Doc on KG:This summer I had the good fortune of spending some time with the Boston Celtics coaching staff. This is the part 2 of information that Doc Rivers shared about what makes Kevin Garnett such a special leader.
He is always telling his teammates, "It’s about what you are willing to sacrifice; that’s our way of life here with the Celtics. It’s about putting the team and winning before anything else.”
He often says, “in order for this thing to work, we all have to sacrifice.”
He always talks about defense: “We said from Day 1 that we were a defensive team that could also score.”
And the ultimate sacrifice in today's me-oriented world Kevin says, “from Day 1 we said this is Paul’s team.” Everyone else wanted to make it Kevin’s team but he knew Paul deserved it because Paul had been with the Celtics during tough times.
The list could go on and on, but the point is that true leadership is not about oneself. It is the ability to get not only the most from your own ability but true leadership also means getting the most out of every teammate’s ability as well. Kevin does this by example, by teaching, by his public comments and by his unending commitment to team over self.
