“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” (Thomas Edison)
Adrian Griffin was hired as the head basketball coach of the Milwaukee Bucks just two years after the Greek Freek (Giannis Antetokounmpo) led the team to an NBA World Championship.
His path to becoming the head coach was less conventional than we’ve come to expect, but there are some lessons from Adrian’s story that we can learn from.
After a stellar collegiate career at Seton Hall, Adrian was undrafted but still found a way to play nine years in the NBA, gaining quite a reputation as a defensive stopper. He was regularly assigned to the other team’s star player.
He was cut just hours before the first game in what would have been his tenth season but was so highly thought of that the head coach offered him an assistant coaching position on the spot. This began a 15-year journey in which he experienced only two losing seasons. He even was the lead assistant for the Toronto Raptors when they won the NBA Championship in 2019.
Click here to listen to Adrian’s interview on the “Success is a Choice” podcast network.
His work ethic – both as a player and coach – was unquestioned. He simply worked harder than most. He was hungry. He never wanted to take anything for granted or rest on his laurels.
A strong work ethic almost always is accompanied by grit, perseverance, and the ability to bounce back from challenging situations, setbacks, and disappointments.
Before he was named as the Bucks coach, you may not have heard much about Adrian Griffin. He wasn’t perfecting his social media game or doing the interview circuit on ESPN, instead, he was just putting in the work.
It’s said that the best interview is doing your current job really well and Adrian Griffin did that. He built relationships with players and devised game plans. He excelled in the unseen hours. You might not have known who he was, but NBA General Managers did. People tend to talk and Adrian was in a lot of conversations.
As Bucks GM Jon Horst would later say, “Adrian was an NBA head coach who hadn’t yet gotten an opportunity.”
Adrian ended up having a handful of head coaching interviews in the last two years. He was never able to get the offer, though. Many NBA fans didn’t even realize he actually had in-person interviews for some good jobs because he didn’t make a big deal about it when he wasn’t hired.
He didn’t make a big deal that he was in the mix for certain jobs.
And when they gave those jobs to someone else, he didn’t play the victim card, make excuses, or get bitter. He did what he did when he was fighting for an NBA roster spot year after year, he put his nose to the grindstone and kept working. He couldn’t totally control if someone hired him, but he could completely control his own effort, attitude, and personal development.
The great statesman and Army General Colin Powell liked to say, “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
Last year, Adrian earned his doctorate degree in organizational leadership. This was another step toward making himself a better coach. You see, his professional goal was to be a head coach, but his overarching goal was to be a positive leader, a person of character, and someone who makes a difference. He didn’t need to be an NBA head coach to achieve those things.
Adrian’s father used to say, “Be faithful with the little things and you’ll receive a whole lot more big things.”
It’s rare for a first-time head coach to take the reins of a ready-made championship contender, but Adrian is one of the few fortunate ones.
He didn’t get the job because he was a Hall of Fame player. He didn’t get the job because he was the flavor of the month fresh off winning a championship. He didn’t get the job because he used to coach Giannis. He got the job because he earned the job, just like he had to earn every minute he ever got as a player.
Part of earning the job was consistently doing the things that mattered. He made other people better. He made situations better.
There’s an old adage that says, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Horst said that “everyone was impressed with him every step of the way from the work ethic he has to his relationship-building qualities to the person that he is.”
Abraham Lincoln said, “I will prepare and someday my chance will come.”
Adrian Griffin prepared every day to be the best coach, leader, and man he could be.
Now, he gets the chance to be the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and help his new players reach their potential and maximize their success.