Introductory Press Conference | Head Coach Brian Keefe and GM Will Dawkins

Introductory Press Conference | Head Coach Brian Keefe and GM Will Dawkins

I’m Chris Miller the television voice of your Washington Wizards and joining us today at the table is Wizards general manager Will Dawkins and the man of the hour Brian ke so without any further Ado the floor is yours oh appreciate you thanks Chris thank you everyone for joining us and those who are watching as well excited to formerly announce Brian and welcome him to the organization as our next head coach I also want to make sure I welcome his wife Cindy and their two daughters um many of you guys know Brian and are familiar with Brian from his year here with us this season when I I think of Brian at his core he’s someone who connects with people he’s someone who is a teacher he’s someone who is a developer and he’s someone who is proven and motivating people and those are things that he’s always been about those are things he did when he was our interim coach and those are things that he’s going to continue to do when he’s pushing us forward so we’re excited we’re happy um going through this process with Mike and all of our staff we wanted to make sure that we got to know everybody but really get to know everything we could about Brian and my first time that I met him in 2008 what really I remember is how much time he took to get to know me as a person and I think if you look around this room and you see the players and the staff that are here to support I think he got to know a lot of people because he’s genuine he invests in people he puts himself um last he puts the players and the team first and we’re really really excited about that we’re happy for the person but also happy for the coach that we’re getting he’s someone who has a diverse skill set has a growth mindset he’s always looking for ways to get better I’m excited to see what he can come up with with a full summer and training camp and everything to get ready to going but 19 years now in the NBA 19 almost 20 almost close um in that 19 years he’s had a array of opportunities at different organizations at different timelines some through the rebuild some through competitive play he’s touched a lot of different players some top end talent and had them at different parts of their career from rookies raising them up to All Stars to Hall of Fame guys and when he was involved with them he poured into them they learned they grew no matter where they were and I think even in the phase he was here as an assistant but also as the lead man last year he definitely poured into the guys and and they felt that so we’re excited for that the 30 games that we saw as interim coach we’ve talked about this is just the beginning it’s the foundational building blocks that he put together that is going to help us continue to have this sustained success that we’re looking for he understands that and is ready for the challenge will be a great partner with everybody in the bu in the building so with that I just want to officially welcome you to the Washington Wizards uh first of all I want to thank uh Ted Michael and will um for your belief in me uh to help lead this organization um I’m truly grateful and humbled by the by this uh this is a great responsibility and the one thing I think about is how excited I am about it because I get to partner with Will with Michael to build something um and someone who I share the same core values with um thing that’s really exciting about this is that you this is a very rare opportunity in sports when you get to work with people who are aligned line from ownership down to front office to coaching that we invested in finding the right way to do things to look at every corner to look at the best practice so we can streamline our process to be the best versions of ourselves and I think that’s a rarity in today’s Sport and to get the opportunity to do this with this group specifically with Michael and will who I’ve known for a long time and I care tremendously about them as people first but also their the way they can do their job uh it’s a huge honor um I also realize that when you get to this position you don’t do this stuff alone there’s a lot of people who have intrical part of my life to help me get to where I am today um I’m not going to say a lot of those people’s by names cuz there’s too many people to mention but the coaches I had when I played for growing up um the teammates I had uh the coaches I got to work with and learn from there’s a long list of people that I owe a large gratitude to and then finally to the players and some of our great that a lot of our players are here today that you guys let me in your lives um and a lot you know I’ve coached for a long time almost 25 years now that you got to be part of their journey and help them realize their dreams that’s all I’ve ever asked in life and I’m thrilled to continue to do that here with the Wizards um and lastly uh and most importantly to me my family um for the guidance support and the values they instilled in me and this I will be specific about um my uncles’s uh will and George Who instilled the Love of the Game in me my grandparents uh Ruth and and William O’Brien um my sister Stephanie who’s always been an inspiration to me for how she lives her life and how she cares about people and her generosity and her spirit um my mom and dad um their unwavering support their belief in me and belief in the dreams that I pursued and the example they set for living a life of purpose about care and taking care of people and helping people my two daughters over here Brook and the well their unconditional love and support and watching them as they’re going to attack their dreams and that inspires me daily and lastly to my wife Cindy the best partner that anybody could ever have in their life uh your support your unconditional love and the way you lift everybody with your brightness and your spirit I’m eternally grateful to be married for you so today is a celebration for my family and we’re just thrilled to be part of the Wizard’s family a big family yeah congratulations to Brian Keith you know they handed me the give these to you but I almost use them you start talking about your wife um will I want to ask you a question about how the organization kind of landed on the process of retaining Brian as head coach yeah very fair um I think there’s a lot of people that were involved um I won’t dive a little too deep into the process just out of respect for everyone involved but but I will say that it was a we were really intentional we were deliberate and thorough and kind of going through the process we wanted to make sure that we found the right person for the job moving forward so we went into it open-minded knowing that our organization is a place where we’re trying to be inquisitive and trying to make the best decision for everybody and at the end of the day we feel very comfortable that that was Brian and just a a note on Brian through those 19 years he’s been in the league his hard work put it up there with anybody and not just that but the the diligence that he goes about it with the care The Sweat Equity that he’s put in with all the players on the floor you can see it you can feel it but he’s also a student of the game and he spent a lot of time behind the monitors figuring out he talked about the coaches that he was with some really bright basketball Minds that he’s in coaches meetings with and at the very beginning whether you should have or should not you were always speaking up and trying to contribute and I think that kind of shaped you so he’s ready all those experien is have him ready to lead this team and through this process you learn a little bit more I wouldn’t say it’s new but something that I probably um confirmed for me is Brian has a unique ability to see people and things for what they can be not for where they are or who they are right now currently and when you think of our team in the phase that we’re in that’s vital that’s really really important and you got to have that belief to put into people and see where it can go and we the bottom phase of building that foundation and I think we put some of those blocks together this year the bottom takes some time and he knows that so we’ll continue to build that out but it has to be sturdy and build it up from there and he’s all about habits he’s all about people and um he confirmed that he can see big picture things and the belief in people so there’s a lot of things that led us to Brian but at the end of the day um the things that we knew about him he confirmed and gave us some new stuff as well Brian since January you really spoke about pouring into the players you never ever no matter how many times reporters try to ask you something about you you would deflect and talk about the team but today is about you it’s about you and your family and your journey have you given yourself time to kind of reflect on what this day means to you um yes I you’re you become grateful um the tremendous amount of gratitude I think I mentioned that in my opening remarks that there’s a lot of people who have contributed to this um and that’s the great part about the game that you the people you meet the people who shape you and I’ve thought a lot of a lot of them I’ve talked to a lot of them over the last week or so and I think that’s to me is the the part that it really stands out to me is like this game has brought me to places that I never thought I would have been I’m from small town Winchester Massachusetts to be able to travel and live the world and meet all these unique people and help them shape who I am tremendously grateful I think that’s what the things that stands out for me personally uh it’s time to open up for the he won’t talk about himself but uh when we had that initial phone call he was uh emotional and we could tell how much it meant to him and when Michael and I were on that other end of the phone it made us feel really good about it too it’s time to open it up to the Press we just ask you when the microphones come to you if you can please state your name and your affiliation we appreciate that hi Brian Ava Wallace The Washington Post um just I wonder I think we kind of asked you do this on exit interviews and you deflected as usual cuz it was a question about you but I wonder what you feel like is the first step with this group when you get with them in summer league or summer workouts or whenever you see them next as kind of a a bunch what do you want to get to first or what do you want to pick up from um where you guys were at the end of last season on the court uh I think the biggest thing is I think Will said this this is the stuff that I believe in is pour into the relationship part um I’ve already talked to all of our guys they were they reached out to me as soon as they found the news we we want to pour into them as people to invest into them as people first and then into their games that’s how how we’re going to operate as an organization that’s what Michael and will believe in and Ted this is a a relationship business and when you develop these relationships then you can really dig into the stuff that we need to improve on so we’re already into that that’s what I’ve been focusing on and that was what I focused on from day one the basketball stuff we’re going to go tackle that and we’re not going to run from where we are but the relationship stuff is always going to be number one for us because that’s how you’re going to make the most movement to reach these guys to help them realize where we can go as a team and how we can grow and will if I could ask you one um Brian spoke about alignment and alignment with you and Michael how additive is it in a front office that does like to work collaboratively um that you guys have a lot of kind of core philosophies that you share that you come from a lot of the same basketball background in Oklahoma City how much of an attribute is that for how you guys like to to run your organization yeah I think different experiences from different people when you put it together in a group in a room of people that are making decisions is great when you have previous relationships that also helps but there’s a lot of people that we have previous relationships with and spent time with that aren’t necessary as aligned so when you can put everybody in the room and kind of come up with fresh ideas and see things where they are I think it allows for you to have honest conversation I think um while we’re going through it we know you’ll be supported and at the end of the day we speak the same language so there there’s a benefit in terms of the pace and getting to off the ground but long term we still have a lot of work to do in figuring out where we go from there but it definitely gives us a head start uh Dave Johnson Wizards radio and president of the Chris Miller fan club Brian you talked about allowing players into your to their lives just can you talk a little bit more maybe just touch on it somewhat but you know how important that Nuance is to successful because everybody knows everybody’s plays and basketball is basketball but that seems like it’s the the Difference Maker uh yeah I think personally for me it’s each of us is unique person and I have a great respect for our players and all players but like this is a really hard job playing is one of the hardest things you have to do you’re performing in front of a lot of people so I’ve always had great empathy for our guys that but I want to find out who they are and what makes them tick um to help them being in the best vers be the best version version of themselves so I think pouring into that uh being curious about who they are I I think that’s something I’ve always wanted to be and that’s something I want to continue to grow in this role to help our buys you know be the best version of themselves in as a team and also just real quick uh when people ask about part of your journey last season when you were in charge of you I always reference that Lakers game at home where all of a sudden everybody’s scrambling the starters for the Lakers are trying to get back in the game is that am I making too much of that or is that kind of a blueprint of how you need to go going forward where a game is never really over yeah I I I do think that was a good example of something that we wanted to build on um we had a lot of examples have this year where you know maybe it wasn’t going our Direction but then our guys continued to fight and continued to play um we think those are the stuff that helps build something that’s going to be sustainable those are the small building blocks that we’re going to look to build every day and those are some of the examples you see live but we see that stuff in the gym we see that stuff in the work that these guys are already doing right now um and that stuff really matters for us because I think I wanted to say this earlier but like the opportunity to build something and building it with Michael and will and laying a foundation for something this is why this job to me is so exciting because it’s a it’s a chance to align and build it the right way and I couldn’t be more enthused by that that Christy winter Scott Monumental Sports Network coach you said that relationships that’ll be square one in 30 games that was just a small sample size of schematically speaking what you want this team to look like so step two will be tactical what did are the first steps for you on the court with the team and what do you want your footprint to be for this team I think you saw a little bit of it um during that that last part of the Season uh we want to be a team that plays on on offense that plays fast who shares the ball uh and I thought we saw some of that um defense is obviously going to be a focus because that that’s a a thing that wins but we also want to be very strategic as how we build this we’re going to be adding new players we’re going to look for the best Solutions so I think that for us as a staff and as an organization we’re always going to be looking for what’s best for our group now but also what’s best for our group going forward so there’s always going to be part of it where we’re going to be hey as will said one of the things I think is like how can we best use our players and that might not be right now that might pay off in two years from now so we’re always going to be pushing the envelope in terms of what’s going to make us a sustainable winner because that’s at the end of the day is the most important thing for us uh Brian Al Wizards radio um I believe after either your first or second win when you took over one of the players said something to the extent of one of the new things you were bringing was mindfulness training and you maybe even had a meditation session that was sort of geared towards uh trying to sort of harp on attention to detail in your philosophy basketball-wise attention to detail how coachable is it and where were maybe some of the strides you saw saw it over that second half of the Season yeah I one of the things that we talked about when I took over was the mindset and it wasn’t exactly probably a meditation session but it was more like how we’re going to approach every day um how we’re going to tackle practices and shootarounds and our individual development work our recovery our strength and conditioning we believe that all those things matter and when you do those things and prepare those ways those are going to lead to success sustainable success we didn’t see that right away but I think we did see that our guys started improving um they started becoming more consistent and that’s the stuff specifically we’re going to continue to work on in the off season to push ourselves to to the maximum amount of our ability so like we’re constantly trying to involve in those areas but those are the things we think about on a day-to-day basis yeah and I’ll just add that Brian was intentional when he first got there to make sure he addressed those things and it’s it’s more of a mindset shift in making it a focus he has such a strong Player Development background that he really poured into everything that we were doing with the players as the lead assistant and now to to have that background as the head coach is something I think you’ll see more in just terms of collaboration and pushing those things with the staff together um but also with the players hey Brian David Aldridge with the athletic uh congrats by the way first of all um we’ve talked a lot over the years about getting comfortable being uncomfortable and I just wonder how that Evolution has occurred in you over the years to be able to speak as a young assistant coach to Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City and tell him his body language is terrible and and to get straight and now to have to do it as the head coach where you’re words are taken differently than they are when you’re the assistant coach how has that kind of evolved for you over the years yeah I think Will made a reference to this but I was very lucky as a young coach to be put in situations that I probably wasn’t quite ready for yet and had great mentors and coaches who allowed me to grow and know one of the things that I had some of a mentors was they to be honest and to be able to I think this is why the relationship part is such a big deal to me so I can have honest conversations with our guys to get better um I have definitely learned and grown from each of these examples in different places I worked with but yes it is a different place now and in the role I’m in now I think it’s still about the honesty and being truthful because I think that’s what our players want they want to get better they want to improve and I think the only way for our organization to move forward is to have those things and I’m going to continue to lean into that Ryan you’ve been with teams at so many different stages you’ve obviously made the playoffs with a bunch of different teams um what either appeals to you or what’s kind of what might you relish about um coaching the Wizards where they are now where it is such a young team you guys are kind of on the rebuilding track what what does that demand from a head coach and does that excite you at all uh I’m beyond excited uh first of all and I I should have referenced this earlier this is a great Community um we want to make this uh what the style of play and how we are going to operate that something that our community would be proud of this is a basketball Community this is a great city to live in um we felt the support and we weren’t doing great as we all would have liked and we I felt the support during the games I felt the support out in the community um but like I said with getting the opportunity to work and collaborate not just with Michael and will in ownership but also with our support staff our goo staff we’re all in this together and I believe in collaboration and we have a group that believes in that also to get to do those things like I’m ready to go like I am excited um that gets me up in the morning and gets my juices flowing and that’s what we’re about and we’re building it step by step Brick by Brick and that’s a very rare opportunity in sports to get to do that and to get to do that with the people I get to work with I couldn’t couldn’t be more than thrilled and that’ll do it for this portion of the press conference again Brian on behalf of all of us congratulations congratulations to your family make sure dad takes you guys to the beach before he gets to work all right

Head Coach Brian Keefe and GM Will Dawkins spoke to the media for the first time after announcing that Brian Keefe was named the Wizards’ 26th Head Coach in franchise history.

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