Lindsey Harding on Being an NBA Player Development Coach

Former women's star now coaching the Kings

Lindsey Harding starred on the Duke women’s team and then in the WNBA. Now, she’s a pioneer, joining a growing number of women who are coaching men at the highest level. Harding took a job last year as Player Development Coach for the Sacramento Kings.

She works with players who might need some individual attention.

“A lot of it is I make sure I’m on the same page as our head coach, Luke Walton,” she said at the Junior NBA's Leadership Conference. “We’ll say, ‘This is what I’m looking at as the plan for the week or the day.’ I watch a lot of film, looking at when this player was in the game. What things to they need to work on. It could be as simple as footwork or getting shots up. It could be learning the plays or understanding what the plays are for. It changes throughout the season. Some guys play a lot, so it’s not a lot (for her to do). Some are coming back from injury. Some are rookies coming back and forth from the G League. They may need to work on their shooting form. It varies.”

The one-on-one work allows her to form bonds with the Kings players.

“Personally, I develop these relationships, and I care. I see them working hard and I want them to get opportunities and be prepared when they get them. And, of course, the better they play, the better for us.”

Harding provides an upbeat attitude, which she tries to pass on to her players, even the ones frustrated by injury or a lack of playing time.

“One of my coaching philosophies is the power of positive thinking,” she said. “In any situation, you can choose to be positive or negative. You may have had a bad day. Maybe you didn’t play much and, now, today, you have practice. You might have the mentality of being upset, not wanted to be there. Now, imagine what practice is going to be like, or you can flip it. You can say, “I’m gonna show you I should be playing. I’m going to show you how hard I go today. You don’t want players to underestimate their power. You have that control. You have that power. Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character. Your character becomes your destiny."

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