Zaza Pachulia spent 16 seasons in the NBA and crossed paths with plenty of talent along the way. But when he was asked to pick the best leaders he ever played with, his list came down to three familiar names: Steph Curry, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd.
Now a consultant for the Golden State Warriors, Pachulia pointed first to Curry, the standard-bearer in Golden State. For Pachulia, the leadership started long before tipoff.
He said he was “so lucky to watch him work out” and saw that same approach before games, after practice and during drills. What stood out most, though, was how Curry carried himself with everyone around the team.
Pachulia said Curry treated people in the organization the same way, whether they were stars or staffers. He recalled seeing the guard walk up to employees and simply ask, “How are you doing?”
To Pachulia, that kind of small gesture said everything. He also remembered a conversation with Jeff Addiego, who runs the Golden State Sports Academy and works with youth players.
While Curry was lifting weights, he came over to ask Addiego how he was doing and then followed up about Addiego’s daughter and her basketball. After a short exchange, Addiego told Pachulia, “Zaza, this is why I enjoy coming here every single day.”
Pachulia said that kind of care from a team’s best player can motivate and inspire everyone around him.
Dirk Nowitzki brought a different kind of leadership, one built on personality and timing. Pachulia said Nowitzki had “great work-humor balance” and knew exactly when to keep things loose.
He described the Mavericks star as someone who made the locker room fun, traded jokes with teammates and still made time for real conversations. But once game prep began, Pachulia said Nowitzki flipped the switch.
He pointed to a game at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis, when the comparisons between Porzingis and Nowitzki were everywhere. With Nowitzki getting older and the spotlight heavy, Pachulia said the veteran wanted to show everyone what he could still do. For Pachulia, that was leadership too: handling outside noise the right way and using it as fuel.
Jason Kidd, meanwhile, left a lasting mark on Pachulia’s career. Pachulia said his best season came in 2014-15 with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he believes that year helped lead to the Warriors’ later interest in him. He credited that opportunity to playing for Kidd.
Pachulia said Kidd’s teams were built on structure, from the way practices were run to the way players were taught to think. The lesson that stuck with him most was simple: be proactive.
Read the play before it happens. Understand what’s coming next.
He said Kidd was more than a coach with strong Xs and Os; he taught players how to see the game ahead of time. And just as importantly, Pachulia said Kidd knew how to motivate people.
For him, that year with Kidd was a lucky one.
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