Mike Thibault is the all-time winningest coach of the WNBA. And he served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1980s, ‘90s and early 2000s. 

His less than lucky career as a basketball player is to thank for his successful career as a coach in the sport. 

He was cut from the team his junior year. He sat out his senior year with an injury. But he ended up coaching the freshman team. Still, he didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until college when he coached a local high school team and worked summer camps in California that he considered a career in coaching. It was at those camps where he connected with Lakers assistants. 

The rest is history. But it’s a fascinating history as Mike has coached star players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Give Mike’s episode a listen to learn more about how he earned the trust of those players with good, honest hard work and no BS.