Steve Kerr met for about half an hour with Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon before the Cubs game in San Diego at Petco Park on Tuesday night.
Maddon is a student of leadership, and appreciates the opportunity to meet with other successful head coaches in different sports in order to pick their brain.
“You got a combination of great players and his touch,” Maddon said, referring to how Kerr has been able to sustain a winning environment with the Warriors.
Maddon was equally impressed with how Luke Walton didn’t miss a beat when he was coaching the team at the beginning of the season while Kerr recovered from complications due to back surgery.
“What that tells me is that they built something pretty dynamic culturally,” said Maddon, very much in awe of the franchise.
Great organizations aren’t just defined by talented individuals, but habits developed through prolonged periods of prosperity to ensure that the success continues.
Maddon elaborated that he sees similarities between the Warriors and Cubs, primarily in the talent level of the players. While he acknowledges the importance of tactical adequacy, he also realizes that knowing when to let go is a crucial component of successful coaching.
“When you have individual talent like that- like we do- you don’t want to get in the way too often either,” said Maddon. “I don’t want to get in their way at all.”
Maddon specifically admires how the Warriors have fostered such great chemistry that their reputation as being a fun place to play helped lure Kevin Durant to the team this offseason.
“You don’t get that everywhere,” said Maddon. “It doesn’t happen. I’ve been in places where it doesn’t feel that way. But if you develop that, and people want to come there- good people want to come to your spot- that’s pretty solid.”
As Maddon seeks to deliver the Cubs their first World Series title since 1908, it sounds like he has picked the right organization to try to emulate.