At the time, I was employed by Wasserman Media Group, an agency that represents dozens of top NBA players. This is the job of a full-time basketball trainer, a rapidly growing occupation that didn’t really exist back then, at least not in the NBA. I know they need to vent to someone, so I’m there to listen to their stresses and hear out their frustrations and insecurities. And I like to stay in touch with them during the season to talk about their progress and what I’m seeing on video. Often, when the workouts are done, we go to lunch or dinner, which makes us friends. I jump in and participate in the workouts, sometimes joining games of two-on-two or full-court pickup, so in a way I’m their peer (just shorter, slower, and much less talented). Except they’re also paying me (or their agents are), which also makes me their employee. That’s why they’re here.Īnd why, you may ask, am I here, a six-foot-one, 170-pound, thirty-year-old dude from Rhode Island whose only hope of getting near the floor of an NBA game is by scoring a courtside ticket? Well, I’m the trainer, which makes me the boss, I guess. They played well that first year, but they’re just kids-not even old enough to drink yet. They were all top five picks in the draft. All three guys are coming off rookie seasons. They’re breathing heavily, but I won’t let them stop, and they don’t want to show weakness. They attempt ten in a row and then do a sprint to the far baseline and back.
A series of shooting drills where they run across the court to five different spots behind the three-point line, and then catch and shoot. Most days it starts with Russ-that guy’s got stupid intensity-but Kevin and Derrick will never let him get too far out in front, whether it’s how many jumpers he makes or how hard he dunks.Īfter a while we graduate to more challenging moves. That’s why the three of them like working out together. When they’re in the NBA, these guys are competitors, but today they’re… well, competitors. We start with some basic moves-jab step right, jab step left, one-dribble pull-ups, right side, left side, pump-fake drives-with some hard sprinting in between. It doesn’t take long for them to stretch and get ready, too, and the net work begins. Pretty soon the other guys-Derrick Rose and Kevin Love-hustle into the gym. Russ has already worked up a sweat and he’s ready to go. That guy’s crazy, I think, not for the first time. “Yo, Mac, where you at?” he says, already irritated. workout doesn’t begin for another twenty minutes, so I’m good. I’m behind the wheel of my car, circling the block near Saint Monica Catholic High School in search of a parking spot. It’s another sunny, beautiful morning in Santa Monica, California. This book is life inside the NBA as you’ve never seen it, where players differentiate themselves by their willingness to put in relentless “net work.” ExcerptĬhapter One: Perfect Reps CHAPTER ONE PERFECT REPS McClanaghan shares stories of working one-on-one with some of basketball’s greatest names, explaining how each athlete works to shore up his offensive and defensive weaknesses perfect his nutrition treat injuries build mental toughness and find occasional refuge from the glare of the spotlight.
McClanaghan pushes his clients hard he does whatever he can to drive his players to the edge and to simulate fourth quarter, at-the-buzzer adrenaline and fatigue.Īn all-access pass to the practice courts of the NBA, Net Work combines McClanaghan’s hard-earned wisdom-both on and off the court-with rare glimpses into the dues-paying life of professional athletes determined to stay at the top. He calls it “the grind,” and he knows that without it, even the most talented players will come up short. In Net Work, McClanaghan’s “experience, knowledge, and keen understanding of the sport jumps off the pages” (Bob Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company) and he delivers what he brings to each of his training sessions: the same grit and spirit that got him into the college game. He returned to Syracuse for his sophomore year thirty pounds heavier and caught the coach’s eye. He was single-minded the only thing that mattered was defying the odds. For months, Rob traded fraternity parties and hanging out with buddies for hours in the gym lifting weights and shooting baskets. When Rob McClanaghan failed to make the Syracuse basketball team as a walk-on freshman, he asked the coaches what he needed to do to achieve his goal the following year. From the NBA’s most sought-after trainer and skills coach comes a “ backstage pass to a part of the NBA that most fans never see” (Pete Thamel, Yahoo Sports)-how superstars like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Love work to excel at the game.