Kenneth Faried, right, played for Mike Krzyzewski during Team USA’s run in the FIBA World Cup this past summer. (Alvaro Barrientos, The Associated Press)
At Nuggets media day on Monday, it was clear . And it wasn’t just the massive chunk of gold around his neck. He was always a confident guy, but not like this. Not with the determination and eagerness to continue to prove people wrong.
He spoke about how the medal was a bit of validation for him and how it proved to himself, and others, that he can be one of the game’s top power forwards. But as he spoke, it was also clear that this outlook was a result of the summer and his time with Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Under Krzyzewski, Faried learned how to lead.
“It was weird, Coach K was talking to me and said I needed to be that leader in practice and on the court, he needs me to bring that energy to be that leader that I should be,” Faried said. “And to hear it from one of the greatest coaches in the world, a Hall of Famer … it just registered like, ‘Hey, you can do anything, Kenneth. You can go out there and win a gold. You can go out there and compete with these guys, and in the NBA, you can do the same thing.'”
“You need that from a coach. You need a coach to have faith in you, and if he doesn’t, that’s a problem, because it means he doesn’t want you there or want you to be a part of the bigger picture or bigger plan for the team.”
Faried said Krzyzewski called him before the team arrived in Spain for the FIBA World Cup to give him a fair warning that he would not be a starter. Faried accepted that, and was mentally prepared to come off the bench.
But come practice, Krzyzewski threw him in with the starters. No heads up. No anything.
“He sat me down and said, ‘Look I need you to be the guy you are. Don’t come in here thinking you have to take a back seat to any of these guys. Lead by example, lead by your words. If you say something, I’m going to back it up,'” Faried said.
Earning the respect of Krzyzewski was a huge confidence boost for Faried.
“If I can earn the respect of one the legendary coaches who coached LeBron, Durant, was around when Jordan was around, coached Kobe, and was able to watch film and break things down with Jordan and all these great players before me, I think I can earn the respect of my coaches if I do say something,” he said. “That’s what I’m hoping. I’m wishing this would happen here.”
Faried said he still talks to Krzyzewski, and that Krzyzewski even reached out to him after he returned to Denver to remind him that if he needed advice or someone to talk to, he would be there for him.
“He was like, ‘I’m proud of you. You did a great job. In all the adversity, you still made it though.’ That meant a lot,” Faried said “I don’t know if he called everybody or just a few people, but to hear that from him, that was an honor.”
