing Nico further expand his past job at Nike and how he came to Dallas has made things clearer for me.

Jury is still out on if he can actually make good basketball choices, but it's clear he's a smart guy that loves the game.

(01-05-2022, 10:59 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]Owner, an owner that will spend the money? Check.

If this means that Cuban told him he'd spend, and if Cuban was telling the truth, then that's good news. 

(01-05-2022, 10:59 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]My job is how can I enable his job to be easier?

I get the idea from this and other interviews that Nico essentially sees this as the job as an executive. I love that! When "servant leadership" came out of his mouth the first time, I hoped it was his real M.O.

Yes, serve and empower, however, I liked that he wanted to know everyone’s job at Nike so they couldn’t b.s. him. I think that might take a bit of time, but if that is the goal, I like it!

UPDATE:

Mavs are 6th in the NBA in Defensive Rating for the season giving up 107.3 pts per 100 possessions. 

Over the last 13 games they are 1st in the NBA in Defensive Rating giving up only 103.9 pts per 100 possession.

Over the last 13 games they are +8.6 in Net Rating.

This night hit all the Mavs chords and I am hyped.

(01-06-2022, 10:09 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]

16-5 (I think) when we hold the other team below the 110 DRating line and two of those losses included buzzer beaters.