This is Our Game: Dawn Staley
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Houston's Dawn Staley J. Pottheiser/NBAE/Getty Images |
Q.
What is your motivation when don't feel like working out, running that extra mile,
or waking up early?
"Any challenge. From playing to coaching, when someone
tells me that I can't do it, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. Any challenge that I'm
faced with is really what drives me. This season was challenging for me, but I
stayed optimistic. (With Charlotte), the ball wasn't necessarily falling in our
favor, but I think you have to stay positive. You have to have like minds in that
area. It's easy to dwell on the negatives, but I was a part of a WNBA team that
started 1-10 and went to the Finals. I'm still a firm believer as well as living
proof that anything can happen in our short season."
Q.
Was there a time in your life when you thought about giving up the game?
"My
first year overseas, I lost my love for basketball. I don't know. It was different
than what I was used to. I wasn't given the information I needed. I want to thrive,
I want you to teach me. I want you to break basketball down for me, and my first
year over there, we were imitating the NBA. We had to score the points, and I
don't see basketball that way. I see basketball as a cohesion that a team must
have. Everyone must do their part. So if you are a scorer, you score the basketball.
I wasn't known as a scorer. I'm someone that does what they need to do to win.
When it's not presented to me that way, I didn't see it as a challenge, but it
was a challenge. Maybe they needed me to show them a different way. And ultimately
I did, but I didn't like being in that position, being so young."
Q.
How did you re-discover the love of the game?
"But I wanted to be an Olympian,
so playing overseas was the way to get that experience. This was between 1992
and 1994.I sacrificed that part of it because that was what they said I didn't
have in 1992 that I needed to be an Olympian. You go through periods like that
as a player. you lose the love somewhat. But that can help you gain it back stronger.
And that's what happened to me. I was determined to be an Olympian. I just wanted
to be a one-time Olympian, but I look at it now as a three-time Olympian, and
it's very sweet. It is incredible to think that a piece of nylon going around
your neck is so meaningful, but it's not the medal that you can touch and feel
that makes it what it is. It is the entire experience of representing your country.
It's what it stands for more than the tangible gold medal."
Q.
What are some other goals you've set for yourselves off the court that you are
interested in or pursuing?
"I love coaching. As long as it is fulfilling
for me to help young people to see the game in a way that will help them have
longevity in this sport, I'm going to do it. They are accepting to the challenges
that I pose. I'll probably do it for a very long time. Would I coach men? Sure.
I don't really see gender in basketball. It's simply basketball. They bounce it
like we bounce it. They have attitudes like we have attitudes. Basketball is not
all about the X's and O's. It's about instilling confidence in individuals. If
you can get them to believe in what you are doing on a daily basis, you can draw
up any play off the top of your head and it will be successful."
Q.
Would you ever consider coaching in the WNBA at any point?
"I haven't thought
about coaching in the WNBA because I don't know if that is my passion. My passion
is with the younger people, people that you can make a true impression on in the
college game. And I'll want people to know that if someone graduated from Temple
University and plays in the WNBA, they know what kind of player they are getting.
They are going to get a dedicated player, a player that doesn't cut corners, a
player that respects and understands the game in a way that you can fall in love
with as a coach."