Pau Gasol is a now-retired professional basketball player. He’s Spanish, but he’s lived and worked in America for much of his adult life. He won two NBA Championships with the LA Lakers and he was incredibly close to Kobe Bryant and he’s still close to Kobe’s family. Well, Gasol is currently the President of Gasol16 Ventures and the Gasol Foundation. He’s also partnering with BetterUp, which means Gasol did an interview with BetterUp’s Chief Impact Officer Prince Harry. They spoke about teamwork, what it’s like to work with a coach, trust and more. Gasol also spoke to Sports Illustrated and they totally asked him about chatting with Harry:
Sports Illustrated: Why did you decide to work with BetterUp?
Pau Gasol: In our toughest and most challenging moments, I believe it is important to have a coach – a trusted voice who understands what you’re going through – to provide an objective perspective and help you break through any barriers that might be standing in your way.
BetterUp is one of the inventors and pioneers of virtual coaching, and as someone who attributes so much of my career success to the phenomenal coaches I’ve had throughout the years, I loved the idea that BetterUp was offering a similar resource for employees, leaders and organizations worldwide. In the same way a coach and player relationship is vital to success on and off the court, BetterUp understands the pivotal relationship between organizations and their employees, and what is needed to drive successful results
SI: You’ve sat through many, many interviews over the course of your career. What was it like to be interviewed by Prince Harry?
PG: I had a wonderful time chatting with Prince Harry. He’s an extremely accomplished individual, and has done a lot for the world of sports through his work with the Invictus Games Foundation. He is someone who, like me, is dedicated to service and understands the role of mental fitness in overall performance. During my interview with him, I talked about how I sustained flow and peak performance during a game. Everything I talked about can be applied in the workplace when someone is facing a loss in flow or motivation. It was a great conversation that really resonated with me.
SI: Is there one particular experience or part of your NBA career that you feel showcases the sort of teamwork and resilience you spoke about with Prince Harry?
PG: I would say our championship in 2010 is a perfect example of the teamwork and resilience we discussed. Heading into Game 6, we were down 2-3 against the Celtics, and knew that one more loss would be our last of the season. That Celtics team was unreal, with three guys who went on to the Hall of Fame. We were all exhausted, but we had to be ready to battle and take this series to the full seven games. As a team, we continued to practice, strategize, and dig deep to pull out all the possible energy we could for this stretch. As you know, we went on to win the final two games of the series and take home our second NBA Championship in a row. It’s hard to win a championship, and even harder to win two back-to-back championships, but having to overcome a deficit requires tremendous resilience, as well as physical and mental intensity. That’s the sort of success BetterUp tries to help organizations set themselves up for – the kind where leaders are able to help every member of a team reach their full potential.
I’m including a clip of Harry and Pau’s conversation below. I love that Gasol speaks about his admiration for Harry specifically as a mental health advocate and founder of the Invictus Games. What Gasol says about “emotional leaders” is fascinating to me. It looks like you have to sign in to BetterUp to watch the whole video (they didn’t put it on YouTube either) – go here to see.
Mamba Mindset
Basketball legend Pau Gasol in conversation with BetterUp Chief Impact Officer, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex on how having Kobe Bryant as a teammate pushed his performance and flow pic.twitter.com/9iOft8hUnC
— Dani (@ArchLiliHazMeg) October 3, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.