Profile: Head Coach Scott Brooks
Scott Brooks was named interim head coach of the Thunder on November, 22, 2008. He guided the Thunder to a 21-47 (.309) record in his first year as a head coach. Before becoming the head coach, Brooks worked as an NBA assistant coach with the Thunder (2007-2008), Denver Nuggets (2003-2006) and Sacramento Kings (2006-2007) after his retirement as a player.
Prior to becoming an assistant coach, Brooks bounced around for an 11-year (1988-99) playing career i
n the NBA, playing in 680 regular season games with Philadelphia, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, New York, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Clippers. Brooks’ teams participated in the postseason six of his 11 NBA seasons, and he won the 1994 NBA Championship with the Houston Rockets, the first of any Texas team to win an NBA title. Brooks maintained career averages of 4.9 points and 2.4 assists per game. He was an excellent 3 point shooter, connecting on 37.2 percent (287-771) from the outside. The Thunder Head Coach has drawn his coaching wisdom from the large number of great coaches that he has played for such as Dick Motta, Rudy Tomjanovich, Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Fratello, and Bill Musselman.
A native of Lathrop, Calif., Brooks began his college playing career at Texas Christian University, where he played only one season. He then transferred to San Joaquin Delta College for his sophomore year, before spending his junior and senior seasons at UC Irvine, where he averaged 23.8 points per game as a senior.
On April 15th, Scott Brooks had the hated “interim” tag removed from his title, and now stands alone as the Head Coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder, with a multi-year contract in hand.
“We are excited to have a Head Coach in Scott Brooks who believes in our philosophies and consistently leads with those values,” said GM Sam Presti on the day of Brooks’ promotion. “He has a passion to help our players develop, continue to foster accountability and selfless play, and has the ability to communicate with every player on our roster.”
Presti is obviously a huge believer in Brooks, and so are his players. Brooks is one of those coaches that players love to be around and learn from. He is a genuinely friendly guy who relates to the fans as well.
Some of his players have taken a special liking to him. Russell Westbrook and the Head Coach have been known to sit in the coach’s office for hours watching game film of Westbrook, but also great point guards of the past in order to speed up Westbrook’s learning process. Westbrook says that those times were crucial in his development last season as the starting point guard.
Brooks has been known to regularly text message his guys to pump them up for a big game, or simply encourage them when they have been playing through a rough stretch. He texted his players even when he was an assistant under P.J. Carlesimo.
“They’re just motivational texts to get us inspired to be ready to play the next game,” Jeff Green told The Oklahoman. “It’s just him trying to get the best out of us.”
Everyone saw the progress this team made in the second half of the season, even if it didn’t always show up in the W-L column. Don’t think that Brooks did not have a hand in the development of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Jeff Green. There is a reason that these guys love to play hard for their coach. They know that he is teaching them how to maximize their talents, how to play as a team, and how to win.
With a very exciting season quickly approaching, it’s expected that the entire coaching staff will be focused on preparing this very young team for the goals that have been set by the coaching staff, the players, and the fans. As a fan, you can have confidence in not only the ability, but in the character of Scott Brooks. His players and fellow coaches have the utmost respect for him, which says so much about what he is capable of doing in the coming years.
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