Coaching LeBron James? Dru Joyce II remembers what it was like in the beginning
By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
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on June 05, 2015 at 4:00 PM, updated June 07, 2015 at 9:10 AM
AKRON, Ohio -- Remember when LeBron James changed a play drawn up by Cavaliers coach David Blatt?
It was Game 4 of the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavs were in Chicago with three seconds left in a tie game. Blatt's original idea was for James to throw an inbounds pass. Someone else -- probably J.R. Smith -- would take the shot.
James insisted that he take the final shot. Blatt went along with idea. Matthew Dellavedova threw the inbounds pass to James, who swished a jumper from the corner to win the game.
"I smiled about that," said Dru Joyce II, the head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary for the last 14 years. He then told a story about coaching a game against West Coast powerhouse Mater Dei.
"We were a pressing team back then," said Joyce. "And they were taking apart our press. I had LeBron and Dru (Dru Joyce III, his son) all over me about how we needed to get out of the press."
James kept telling Joyce, "They can't score on us in our halfcourt (defense)." Joyce III was offering the same opinion. The coach listened, changed defenses -- and the team won.
There were other instances when James offered ideas, and Joyce adopted them. He also said the same was true for Joyce III (the team's point guard) and some of the other players.
"My son and LeBron were never afraid to ask why we were doing something," said Joyce. "They were very smart about the game and wanted to know. They also had their own ideas."
So no one should be surprised when James does the same in the pros.
THE BIG SHADOW
"I have empathy for Coach Blatt because I know that LeBron's shadow is huge," said Joyce. "It was like that in high school. It's like that with the Cavs. It doesn't just cover the other players, it covers the coaches, the front office, the entire franchise."
And being in the shadow of James means extra scrutiny, especially for his coaches.
I have empathy for Coach Blatt because I know that LeBron's shadow is huge.
"It's a huge shadow," repeated Joyce. "But what I needed to remember when coaching LeBron was that he was for me. By that, I mean he wanted the same things that I wanted -- and we had to work together to make it happen."
Joyce has written an interesting book (Beyond Championships with Chris Morrow) partly based on his experiences coaching James, along with other lessons from coaching and life.
No one has coached James longer than Joyce. When James was 10, he joined a summer team coached by Joyce. James became close to Dru Joyce III and others from that Akron-based team. Joyce was with James for all four years at St. Vincent-St. Mary. In the first two years, Joyce was the assistant coach under Keith Dambrot. When Dambrot took an assistant coaching position at the University of Akron, Joyce became the head coach.
"I don't care what level, nothing prepares you for coaching LeBron," said Joyce, because so few players in basketball history are as gifted as James.
Certainly nothing Blatt experienced coaching in Europe or the Olympics approached having James on his team -- and all the media coverage that comes with it.
"When we had LeBron, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16," said Joyce. "We had ESPN broadcasting some of our games, and that hadn't happened before. There was so much media, I had to close practices."
It's been 12 years since he coached James, and Joyce still can't believe all the hype and attention.
"It was unprecedented," he said.
REPEAT OF HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
The Cavaliers in the NBA Finals is a little like the team that Joyce coached to a Number 1 national ranking in USA Today in 2003 -- James' senior year. This Cavs team no longer is The Big Three. Kevin Love is out with shoulder surgery. Kyrie Irving is battling knee and foot injuries and hasn't been close to his All-Star form.
When Matthew Dellavedova scored 19 points and threw in three surprising 3-pointers to help the Cavs eliminate Chicago in Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs, it was a little like Dru Joyce III making seven 3-pointers in the 2000 state title game.
In both cases, James kept feeding the unlikely heroes the ball.
In high school, Romeo Travis, Corey Jones, Willie McGee, Sian Cotton and Joyce III all played key roles. But none were highly recruited. Joyce III and Travis went on to excellent careers for Dambrot at Akron, but the Zips were their only Division I offers. Cotton and McGee played college football, Corey Jones became a star at Walsh University, an NAIA school.
"Marcus Johnson was a freshman on that (championship) team, and he played at Dayton," said Joyce. "But we were not like Oak Hill with the best guys from around the country. Other than Corey (Jones was from Avon), we pretty much were the best guys from the neighborhood."
Joyce recalled a tournament game in Dayton when James was awarded the MVP trophy. After the game, in front of everyone, he handed it to Jones, the sharp-shooting guard.
"When I see LeBron bring players up to the podium like Delly, Tristan (Thompson), J.R. (Smith) and others after playoff games, it's like what he did in high school," said Joyce. "He made a point of giving attention to other guys."
LEBRON LEARNING TO LEAD
Joyce said that it's natural for James to respect an older teammate who is the team leader.
"In high school, he immediately was the best player on our team," said Joyce. "But Maverick Carter was a senior and our leader. LeBron automatically deferred to him."
James was part of a terrific AAU team coached by Joyce with McGee, Cotton and Joyce III. It appeared they'd all go to Buchtel High, where Joyce was an assistant coach. But it was Joyce III who announced that he wanted to play for Keith Dambrot at St. Vincent-St. Mary.
As Joyce wrote in his book, his son believed Dambrot would give the 5-foot-2 point guard a fair chance. Joyce III wasn't sure that would be the case at Buchtel. The rest -- including James -- followed Joyce III to the Akron Catholic school. Joyce II and Lee Cotton (father of Sian) became assistant coaches to Dambrot.
Joyce III and James were the leaders, almost like co-captains, on those winning teams in their final three seasons.
"When LeBron went to Miami, it was natural for him to defer to Dwyane (Wade)," said Joyce. "Dwyane was older and had been there longer -- and he was a great player."
But with the Cavs, the 30-year-old James is now the clear leader.
"He sees himself as the big brother to those guys," said Joyce.
LEBRON'S VIEW OF THE GAME
"He loves shooters," said Joyce. "We had guys like Dru (III) and Corey Jones, and LeBron loved to set them up for open shots. He gets more joy out of that than he does scoring himself."
Joyce has always believed "that there's more Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan" in James. The pass means more than the shot, although he has learned there are times when he must take a lot of shots for his team to win.
That's been evident in the playoffs. That game-winning shot in Chicago? He was 9-of-29 before taking it. It was his 30th shot of the night. He was 14-of-37 for 37 points in a Game 3 overtime victory over Atlanta. He was 18-of-38 for 44 points in Thursday's Game 1 loss at Golden State.
"LeBron actually doesn't need a lot of guys who can generate their own shots," said Joyce.
Joyce means players who need to dominate the ball to score. It helps that Irving can create his own shot. But Dion Waiters was a bad fit -- leading to too many guys needing the ball.
J.R. Smith is a superb outside shooter. When he catches a pass, he either fires at the rim or passes it. Iman Shumpert and Dellavedova have learned how to get open for passes from James.
"One of LeBron's greatest gifts is that he can somehow see a play before it happens," said Joyce. "And he wants to make his teammates better."
THE BIG ADVICE
Joyce said once James left high school, he knew their relationship would change.
"After our last game when we won the (2003) state title in Columbus, I knew it was over," said Joyce. "He was going to the pros. I was a high school coach. Things had changed."
James and Joyce often text. Joyce runs King James Shooting Stars Classic each year in Akron where the best AAU teams compete.
"I'm not his coach anymore," said Joyce. "Really, I'm more like a fan."
But Joyce mentioned how he was with James on an "around the world tour" to promote the film "More Than a Game" about James and his high school days. Joyce found himself at a table with James and some celebrities. One of the stars had recently been divorced. Others said there was no need to get married, or at least wait until you're 40.
Joyce noticed James intently listening to all that. He turned to LeBron and said, "The best thing you can do for your sons is marry their mother."
James was already living with Savannah Brinson, a girl he'd met when she was at Buchtel High.
"People told me, 'Coach Dru, you're the exception, marriage doesn't work,'" Joyce recalled. But he quietly told James once again, "The best thing you can do for your sons is marry their mother."
James and Savannah were married in 2013. They now have three children: LeBron James Jr., Bryce Maximus, and a daughter named Zhuri.
"I sent him a text on his wedding day that I felt like a proud father," said Joyce. "I am so proud of him. He works hard at being a role model."
BEING AT HOME
While James had different father figures in his life, he grew up without his biological father.
"When I see LeBron with his sons, I know he wants them to know that he's there for them," said Joyce. "No matter all the celebrity stuff, he wants them to know that he will always be there for them."
James still stays close to some of his old friends. Dru Joyce III has had a long career playing pro basketball in Germany. Joyce said that last week, his son and James took their wives to a new hamburger place in Cuyahoga Falls called BurgerFi.
"They wanted to try it," he said. "While LeBron played in Miami for four years, he never really left home. This is home to him. He is more comfortable here than anywhere else. His heart has always been here. It will always be here."
Email the author
on June 05, 2015 at 4:00 PM, updated June 07, 2015 at 9:10 AM
AKRON, Ohio -- Remember when LeBron James changed a play drawn up by Cavaliers coach David Blatt?
It was Game 4 of the second round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavs were in Chicago with three seconds left in a tie game. Blatt's original idea was for James to throw an inbounds pass. Someone else -- probably J.R. Smith -- would take the shot.
James insisted that he take the final shot. Blatt went along with idea. Matthew Dellavedova threw the inbounds pass to James, who swished a jumper from the corner to win the game.
"I smiled about that," said Dru Joyce II, the head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary for the last 14 years. He then told a story about coaching a game against West Coast powerhouse Mater Dei.
"We were a pressing team back then," said Joyce. "And they were taking apart our press. I had LeBron and Dru (Dru Joyce III, his son) all over me about how we needed to get out of the press."
James kept telling Joyce, "They can't score on us in our halfcourt (defense)." Joyce III was offering the same opinion. The coach listened, changed defenses -- and the team won.
There were other instances when James offered ideas, and Joyce adopted them. He also said the same was true for Joyce III (the team's point guard) and some of the other players.
"My son and LeBron were never afraid to ask why we were doing something," said Joyce. "They were very smart about the game and wanted to know. They also had their own ideas."
So no one should be surprised when James does the same in the pros.
THE BIG SHADOW
"I have empathy for Coach Blatt because I know that LeBron's shadow is huge," said Joyce. "It was like that in high school. It's like that with the Cavs. It doesn't just cover the other players, it covers the coaches, the front office, the entire franchise."
And being in the shadow of James means extra scrutiny, especially for his coaches.
I have empathy for Coach Blatt because I know that LeBron's shadow is huge.
"It's a huge shadow," repeated Joyce. "But what I needed to remember when coaching LeBron was that he was for me. By that, I mean he wanted the same things that I wanted -- and we had to work together to make it happen."
Joyce has written an interesting book (Beyond Championships with Chris Morrow) partly based on his experiences coaching James, along with other lessons from coaching and life.
No one has coached James longer than Joyce. When James was 10, he joined a summer team coached by Joyce. James became close to Dru Joyce III and others from that Akron-based team. Joyce was with James for all four years at St. Vincent-St. Mary. In the first two years, Joyce was the assistant coach under Keith Dambrot. When Dambrot took an assistant coaching position at the University of Akron, Joyce became the head coach.
"I don't care what level, nothing prepares you for coaching LeBron," said Joyce, because so few players in basketball history are as gifted as James.
Certainly nothing Blatt experienced coaching in Europe or the Olympics approached having James on his team -- and all the media coverage that comes with it.
"When we had LeBron, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at age 16," said Joyce. "We had ESPN broadcasting some of our games, and that hadn't happened before. There was so much media, I had to close practices."
It's been 12 years since he coached James, and Joyce still can't believe all the hype and attention.
"It was unprecedented," he said.
REPEAT OF HIGH SCHOOL DAYS
The Cavaliers in the NBA Finals is a little like the team that Joyce coached to a Number 1 national ranking in USA Today in 2003 -- James' senior year. This Cavs team no longer is The Big Three. Kevin Love is out with shoulder surgery. Kyrie Irving is battling knee and foot injuries and hasn't been close to his All-Star form.
When Matthew Dellavedova scored 19 points and threw in three surprising 3-pointers to help the Cavs eliminate Chicago in Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs, it was a little like Dru Joyce III making seven 3-pointers in the 2000 state title game.
In both cases, James kept feeding the unlikely heroes the ball.
In high school, Romeo Travis, Corey Jones, Willie McGee, Sian Cotton and Joyce III all played key roles. But none were highly recruited. Joyce III and Travis went on to excellent careers for Dambrot at Akron, but the Zips were their only Division I offers. Cotton and McGee played college football, Corey Jones became a star at Walsh University, an NAIA school.
"Marcus Johnson was a freshman on that (championship) team, and he played at Dayton," said Joyce. "But we were not like Oak Hill with the best guys from around the country. Other than Corey (Jones was from Avon), we pretty much were the best guys from the neighborhood."
Joyce recalled a tournament game in Dayton when James was awarded the MVP trophy. After the game, in front of everyone, he handed it to Jones, the sharp-shooting guard.
"When I see LeBron bring players up to the podium like Delly, Tristan (Thompson), J.R. (Smith) and others after playoff games, it's like what he did in high school," said Joyce. "He made a point of giving attention to other guys."
LEBRON LEARNING TO LEAD
Joyce said that it's natural for James to respect an older teammate who is the team leader.
"In high school, he immediately was the best player on our team," said Joyce. "But Maverick Carter was a senior and our leader. LeBron automatically deferred to him."
James was part of a terrific AAU team coached by Joyce with McGee, Cotton and Joyce III. It appeared they'd all go to Buchtel High, where Joyce was an assistant coach. But it was Joyce III who announced that he wanted to play for Keith Dambrot at St. Vincent-St. Mary.
As Joyce wrote in his book, his son believed Dambrot would give the 5-foot-2 point guard a fair chance. Joyce III wasn't sure that would be the case at Buchtel. The rest -- including James -- followed Joyce III to the Akron Catholic school. Joyce II and Lee Cotton (father of Sian) became assistant coaches to Dambrot.
Joyce III and James were the leaders, almost like co-captains, on those winning teams in their final three seasons.
"When LeBron went to Miami, it was natural for him to defer to Dwyane (Wade)," said Joyce. "Dwyane was older and had been there longer -- and he was a great player."
But with the Cavs, the 30-year-old James is now the clear leader.
"He sees himself as the big brother to those guys," said Joyce.
LEBRON'S VIEW OF THE GAME
"He loves shooters," said Joyce. "We had guys like Dru (III) and Corey Jones, and LeBron loved to set them up for open shots. He gets more joy out of that than he does scoring himself."
Joyce has always believed "that there's more Magic Johnson than Michael Jordan" in James. The pass means more than the shot, although he has learned there are times when he must take a lot of shots for his team to win.
That's been evident in the playoffs. That game-winning shot in Chicago? He was 9-of-29 before taking it. It was his 30th shot of the night. He was 14-of-37 for 37 points in a Game 3 overtime victory over Atlanta. He was 18-of-38 for 44 points in Thursday's Game 1 loss at Golden State.
"LeBron actually doesn't need a lot of guys who can generate their own shots," said Joyce.
Joyce means players who need to dominate the ball to score. It helps that Irving can create his own shot. But Dion Waiters was a bad fit -- leading to too many guys needing the ball.
J.R. Smith is a superb outside shooter. When he catches a pass, he either fires at the rim or passes it. Iman Shumpert and Dellavedova have learned how to get open for passes from James.
"One of LeBron's greatest gifts is that he can somehow see a play before it happens," said Joyce. "And he wants to make his teammates better."
THE BIG ADVICE
Joyce said once James left high school, he knew their relationship would change.
"After our last game when we won the (2003) state title in Columbus, I knew it was over," said Joyce. "He was going to the pros. I was a high school coach. Things had changed."
James and Joyce often text. Joyce runs King James Shooting Stars Classic each year in Akron where the best AAU teams compete.
"I'm not his coach anymore," said Joyce. "Really, I'm more like a fan."
But Joyce mentioned how he was with James on an "around the world tour" to promote the film "More Than a Game" about James and his high school days. Joyce found himself at a table with James and some celebrities. One of the stars had recently been divorced. Others said there was no need to get married, or at least wait until you're 40.
Joyce noticed James intently listening to all that. He turned to LeBron and said, "The best thing you can do for your sons is marry their mother."
James was already living with Savannah Brinson, a girl he'd met when she was at Buchtel High.
"People told me, 'Coach Dru, you're the exception, marriage doesn't work,'" Joyce recalled. But he quietly told James once again, "The best thing you can do for your sons is marry their mother."
James and Savannah were married in 2013. They now have three children: LeBron James Jr., Bryce Maximus, and a daughter named Zhuri.
"I sent him a text on his wedding day that I felt like a proud father," said Joyce. "I am so proud of him. He works hard at being a role model."
BEING AT HOME
While James had different father figures in his life, he grew up without his biological father.
"When I see LeBron with his sons, I know he wants them to know that he's there for them," said Joyce. "No matter all the celebrity stuff, he wants them to know that he will always be there for them."
James still stays close to some of his old friends. Dru Joyce III has had a long career playing pro basketball in Germany. Joyce said that last week, his son and James took their wives to a new hamburger place in Cuyahoga Falls called BurgerFi.
"They wanted to try it," he said. "While LeBron played in Miami for four years, he never really left home. This is home to him. He is more comfortable here than anywhere else. His heart has always been here. It will always be here."
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