"That's why myself, Larry Hughes and Damon Jones went there, because we felt that we were good pieces to help the team get to the championship."
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On that unforgettable Thursday evening at the end of May in 2007, Donyell Marshall logged only about 15 minutes of action and he didn't score a point.
And yet, Marshall considers it one of the best games of his career. Marshall racked up most of his playing time that night in the fourth quarter and in a pair of overtime periods. The Cavaliers eventually knocked off the Detroit Pistons, 109-107, after the second extra stanza.
LeBron James nearly single-handedly carried Cleveland to victory, with 48 points, including the team's final 25. He routinely carved through Detroit's vaunted defense and got to the rim. He stepped back and nailed jump shots over the extended arms of Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton or anyone else brave or foolish enough to take a chance at guarding the Cavs' centerpiece.
Marshall stood in the corner and watched in amazement, both at James' heroics and at the fact that the Pistons refused to leave the veteran uncovered. That provided James the ability to slash to the hoop without encountering an extra defender along the way. For that, Marshall remains proud, even nearly nine years later. The Cavs did outscore Detroit by 21 points when Marshall was on the floor that night.
Marshall holds many fond memories of his time in Cleveland. He joined the club as a free agent prior to the 2005 season, as the Cavs began their leap from a young, inexperienced group to a title contender. The crowning season never materialized, though Marshall speaks highly of being a part of the first team in franchise history to reach the NBA Finals.
He wasn't a part of the second Cavs squad to do so. In fact, even though his family still lives in Cleveland and he maintains close ties to James and Damon Jones, Marshall couldn't root for the Cavs last June. That's because he also spent five-and-a-half years with the Golden State Warriors, who dispatched Cleveland in six games to capture the Larry O'Brien trophy.
Marshall doesn't have as much time to follow the NBA now, as he serves as an assistant coach for the University at Buffalo. That comes on the heels of stints with Rider, George Washington and the NBA D-League's Maine Red Claws. The 42-year-old ventures back to Cleveland as frequently as he can. He watches his son, a senior in high school, play basketball.
Marshall played 15 seasons in the NBA. He and Kobe Bryant share the league record for 3-pointers in a game, with 12. He'll still throw up shots when horsing around at practices, but his playing days are far behind him. Now, it's about passing down his insight to those aspiring to follow in his footsteps.
Of course, he still has time to reflect upon the Cavs' successes and shortcomings during James' first go-around in Cleveland, when he first realized James' potential, Steph Curry's prowess, what makes the San Antonio Spurs so consistently elite and more.
We'll discuss all of that in this week's Thursday Conversation.
ZM: How has the transition to coaching gone? How big is the learning curve?
DM: When I played, I had an AAU team that I would coach in the summertime, so I prepared myself to make this move. But it's definitely a learning experience. You're going from playing and being the guy and everything was prepared for us. Now you go into that side and prepare the film [yourself]. Now you're teaching. Later in my career, I did a lot of the teaching to the younger guys, just like the older guys were teaching me when I was younger. The transition is not easy, but if you were a player who paid attention throughout your career, it's not as hard as you would think it is.
ZM: Is it still a little weird to be wearing a suit instead of a jersey on the bench, given that you played for 15 years?
DM: This is my sixth year doing it, so I'm used to it now. The first year, it was a little weird. You're still close to the game and think you can still play, even though you really can't. Now, I'm used to it. It doesn't feel weird anymore.
ZM: Is it an adjustment to deal with guys who are 18 and 19 years old?
DM: I have a son that age and sons who are older. That's what helps me out a lot. That's what I tell the kids on the team. 'I have kids your age. I know the music you listen to. I know the type of partying you guys are trying to do. I know the excuses you're trying to use. Plus, I played Division I basketball as well, so a lot of excuses you're trying to use are probably excuses that I tried to use at one point in time.' So it helps out with the teaching aspect of the game and with things off the court.
ZM: Do you miss playing, or do you get to a certain point in which you accept the fact that those days are in the past?
DM: I think the first year or two, I missed playing. There were times I wished I could've been out there to help the team. But I'm 42 years old. I know I had a good, long run and that part of my career is over. I'm happy being able to give back to this game. This game has taught me so much and has helped my family and me have a better life. I'm happy with giving back and teaching these kids and trying to help them become better people.
We'll mess around and I'll come out and shoot against them. When your body is sore afterwards, that lets you know that you can't play anymore. I'm happy being a coach.
ZM: Are you proud of your longevity in the league? It's pretty rare for guys to play 15 years.
DM: When I first came into the league, they told us the average career lifespan was only four years. To play 15 years is awesome. I can sit here and say a lot of people haven't done that. Especially if you look at the early part of my career, my second and third year, I didn't play a lot. To be able to bounce back and have a very productive career, I definitely am proud of what I was able to do.
ZM: How much NBA action are you able to watch?
DM: It's hard, because I do a lot of the scouting. I try to catch a game here or there. With my family still living in Ohio and me being on the first team to go to the Finals with Cleveland, I still follow them. I'm still cool with LeBron. Damon Jones is on the staff there. So I follow them a lot. It's definitely interesting for me, having played five and a half years for Golden State as well, being there in the dark years and following them now with them being a good team. After the [college] season is when I follow it the most.
ZM: Do you have a favorite memory from your time in Cleveland?
DM: I definitely think it's the championship run. Period.
My first year there, Dwyane Wade and LeBron both had 40-plus. (On April 1, 2006, James tallied 47 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists and Wade totaled 44 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in a 106-99 Cavs victory against eventual champion Miami. On Dec. 17, 2005, the Cavs beat the Heat behind James' 41 points and Marshall's 25.)
Game 6 [in 2007], when we finally clinched to go to the Finals, was great, as well as Game 5, when LeBron had the [48 points]. I tell people who understand the game of basketball that that's one of my greatest games. I didn't even score a point, but I was over in the corner and the Pistons wouldn't help off of me, so it kind of opened up the floodgates for LeBron. People don't understand those small things like that. They help teams win. I was happy to be a part of it in that game.
ZM: Was there a moment, perhaps when you first got to Cleveland, when you said, 'OK, now I see it for myself. This LeBron guy is special'?
DM: I watched him when he was in high school and early on in his career. For me, it was when I first got there and we all sat down and talked. The student of the game he was -- a lot of these kids, you mention old school names and they don't know who they are and if they do, they don't really know what that person has done. He knew the names of the old school players. He knew stats. You could tell he was a big time student of the game.
ZM: What was it like dealing with all of the pressure? You had a good team and had to handle lofty expectations. Is that what a player prefers?
DM: That's why myself, Larry Hughes and Damon Jones went there, because we felt that we were good pieces to help the team get to the championship. I don't know if the fans necessarily thought at the time that we were a championship team. I think a lot of the pressure that we had, we put on ourselves. When we came together, we knew we were a championship-caliber team. When we lost that first year to Detroit, we all vowed that summer that we would work out and become an even better team. We went to the championship that next year. I really hoped we could keep that team together. I really thought we were growing and thought we would have had a really good chance that third year.
ZM: Having played for both the Cavs and the Warriors, what were your thoughts on the Finals last year? Did you have a rooting interest?
DM: You know what? I stayed out of it. A lot of people asked me and I told them I was staying out of it. In Cleveland, we went to the championship. I'm still friends with LeBron and Damon Jones. My family still lives in Cleveland. But when I go back to Golden State and see a game, the ushers and people who still work there all say, 'Welcome home.'
I played five and a half years there. I have a lot of friends who are still out there. I played with Mo Speights and Andre Iguodala, who are both friends as well. So, I pretty much stayed out of it. I didn't really care who won. I was proud for both teams and, obviously, whoever won, it's not like I was getting a championship ring or acknowledgement anyway. I was proud for both of them.
ZM: You were a 3-point expert when you were playing. Have you ever seen anything like what Steph Curry can do?
DM: I wasn't a 3-point expert at the beginning of my career. I became more of a 3-point shooter as I got older and as I got slower. The things that Steph Curry is doing, no, I haven't seen anybody do that. Ray Allen could shoot it like that. I remember playing against Steph's dad when I first got into the league and Steph's dad could shoot the same way. He had a quick release. Dale Ellis could shoot the same way. He had a very quick release. Now, those guys didn't necessarily have the freedom that Steph has, but they could shoot the ball great as well.
But what Steph is doing is unbelievable. People ask me how long before my -- and Kobe's -- record gets broken. I keep saying it's just a matter of time. The way he shoots that ball -- the only thing that has saved me from it being broken a couple of times is that when he's been close, they've been blowing teams out, so he hasn't been playing late in the fourth quarter.
ZM: When you have that game to set the record, with 12 3-pointers (while with Toronto, against Philadelphia, on March 13, 2005), are you just unconscious, in such a zone that you almost don't even know what you're really doing?
DM: Yeah. It was a strange game. It was against the Philadelphia 76ers, the team I grew up watching. I wasn't starting that year. The way I was playing was up and down. Some minutes here, some minutes there. To come out and be ready to go -- it's games like that that help me translate over to our players, because I tell them that they always have to be ready to go. You never know when your time is going to come.
Before the game, when I was warming up, I just felt like it was a good day of shooting. When I was warming up, I was hitting shots. I just felt like I was ready to go that game. The way the 76ers' defensive philosophies were that year, I knew I was going to get shots. I knew I had to be ready to shoot when it came back to me. Myself and Skip [point guard Rafer Alston] were great pick-and-pop players. Before the game, we knew we had something special for that game with the way they played defense.
ZM: You guys lost to the Spurs in '07 and here we are nine years later and they're still an annual title contender. Are they a model to follow as a coach?
DM: They are. It's funny, because even when I played, you always heard people say, 'I hate the Spurs. I don't like watching them.' I used to say, 'Why? They do things right. They run an offense.' Now I coach and it's the same thing. 'I don't like watching the Spurs. They're boring.' And I say, 'But they win.' Everything they do is about the team.
You look at Tim Duncan -- Gregg Popovich gets on him and he takes it and goes out there and plays. Everybody on that team is about the team first. You look at LaMarcus Aldridge, who was the man up in Portland. His numbers are down, but he's playing a lot better. His team is a lot better. Everything is about the team first and it translates to wins.
Popovich has done a great job and to me, that is the model. Even if you look at Golden State, who plays a more uptempo style and is probably more exciting -- at the end of the day, they're about the team first. That's because Steve Kerr was in that system down in San Antonio with them.
ZM: Do you have a dream coaching job?
DM: A head coach. I would love to run my own program and see if I could help win conference championships or national championships. I would love to be a head coach. I think that I can. I coach my AAU team. I've been on this level. I think kids respond to me well. I know what I'm doing. I definitely think that I could do well sitting in that chair.
But I continue to learn every day. Our head coach [Nate Oats] here is great. He lets me coach in practice and he teaches me a lot and I continue to learn from him, just like I have from my past head coaches. I think they've all helped to prepare me well to one day become a head coach.
ZM: You know LeBron. Your family is still in Ohio. You played here. How badly do you think he wants to bring a championship to Cleveland and what do you think it would mean for the city?
DM: Trust me. I don't know what you want badly in life or what some other people in Cleveland want badly in life, but I can tell you he wants to bring a championship there extremely badly. I think it would mean a lot for that city. Obviously, they haven't won a championship there in a very long time. You see the way the state and city supports Ohio State football. I think if Cleveland can win a championship in basketball, it would mean a lot for the city.
Obviously, LeBron's name is going to be there forever. It's going to be in the rafters. It's going to be plastered throughout that city for eternity. But if he brings a championship there, guys won't be able to go anywhere in that city or state alone, because they'll be hounded the rest of their lives.
ZM: Were you aware of the championship drought when you were playing in Cleveland? You already have plenty of motivation to try to win a title, but did that add anything to it?
DM: I don't think it added any importance. We knew about it, but we wanted to win a championship, period. It didn't matter if you won a championship the year before and the year before that. Our team was our team and we wanted to win a championship for ourselves and for our city and for each other.
Dan Gilbert is a good owner and we wanted to win for him. At the end of the day, that was one of the closest teams that I played with. We wanted to win a championship for each other, regardless of the last time they won one.
