Dreams.
Everybody has them. Many share them with others.
Some do something about them. Few achieve them.
For those select few, there are three key attributes one must possess to reach that pinnacle - faith, humility, and perseverance.
Whether you are someone who’s written the NBA for a decade or someone who’s longing to be a player or coach in professional sports, not only do you keep dreaming and fervently working, but you have to recognize the slightest crack in the door and jam your size 12, pinky finger, anything in to have the slightest chance of taking the next step in your journey.
For Sacramento Kings assistant coach Bryan Gates, the light at the end of his journey is not an oncoming freight train. Gates paid his dues from shagging balls and washing towels to traveling the world for the experience of vacant coaching positions. He won championships abroad and in the States … and it has earned him a valued spot on Paul Westphal’s bench in Sacramento where, if you follow Sacramento basketball at all, they have more pieces to put back together than all the King’s horses and all the King’s men after Humpty Dumpty’s great fall.
But Gates has left some rather large shoes to fill back in Boise, Idaho, where the Idaho Stampede are struggling to keep attendance at minimal league levels.
How do you follow an act like Gates? In the world of NBA D League basketball, it’s almost like asking Kurt Rambis to take the reins in L.A. and keep the same intensity going … except, in L.A., they have virtually the same roster intact (now that Lamar Odom has been offered stock in Ferrara Pan).
But in the D League, you have a revolving door roster at best. And the seven or eight core players that never get the love of an NBA call-up, you have to massage morale, and improve them to the levels that they are able to take their next step.
That’s when you find a polished gem like Scott Fields.
Polished not because he grew up in Indiana with a silver basketball plate on a silver platter.
Not because he has a solid relationship with former players and coaches like Keith Smart and Jerry Sloan.
Not because of any other reason than perseverance through the toughest of adversities.
“It’s like a second nature to have basketball in your background,” Fields said of growing up in the Hoosier State, where he starred at Lewis Cass High School in Walton.
Fields’ skills would net him a scholarship to Montreat-Anderson Junior College in Black Mountain, North Carolina -- which would change the course of the rest of his life … and his basketball career.
“I went to Montreat and when I went there, I had to take an oral polio vaccine to accept my scholarship because their Board of Education required it,” recalls Fields. “When I took that vaccine, it caused my immune system to go awry and I developed rheumatoid arthritis as a result.”
Bed-ridden for almost nine months, and told by doctors at the Mayo Clinic he’d be in a wheelchair by the age of 25, Fields decided to try and get himself mobile again and “give back to the game that had been so good to me.”
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
His coach at Montreat-Anderson, Randy Unger, brought him on board as a 19-year-old assistant at Huntington College in Northeast Indiana, not far from his high school stomping grounds. The pair moved from there to King College in Bristol, Tennessee where Fields would finish his undergraduate degree in Psychology, the seeds planted for his ability to motivate people today.
Then, on to the Sunshine State, at Chipola College in Marianna “where we were ranked No. 2 in the nation.”
At age 28, his coaching legs and physical knees no longer wobbly, Fields was able to stand on his own.
“I took my first professional coaching job in Luxembourg,” Fields said. “We set a club record for most wins. We took a team that only had six wins the year before and when we got there, we actually went to the Luxembourg Cup Final Four for the first time ever in the club’s history, and we had 36 wins that year.”
A turnaround that was a mere reminder of Fields’ own life and odds.
After all, those adversities were neither final or fatal. But they summoned the coach’s courage to continue … and that’s what counts.
He would go on to Sweden and Austria, which was then incorporated into the uber-competitive Bundesliga, giving Fields the experience and exposure that would take him and his teams to championships in Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, Al Riyadi in Lebanon.
Lebanon. Where he first ran into Gates and began a competitive and mutually respecting camaraderie with the former Stampede coach.
“I’ve known Bryan for several years now. I’m happy to see the progress that he’s made. As a friend, I feel like ‘Good for you. It’s your time and this is a great opportunity for you,’” Fields said of Gates’ ascension to Sacramento and the NBA.
“An assistant coaching position in the NBA or a head coaching position in the D League is something that really intrigues me.”
Principal team owner Bill Ilett and Boiseans alike should be just as intrigued with Fields and what he can bring to the table that Gates left behind. “I think it’d be a nice fit - this community and my enthusiasm. The way I develop players, I feel it’s a natural fit for me.”
And player development is what it’s all about. That’s why it’s named the NBA Development League.
Anyone can bring in bigger names and broader, well-known reputations. That’s what the Stampede did to compete and sell tickets when they were a solid member of the fledgling Continental Basketball Association.
In 2004-05, former NBA journeyman center Joe Wolf was named the coach. But it wasn’t Joe’s ‘NBA name’ that brought people in the door. It was that they drafted and recruited great talent like Sam Clancy, Taliek Brown, Alhaji Mohammed, Kaniel Dickens, and Britton Johnsen.
No championships came from that mix. The Stampede’s championships (CBA and D League) have come from experienced, championship coaches developing and cultivating people that may not have gotten a solidly fair shake elsewhere.
It was the relatively unknown Gates that brought out the best in people like Lance Allred, Brent Petway, Mike Taylor, Corey Violette, and Eric Chenowith. He worked Randy Livingston, Coby Karl, Luke Jackson, and Jermareo Davidson no differently than any of those other guys.
Larry Krystkowiak took the team to the championship game in 2003-04 (CBA) and Gates won a championship in 2007-08 with, if not lesser talent, certainly lesser-known names.
“You kind of have to look at the talent that you have and devise something that puts players in a position to be successful,” says Fields, who has been doing that professionally for 12 years.
One only has to look at the comments from former players on his website, www.coachscottfields.com.
Marcus Liberty praised, “Coach Scott Fields, was my coach in Sweden and he ran his team practices and games just like the NBA. He reminds me of a Rick Pitino and Pat Riley all rolled up in one. He respects all of his players the same and I can remember him saying ‘what you put in is what you get out.’ I just wanted to say thanks for showing and giving me hope.”
Brock Gillespie writes, “Coach Fields is a first class individual... both on and off the court, something that is a rarity in today's game and it's extremely refreshing when you come across and meet a guy like Scott, which I was fortunate enough to do this year. My father was a longtime coach and from growing up in the business and having played myself major college and professionally now overseas for many years, I can appreciate not only the skills and desire for the game of basketball that Scott brings, but more importantly the professionalism and character he brings to his family, players, and friends. Having only known him a short time, Scott has gotten to know me and care for my situation and do everything in his power to help give me a chance to better my career, he is there for me day and night and only wishes the very best and positive things for other positive people in the business. I've never met a more positive and passionate coach in my life and I only hope to be that good of an example when I hang up the sneakers and coach one day.”
And, of course if you follow basketball at all, you have to have been like me and simply marveled at Golden State’s Anthony Randolph tying Marcus Banks’ Vegas Summer League record 42 points only to have it broken days later by teammate Anthony Morrow’s 47.
The connection? Fields was in Vegas, working both those players out for Smart’s Warriors Summer League team -- a summer sabbatical he’s enjoyed for the past three years.
No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.
“He (Smart) knew I was available in the summer, so he has offered for me to come down and help him out. I got on the bench with him for a couple games and, of course, worked on the floor with him in their practices” says Fields.
“It’s being around the game, networking a bit, and learning the different terminologies. For me, it is a fun experience to see different philosophies, other terminology, seeing Don Nelson’s ‘small-ball’ system and how it works, and listening to Keith - who has sole autonomy in Summer League.”
The student and the teacher all in one complete package.
Fields has also had the opportunity to be groomed by one of the best in the world or professional sports, Hall-Of-Fame bound Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan.
“Coach Sloan has allowed me to observe and consult with him,” over the course of the 2008-09 season in Salt Lake City. “That was an educational experience for me. To learn from Coach Sloan was awesome. Everyday was a clinic to see how he dealt with the press, how he worked with the players, being with Phil Johnson, Tyrone Corbin, and Scott Layden, it was fun for me.”
The great one take from the greats and incorporate their own.
So of Bill Ilett and the Idaho Stampede discover the gem that is Scott Fields, what kind of basketball can Stampede fans expect?
“You kind of have to look at the talent that you have and devise something that puts players in a position to be successful,” admits the coach. “But I enjoy what (former Phoenix Suns and current New York Knicks head coach Mike) D’Antoni does. He’s been overseas, so I’ve kind of have a soft spot for him because I did the same thing for 12 years.”
Fun, up-tempo basketball … Nellie’s small ball and D’Antoni’s fun ‘n gun all rolled up in Fields’ energetic style? That would certainly help the Stampede make their reputation match their nom de plume.
But you have to increase ticket sales, get butts in the seats at the usually half-empty Qwest Arena. Certainly there are the 1,300-1,500 core faithful -- who are as rabid as ever -- but what can a guy with Fields’ energy and championship experience do to pack the place out?
Get Allen Iverson in a Stampede jersey?
“I wish Allen the best of luck, but he’s not the kind of role model the community of Boise needs,” affirms Fields. “I don’t want that. Not for where this franchise is and where it wants to go.”
Fields core is all about developing players until they get bigger and better contracts for themselves. Not being the big name guy who comes to games in his suit and tie and then goes home to his 4,000 square-foot home until the next game.
Coach Fields has a vision of being “very proactive in the community. I would be out there with fundraisers, networking with businesses and business people, letting them know what kind of product we’re going to have out there on the floor, with the experience that I have with championships so they know we’re going to be right there and competitive every year.
“Also finding those marketable marquis names to be part of the franchise that are going to be good citizens and great people in the community while they are in Boise. To me, it is as much about the personal development as it is about the professional development for the players. Get them out into the community, get them into the hospitals, and get them out to the schools. I know they do those types of things, but I want to take it a step further and be accessible to the community.”
You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with and Fields‘ concept of surrounding himself with the community first, and making the Stampede -- or any other franchise -- the community‘s team is a step in the right direction for getting the team and the league return on investment if they hire the right coach.
You can hire the names -- the Dee Browns, the Rory Whites, the Austin Ainges -- but if they can’t win, then it’s a busted move. One only has to look at the Detroit Pistons, who passed on ‘big’ names like Avery Johnson and Mark Jackson to give John Kuester a shot.
It’s why Will Voigt is reportedly heading from the two-time ABA champion and PBL’s Vermont Frost Heaves to the D League.
Experience -- hopefully it counts when the Stampede and other D League teams are looking to fill head coaching positions.
“I think whenever you have someone who has the experience - and I say this with bias and a little selfishly - you should know that experience will pay off,” promises Fields.
Hopefully, for the sake of Stampede and basketball fans alike, Bill Ilett and the decision-makers in Boise can see that the pearl is found only after the oyster is cranked open and shucked.
That the diamond only becomes a valuable gem after is been through the heat, polishing, and maturation processes.
Scott Fields is the gem that belongs in the vacant coaching seat in the Gem State.
“Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”
Fields has enjoyed 12 years of success, despite adversity, thus far … and the journey is far from complete.
By the way, John Wooden said that … another coach … from Indiana.
