After Brian Keefe took over as the Washington Wizards’ interim coach in January, he spent the next few months deflecting any personal questions that came his way. What did it mean, after nearly two decades in the NBA, to take control of a team for the first time? How did it feel to coach against the Boston Celtics, the team he grew up watching as a kid in Winchester, Mass.? Had he had a moment, in the middle of his frenetic first season with Washington, to take in all the change?
Keefe’s answer was usually the same: He had been too focused on getting the team on track to dwell much on his situation.
While Keefe was more willing to talk about himself at his introductory news conference Tuesday at the swanky Pendry hotel, not much has changed as he prepares to take charge as the 26th head coach in franchise history.
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The players are still the focus. Asked about his priority for this young roster, he said continuing to develop relationships is first on his to-do list.
“We want to pour into [the players] as people, to invest into them as people first and then into their games,” Keefe said while sitting next to General Manager Will Dawkins on the dais and in front of Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger and team owner Ted Leonsis in the audience. “That’s how we’re going to operate as an organization. That’s what Michael and Will believe in, and Ted — this is a relationship business. And when you develop these relationships, then you can really dig into the stuff that we need to improve on.”
To be clear, Keefe understands the Wizards’ “to improve” list is long after they finished a franchise-worst 15-67 last season, including an 8-31 record during his 39 games in charge. The 48-year-old has a vision on the court — he wants his team to play fast, share the ball and get out and run.
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But to the first-time head coach, relationships are the bedrock of success. His career as an assistant has taken him through Seattle, Oklahoma City, New York, Los Angeles (with the Lakers) and Brooklyn. He has been on the coaching staff of playoff teams and of franchises in building mode.
The coaching advice he recalled Tuesday from various mentors was to “be honest.”
“I think this is why the relationship part is such a big deal to me, so I can have honest conversations with our guys to get better,” Keefe said while building on an earlier thought in which he described his approach to coaching. “I want to find out who they are and what makes them tick, to help them be the best versions of themselves.”
That’s what the players said they wanted in a coach at the end of the season. It’s hard to believe during a rebuild, to keep the bigger picture in mind through a 67-loss season, if you don’t believe in the coach. “Just as much as we need somebody who’s brilliant on the whiteboard and drawing up X’s and O’s and reading the flow of the game, we need somebody to be able to connect and relate,” forward Corey Kispert said.
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Keefe’s ability to inspire the locker room helped convince Dawkins and Winger that he was the right man for the job.
“Brian has a unique ability to see people and things for what they can be, not for what they are or who they are right now currently. When you think of our team and the phase that we’re in, that’s really, really important,” Dawkins said. “... He’s all about habits. He’s all about people. He can see big-picture things.”
Keefe will carry that big-picture perspective into what he does with the Wizards on the court. He will soon begin assembling a staff after the contracts of most of the assistants who were hired under Wes Unseld Jr. expired — though David Vanterpool, who was brought on as an assistant last summer at the same time as Keefe, remains with the team.
There will be more additions after that. The Wizards hold the second, 26th and 51st picks in the draft, which is June 26 and 27. If all goes according to plan, the Wizards will be picking early for years to come. To Keefe, that means being strategic about crafting a playing style not just for today’s NBA but for the future.
“We’re going to be adding new players, we’re going to look for the best solutions, so I think for us as a staff, as an organization, we’re always going to be looking for, ‘What’s best for our group now, but also what’s best for our group going forward?’ ” Keefe said. “... We’re always going to be pushing the envelope in terms of what’s going to make us a sustainable winner because, at the end of the day, that’s the most important thing for us.”
