Eric Snow grew up in Canton, Ohio, played in the NBA Finals with the Cavaliers and now coaches at the collegiate level. He'd like to see LeBron James lead the Cavaliers to a championship.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- It wasn't long ago when Eric Snow was playing in the NBA Finals, handling the ball for the Philadelphia 76ers and defending fellow point guard Tyronn Lue.
Now, Lue is the head coach in Cleveland -- where Snow spent the final five years of his professional career -- and Snow is coaching at Florida Atlantic University. Of course, it doesn't seem like yesterday to Snow, who isn't quite as agile or athletic as he was during his 13-year NBA career.
Not to mention, Snow has six children now, including a 17-year-old. Snow falls back upon the old "time flies when you're having fun" adage, and he insists he heartily enjoyed his playing career. After all, he had the opportunity to play alongside Allen Iverson. The two reached the NBA Finals with Philadelphia in 2001, when the 76ers fell short against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Later in his career, Snow watched LeBron James blossom into one of the league's premier players. He returned to the Finals with the Cavaliers in 2007. That trip was special, since Snow grew up in Canton, Ohio.
Snow still follows the Cavs and the 76ers. He hopes James can deliver a championship to Cleveland. He still keeps in touch with former Cavs teammates Donyell Marshall and Kevin Ollie.
All three are coaching at the collegiate level now. Time flies.
Here is the Thursday Conversation with former Cavs point guard Eric Snow.
ZM: Did you always think you'd end up coaching when you were done playing? How has the transition been?
ES: I've always wanted to coach when my career was over. That was something that I always thought about. People say it's an easy transition. It's only as easy as you make it. The first thing you need to realize is you're no longer playing. Your approach has to be from a coaching standpoint, the preparation, the time spent. It's different. You have to put in the time and preparation to prepare the guys to play, knowing that you're not playing. The control you had on the floor is no longer there.
ZM: Are you able to keep up with what's happening in the NBA? Do you follow the Cavs?
ES: I pay attention to what's going on, most of it by reading. I still have NBA League Pass, so I watch games, but not as many as I used to. I do watch the 76ers and the Cavs as much as I can. I'm very aware of what's going on in the NBA as far as the major items, and definitely everything that's going on with the Cavs and 76ers.
ZM: Anderson Varejao, your former teammate, was traded last week, after he spent 12 years in Cleveland. You were in Philadelphia for six years before you were traded. When you get that news, do you think, 'That's part of the business,' or is it tough to swallow?
Eric Snow was traded multiple times during his career, so he kind of knows how Anderson Varejao, his former teammate, feels.Roadell Hickman, The Plain Dealer
ES: It's tough. The fortunate thing for me, the two times I was traded, I knew I was going to be traded. I just didn't know to where I was going to be traded. But I was aware of it. So that helps, from the main standpoint of you preparing yourself for the change. When it's not expected or it just happens and you don't really have a say or a word in it, it's tough. But you do understand that it's a part of the business.
Anderson, to be in one place for as long as he was, it's hard. You can't find many guys who have done that. You can look at it from the standpoint of, 'Hey I got traded,' or from the standpoint of, 'Hey, I was here for 12 years.' Things happen. You move on. It's the latter part of his career. He's been great for the city of Cleveland. That's not going anywhere. It's just a different part of his career right now.
We used to always tell guys, 'Eventually, it's going to come to a point where they're going to feel like they need to move on. It happens to the best of 'em.' It eventually will happen to LeBron James. Obviously, not anytime soon, but eventually it'll happen. It happens to everyone. It's a matter of making the most of the time you have at the place you're at.
ZM: Well, it's not a bad consolation prize to land with the Warriors, I suppose.
ES: No. Not at all. He landed on his feet, you could say.
ZM: How was he as a teammate?
ES: Andy was great. He was young when I played with him. Bubbly. A lot of energy. His motor on the court really helped him out a lot. The one thing that was kind of lost about what he brought to the table was he has a high basketball IQ. He could play the game. He could pass. He could handle the basketball. He had a great nose for the ball, rebounding the ball. I think if he was coming into the league right now, the way his play was, he would have an even bigger impact, with the way the game has opened up. What he brought to the game, you see a lot of people playing that way right now and a lot of teams that wished they had players that played that way.
ZM: What's it like for you to have watched LeBron the last few years, since you got to see him early on and watch him grow up?
Eric Snow and LeBron James played together on the 2007 Cavaliers team that reached the NBA Finals.John Kuntz, cleveland.com
ES: I've seen his career go from high school to where it's at now. You see a guy with all of the hype and then you actually see it before your own eyes. Everyone said, 'Will there be another guy like Michael Jordan?' He's proven he's one of the top players to ever play the game. That's not even arguable. He's proven that. It's fun to see that. It's fun to see someone who's from your area do it, from your area team do it. It's exciting to see.
He's not getting younger, so his career is going to end up winding down. I can't say soon, but eventually it will. [Father Time], as we can see with Kobe Bryant, is undefeated. It'd be great to see him finish up his career with more championships, especially with more championships in Cleveland.
ZM: You played in Cleveland. You grew up in Canton. What would a championship mean to this city?
ES: Obviously, the impact to that area -- and LeBron has had a huge part in that -- financially, it would be tremendous, how much it would help people in that area. It's crucial and, at times, understated. There are so many fans that care about the teams and the players there. For their continued support through all the years, it'd be a great feeling to finally say you're a champion.
ZM: What's your favorite memory from your playing days in Cleveland?
ES: Just going to the Finals. Getting to the Finals and the excitement around that time, the excitement around the change. I grew up and saw the good and the bad. I saw the years with Mark [Price] and all those guys, when they couldn't get to the Finals because of Chicago and 'The Shot' and all of that. I grew up seeing all of that stuff.
Unfortunately, we didn't win it, but to be able to get there and to see the whole transformation of how the Cavaliers are viewed in the NBA, compared to how they were viewed when I was growing up and when I came into the NBA and to travel around the country and around the world and see that they're a recognized brand, it's great to see that.
Tyronn Lue has served as the head coach of the Cavs for the last month, his first NBA head coaching gig.Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer
ZM: Does it surprise you that Tyronn Lue is an NBA head coach already?
ES: No. He put in his time with Doc Rivers and was around all of those other good coaches with the Celtics, [such as Tom Thibodeau]. And around [Kevin Garnett] and Ray [Allen] and Paul [Pierce] and all of those players. You get a lot of on-the-job training. His experience and knowledge and work ethic gave him an opportunity that he's prepared for. Most people don't get the opportunity that he got with the Cavaliers, but he put his time in.
ZM: Does it seem like yesterday when you and Lue were matched up in the NBA Finals?
ES: It doesn't feel like it, with all of the different things your body goes through [laughs]. When you're younger, you have all of your parents and older people tell you, 'Time goes fast when you're having fun.' That's the way I see it. We had fun. I enjoyed every minute of college basketball and NBA basketball. It was a blessing to be able to do it. It was fun. Anytime you have something you have that much fun with, it's going to seem like it goes fast.
I look at it, and it doesn't seem like it was 15 years ago when we played against the Lakers in the NBA Finals, but then I look to my left and I look to my right and I have a 17-year-old and a 14-year-old, so it kind of has gone by.