Paul Westhead
Episode 110
8 MAR 2021
The only coach to win a championship in the NBA and the WNBA. Over a career that spanned more than 40 years, he was the head coach of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, and Denver Nuggets, plus he went on to be an assistant coach with Golden State, Orlando, Seattle, and Oklahoma City. His WNBA Championship came with the Phoenix Mercury. Plus, he coached men and women’s basketball collegiately, at LaSalle, Loyola, George Mason, and Oregon. He even coached in Puerto Rico and in a pro basketball league in Japan. And, last November he put out a book called, “The Speed Game: My Fast Times in Basketball.”
Notable guest quotes:
“I lived in Philadelphia. It was just my brother and I, Peter and Paul. My mother decided that she’d pick two famous saints of all-time.”
“After West Catholic (High School) I did go to a prep school for a year. I went to Malvern Prep, which is run by the Augustinian Fathers.”
“I really wasn’t thinking the NBA. I saw myself as a teacher and coach.”
“If there’s something to be learned from my career, it’s, you’re gonna have a lot of bumps and a lot of downtime, but, if you could just find one friend to pick you up, that’s all you need.”
“We knelt down in the locker room before games at St. Joseph’s and said the rosary.”
“Most of my basketball coaching was two to three years or less in the same city. And it’s difficult for the family, difficult for my wife in particular… But in each city, we would establish a parish that we’d get involved with.”
“The center of our spiritual life was always in the local parish church. And sometimes they were on campus. Like, we would go to the campus ministry at the University of Oregon, which was delightful.”
“We just celebrated our anniversary. February 23rd we were married 58 years.”
Related link:
Paul’s book, “The Speed Game: My Fast Times in Basketball“