'No skipping steps': Will Weaver's approach to Paris Basketball / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images Credit Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

A new era has officially begun for Paris Basketball. Just a few hours ago, the French club announced Will Weaver as the new head coach of the club, effectively beginning a new phase of the project.

For Paris Basketball, this will be the first season in EuroCup and the second in the LNB Pro A. After a troubled first season in the top French division, in which Paris almost avoided relegation, the club wants to turn the page.

The man picked for the job has an extensive experience as an assistant coach in the NBA, working for the Philadelphia 76ers, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Houston Rockets. Also, he already has a taste of international basketball, working as an assistant coach for the Australian national team and as head coach of the Sydney Kings in the NBL.

In an exclusive interview with BasketNews, Weaver expressed all his enthusiasm for this new opportunity and the main motivations that led him to accept the head coach role in Paris.

"Coaching in France, in Betclic Elite, and in EuroCup, at this level, as head coach represents the richest learning opportunity of my career," coach Weaver said to BasketNews.

Paris Basketball grew up in an impressive way in just a few years. The team started operations officially in the 2018-2019 season after acquiring the name of the Hyeres-Toulon team that participated in the second division.

In their third season in the second division, they got promoted to the LNB Pro A after finishing in second place.

"The challenge is obvious," Weaver added. "They built this thing from the ground-up, and in just a few years, they got to an impressive level. I'm grateful and humbled and thrilled to come to be a part of this project, and I'm here to carry my own brick and build something special."

But despite the ambition to become a stable presence in the EuroLeague environment and one of the major forces in the French league, Paris Basketball's main goal is to try to build a culture around the team and a strong identity that can be a symbol for Paris and all the surrounding area.

"In the conversations, I had with the front office, the focus wasn't on any specific level that they're trying to reach or a win-loss record," Weaver explained to BasketNews. "Their goals, as they explained to me, are focused on building the kind of place that Paris and broader France can respect, love, support, and feel part of."

"Of course, we'll strive to be competitive both in LNB Pro A and EuroCup," Weaver added. "But this group is not skipping steps; this group understands that there's a process that you must follow in order to grow and be sustainable in the long term."

Building patiently and focusing on the development of young players is something that Weaver knows better than almost everybody else. During his time in the NBA, he has been a part of many rebuilding projects that led those franchises to become elite teams in the league.

Weaver worked for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 'Process era', when the GM Sam Hinkie stockpiled draft picks and focused on the development of young players. Also, for the Brooklyn Nets, right before the team was able to recruit superstars like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden.

Despite the differences between the NBA and European basketball, Weaver is pretty sure that he's not going to change his approach.

"I'm very humbled about all the ways that I need to grow and learn and calibrate for France, but my approach won't be any different. My approach is always to get to know what people are trying to do at their core, what they're trying to achieve, and do my very best to help create an environment where that can happen," the head coach of Paris Basketball told BasketNews.

"The players deserve all the credit," Weaver continued. "My job is to facilitate their growth and make sure that they feel supported, and part of that support is telling them the truth.

A player-centered, holistic mind approach is what our players can expect from me. That is what I learn from working with the best at the highest level, not only in basketball in America but also in rugby in Australia or football in England."

This will be the first European experience for Weaver, but it won't be his first time in international basketball. The former Houston Rockets assistant coach had very few doubts when asked about what made him test his capacities in international waters.

"I coached at basically every single level," Weaver explained to BasketNews. "College basketball, G League, NBA. For me, part of the appeal is always the curiosity to understand what motivates and drives the players at every level."

"Personally, I wasn't that good of a player, so I've always been curious and willing to learn the best ways to get the players in the best position possible to achieve their goals and ambitions," he added.

Before accepting the job in Paris, coach Weaver asked for insights and suggestions from many people who could provide a very clear picture of what life in European basketball would be.

"Oh absolutely, I texted Trajan Langdon (currently the GM of the New Orleans Pelicans), David Andersen, Ryan Broekhoff, Brock Motum, and countless University of Texas alumni that played in Europe.

Dante Exum and I are pretty close, and obviously, his experience, coming to Europe for the first time and now continuing there. In the end, this is something that I had dreamed of doing, and the chance to come here and do it is about exciting as it gets".

The history between Paris and basketball has always been a complicated one. For many years, there wasn't a well-established team, and even the teams that tried for a while struggled to leave a mark on the city.

The lack of structure in one of the biggest cities in the world was also another issue. But now that Paris Basketball has quickly established itself as an ambitious team and a new arena is set to be ready for the Olympic Games of 2024, it's hard not to feel a certain excitement around the city of Paris.

"Everybody wants to play where the lights shine the most," Weaver told BasketNews. "I've coached in New York, in Sydney, in Philadelphia with some of the best and craziest fans you can find, now in Paris."

"Those are the environments in which true success can be achieved. It's difficult to achieve true success in other places. I can't imagine a basketball player or a coach that wouldn't be excited about the idea of competing in Paris," Weaver continued.

With teams like Virtus Bologna, Valencia, and Partizan Belgrade no longer in EuroCup, many around Europe believe that the average level of the competition will go down this season. But Weaver has a different opinion on this matter.

"Jeff Van Gundy always talks about how winning is hard at every level. There are so many good basketball teams out there. I think, especially looking at how long our franchise has been around and how young our team is, those are gonna be challenges for us, especially in EuroCup," Weaver said to BasketNews.

"But those difficulties are also what makes this competition so special. Seeing teams like Ljubljana or Gran Canaria come to our city and truly bring some of the best players in the continent to the heart of Paris is an extremely exciting environment to compete in."

Regarding the roster, the new head coach of Paris Basketball believes that most of the work has already been done, and the front office will be able to catch some other opportunities that might be out there in the coming weeks.

"Of course, I arrived at the team kind of late, so I don't want to screw the plans that were already in place," Weaver said. "The team is mostly done, but I know there'll be opportunities to watch other players."

"I've been trying to help sign the last couple of players, but I trust our capable front office to manage. At the end of the day, my job is to take whatever pieces and form a beautiful picture by the end of the year," he added.

Deciding to leave the job as an assistant coach in Houston to take the opportunity in France with Paris Basketball is something that coach Weaver had very few doubts about, as he explained during our interview.

"Stability is definitely not a virtue of professional basketball coaching as a career," the head coach of Paris Basketball told BasketNews. "You spend two years there, three years in another place. Most of the time, you're on the move.

As a professional who wants to be the very best at what he does, I don't think there's any argument that I'll grow more as head coach of Paris Basketball next year than I would have as an assistant coach in Houston."

"I'm grateful and just fortunate that circumstances made this move possible. And I also feel the same way about my family. My son is three and a half years old, and this will be the third continent he has lived on.

To be able to shrink the world for my family, in particular in Paris, one of the greatest cities in the world, those are exciting aspects for us, as much as basketball," Weaver continued.

It's an exciting time for Paris and France. In 2024, Paris will host the Olympic Games.

The French national team is among the best in the world, and they just added another superstar in Joel Embiid, who received a French passport and will now be able to play for 'Les Blues'. By 2024, Paris Basketball will also play in a new, better-suited arena for their project.

But despite all these aspects, coach Weaver remains focused on his main task, coaching.

"As you said, when you look at all the things happening in Paris now, it's hard not to be excited. But at the same time, I'm a pretty simple guy. I'm excited about watching Ismael Kamagate's pick-and-roll defense later today for about an hour and a half," coach Weaver told BasketNews.

"That's where most of my attention will be on. But I'm glad as an American that we were able to beat France before Joel got there because for every team that now has to play against them... I mean, it was already difficult before, but now they'll be just formidable," coach Weaver concluded.

A new phase of the Paris Basketball project is about to begin. There's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around this team, and it'd be almost impossible not to feel it since we're talking about Paris.

But as coach Weaver said, there'll be no 'skipping steps' because, despite the hype, this project needs time to be fully developed.

Borrowing the words of someone very dear to coach Weaver, Sam Hinkie, the former GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, 'you don't get to the moon by climbing a tree'.

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