Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant Omar Cook GRATEFUL for Chance To Coach Team at NBA Summer League
March, what does it mean, you know, to have the opportunity to be the head coach? I’m excited, you know. Um, didn’t think it would happen so fast, you know, so just excited for the opportunity. I’m trying to grow in this position, you know, grow as a coach, bring my knowledge from a being a player to a coach as well. So, I’m just grateful for the opportunity. journey is taking you all over the world. I think for me with the summer league guys going through that process myself I can kind of guide them on things that I experienced stuff that went the right way, stuff that went the wrong way. Just try to get guys to play the right way and you know not try to be selfish or try to be scorers cuz that’s not going to help them make this team. In what areas as a coach do you hope I can grow during this school? Um, just finding comfortability, finding my voice. Um, being a leader, you know, uh, as a player, it was easy to lead, but when I got here, kind of wasn’t talking as much, but now being in this position, I could probably lead the team more than I did in the last few years. What sort of advice is Kenny or anyone else giving? Um, a lot of the uh the staff, like the other assistant coaches have really been helping me out. Any questions I have, they’ve been answering it for me, too. And um Kenny is kind of like uh let me learn on the fly a little bit, you know. Uh I don’t know how it’s going to be when we get to Vegas, but he’s like kind of like, you know, do your thing a little bit and it’s been really great. When you learned this roster, what do you like about the makeup of it, some of the guys that you’re now getting to work with for the summer? Yeah, I think the size. I think that’s the most important part of this roster is we got a lot of size and length, a lot of switchable players. Uh we got two small guys and then everybody else is like 6’5 and over. So I think three small guys actually. So everybody is like 6’5 and over switchable guys, multiple guys can play different positions. So I think that’s great for us too. You know what the core is for this team. What do you tell the guys that are looking to make an impact and maybe get a spot here? Yeah. Uh our first meeting yesterday, I was talking about, you know, playing the right way. Uh being professional, uh being connected as a team. I feel like if you play team basketball, that’s going to help show NBA teams, our team, that you’re ready to compete and win a spot in NBA. Omar, what do you think? So far, how have you been able to see Jaylen Heis make a jump from last week this year so far? Yeah, I think last year was his first year, so he was kind of like fresh out. You can see he’s hungry. um you know not playing as many minutes as he probably expected coming into the season. I think he’s very hungry right now. He’s usually the first guy here and he’s always on the court. I think he’s uh learning to take care of his body more so he’s doing treatment and things like that. So I think one year experience is helping him a lot in that way. What are you asking out of Tyrese during summer league? Shoot the ball. Shoot the ball. I think uh we drafted him because of he’s a shot maker and you know don’t pass up shots, shoot the ball. Um obviously being a rookie, his first time playing uh he going to have to learn on the fly, but we want him to be aggressive. What do you expect out of guys that have been in summer league before like Jay like that this is their first time? Um just approach it the right way. Uh don’t look at it as punishment. look at it as an opportunity to, you know, find ways to get better one and then find ways to find minutes next season. Given your point point guard background, like how much responsibility do you feel when it comes to like mentoring, developing guys like Tyrese who has that kind of skill set? Um, I think with my experience, it helps a lot. you know, playing, you know, many different levels in basketball, starting in the NBA, playing in the G- League, playing overseas. I think my experience helped him a lot, but just, you know, being an air, you know, things I’ve been through, things I saw just helping him in that way. What sort of adjustment was it for you initially going from player to coach? And you just said you’re learning on the fly. So, what kind of things are those? Yeah. So, like as a player, when I wanted to demonstrate stuff to my teammates, I can do it with action. as a coach, it’s you got to be able to do it with your voice. So, just learning how to speak to players without, you know, being able to actually demonstrate it is a lot different from a coach’s perspective. People always say, don’t read too much into summer league good or bad. What What if anything about go through the next couple weeks will translate to where they’re eventually going? Like I said, just have the right approach, be professional, be great teammates, and you don’t know when this opportunity is going to come again. So, just take advantage of it. What What do you look for if potential early indicators like, oh, this guy could be someone that can help us out? I think with our team, uh, the Cavs, you need guys that can defend, guys. Uh obviously we want to be a great a great defensive team this year. So just guys that can help us in that area. It’s only been a couple practices. What do you see that? Say it again. I know it’s only been a couple practices out of I like his size, you know, like he’s legit 6’8, 69. He stretched the floor. He’s been playing the right way. So I like that about him as well. when you think about how do you want to be an industry basketball? Yeah, I’m just I’m grateful, you know, um came to a great organization. They helped me grow as a person and as a coach and I’m just grateful for the opportunity and I’m just excited to get going.
Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Omar Cook meets with the media after being named the Cavs’ Summer League head coach. He reflects on his unique path to coaching in the NBA, what his most important adjustment has been from being a player to being on the sidelines and more.
Cook also addressed the Cavs’ roster heading into Las Vegas and what the focus areas will be for Jaylon Tyson, Craig Porter Jr. and rookie Tyrese Proctor.
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SUBSCRIBE to Courtside with Cavs on SI on YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and wherever you get your podcasts!
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Welcome to Cavs On SI! We are associated with the On SI network through the Sports Illustrated Media Group. We’ll cover all of the latest Cleveland Cavaliers news and share our opinions and analysis with live streams and postgame reactions throughout this season.
SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more coverage of the Cavaliers, and be sure to follow our comprehensive Cavs coverage through the On SI network here:
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