CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Having a couple of dinner guests over is difficult enough. Imagine the chore associated with hosting more than a dozen people and making them feel at ease while munching on some hearty cooking.
That’s exactly what James Borrego did last Sunday, complete with places to leave those expensive cars in which some arrived to the festivities.
“I had parking for them, I had food for them,” the Charlotte Hornets coach said Friday. “They left a few spots, dropped some food here and there. But I’ll send a bill to Mitch (Kupchak, the GM).”
With less than 24 hours until the Hornets officially tipped off their fourth training camp under Borrego, he had the players over to mingle in an outdoor patio setting. In inviting them to his place, the purpose was all about the three Fs — food, fun and fellowship.
Good times were had by everybody.
“That was great for us, just to get our chemistry together and come out and talk about all our goals that we have planned for this year,” Miles Bridges said. “Yeah, Coach J.B. has a nice house. We got to conversate, have a little fun over there. And it was great for team chemistry.”
One of the Hornets’ newest members certainly thought so.
“That’s huge,” Ish Smith said. “That’s huge and Coach Borrego knows better than anybody, especially being in San Antonio winning the championships he won. Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich), I know I’m sure he did the same thing there, and Coach is bringing that same kind of winning mentality, winning spirit, winning camaraderie here. And that’s huge — just that kind of family building and camaraderie that you have with each other and you getting to know each other as people. That goes a long way.
“I hear so many retired players say that is the thing they miss more than anything — wins and losses and competitiveness is great, but it’s just kind of the relationships, and the fights, and the battles and the families that you build outside of your own family that you kind of grow with and build with. And that’s the thing that Coach Borrego did. Just bringing us together, hanging out, talking. Just those different things go a long way.”
Consider it the latest chapter of their purposeful offseason that began in earnest in Las Vegas during summer league, when a few of the team’s veterans like Terry Rozier and Bridges, along with LaMelo Ball, made it a priority to be around some of the newer players, welcoming them into the fold. That continued with Rozier organizing the team’s Sept. 6-10 workout in Miami, figuring it would be good to build team cohesion.
Borrego’s dinner date with the guys was just another way to strengthen their growing bond as a unit.
“I want my players to feel welcome in my home,” he said. “More than anything, I want them to know me, I want to know them. There is nothing like breaking bread together, being around one another. And I want them to feel a part of my family. That’s who we are. That’s the culture we are trying to build here. If we have that connection, that trust, that buy-in, it gives us a chance in this league. It doesn’t mean we are going to get there, but it gives us a foundation that when things go south, when things aren’t going our way, that we can always hold on to that, that we have each other. Just like a family. And any in family, you stay together, you pull together through good times, through bad times.
“Every family goes through that, just like our team. We are going to have some tough stretches this year, and we’ve just got to stay together. It’s those moments that we’ll always go back to, that unite us, that bond us. The trip to Miami, being in each other’s home breaking bread together, being around each other’s family, that’s important to me. I want to know their family, I want them to know my family. And it just gives our relationship depth that we can go back to.”
Given the stringent restrictions imposed by the NBA on its teams a season ago due to the pandemic, it was nearly impossible to do any kind of lengthy, meaningful things to strengthen the team bond and build unity. Rules were typically different in each locale the Hornets traveled to, and they often weren’t allowed to even have a meal collectively like they would under normal circumstances.
Those few precious occasions can be invaluable. The players can iron out any differences on the court, go over game strategy, crack jokes on each other — just about anything.
And it was all lost.
“That was a challenge last year,” Borrego said. “Even within the season we couldn’t get together. There were rules and protocols. Even on the road in certain cities, we couldn’t eat together. We literally had to go get our food and (then) right back to our room. That didn’t allow that relationship to be built at the depth that we needed to and that I value and I want. This year we have that open ability to connect at a deeper level, and that is going to get us through these 82 games and we are going to need that. Last year was a challenge for all of us. In a lot of ways it did make us stronger, but in a lot of ways it hurt the depth of our relationships.”
Now things are different and they couldn’t be more enthused about hanging out with each other again. They feel a rebirth of sorts.
“Yeah, it’s just refreshing being around your teammates, being around your team all the time,” Bridges said. “Last year it was restricted. It’s still kind of restricted this year, but not as much. But it’s just good for me to be around my teammates.”
