I don't think people out of the sports industry realize just how much time and energy people in the business work. I have two friends in college athletics. They never stop working. There is no vacation. There is no day offs. When I see my buddies they always have their laptop and no matter where we go, those laptops open up and they are working. 70-80 hour work weeks 52 weeks a year is normal.
You hear stories about film guys and coaches sleeping in their offices going over stuff all day and night. These aren't just glorifications to make these people look tough and committed. It's real. I have seen it firsthand for decades.
For those guys with kids, especially young kids, it's a major sacrifice. Brad seems like a committed family man. All that time in the bubble, constantly working. Constantly having to get tested. Constantly having to make sure his team was adhering to Covid protocols. And then having to do all that while a social reckoning was happening across America and affecting his players deeply.
I can completely understand him getting burnt out and not wanting to return. It would not surprise me if they told him he would be team president if he coached one more year as, it was pretty obvious Danny's time was drawing to a close.
We as fans most likely don't have the full story but I thought this tidbit interesting, especially as it came from someone close to Brad on a personal level.
Reminds me of the Tom Thibodeau stories:
They connect with him on most days, even if they rarely see him, at least in person. His family understood when, over the years, he missed weddings, funerals, baptisms and birthday parties. He came home in late November during the N.B.A. lockout and took part in a family holiday for the first time in 20 years.
Even then, he spent one afternoon teaching his nephew the proper defensive stance.
Thibodeau was engaged once. He was in graduate school, an assistant at his alma mater, Salem State. Her name was Debbie, one of two Debbies that college teammates said he dated simultaneously, D1 and D2 at first for short.
They canceled the wedding about six weeks out, and Thibodeau’s mother made him return what gifts the couple had received. Reasons for the engagement’s end varied, but John Galaris, Thibodeau’s boss and the athletic director at Salem State, said Thibodeau told him, “There’s no room in my life for a woman if I’m going to be a basketball coach.”
Seeing a lot of this in my industry too.
I've been advocating for achieving more by doing less for many years, and helped many a person fix their lives up a bit by learning to say no.
There are heavy, heavy diminishing returns on the amount of hours you spend working.
And the cost they come at increases exponentially too.
This means the divide between the two grows to absurd levels.
Happiness is different for different people, but for most of us, it's built on a healthy equilibrium and stark delineation between work and life.
--
As for burning out during the bubble, and being tuned out by the team ... that's probably helluva vicious circle.
We're humans. Body language communicates a lot. And our attitudes are reflected in much more than just that. Even affects our interactions in small ways.
And when you notice someone's burnt out on the job, and going through the motions (no matter how hard they try) it will become more difficult to really listen to them. Or at the very least it'll affect their ability to inspire you.
Isolation is rough. It's like a jail sentence.
Thanks for sharing this Nick.
Just wish Brad would've spoken more about this. It's fine to fail sometimes, y'know. It really is. Especially when you own it.
Topic: Brad Stevens was burnt out as coach before last season. (Read 5509 times)