Getty Images. Assistant Coach Lindsay Gottlieb coaching Collin Sexton.
Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant Coach Lindsay Gottlieb is one of six female assistant coaches in the NBA this season.
As Women's History Month came to a close last Wednesday, Gottlieb spoke to Professor Andy Clark's sports business students about her experiences as a woman in a role that has been predominantly for men.
"Being authentic is really important," said Gottlieb. "I'm not trying to pretend to be just like the guys on our staff. Sometimes I don't see another female for days at a time. We have a fourteen-person coaching staff, and it's just me."
Gottlieb speaking to Clark's students on Zoom. Clark is the director of sports business programs at DePaul's Driehaus College of Business.
Gottlieb initially thought she would follow in the footsteps of her parents and go to law school, or work in sports media. Instead, she is now paving a path for women all over the world to look up to working in what has been traditionally known as a man's role.
She emphasized two important takeaways to the women in the room:
Lean into your fears
"I'm not going to lie. Twenty years of being a woman's college basketball coach and then moving across the country to be in the NBA to be an assistant and not a head coach, to be in pro sports and not in college sports, to be coaching men and not women -- there's no question of 'oh my goodness, can I do this? Am I going to be successful?' And I'm out of my comfort zone at times. But I think you have to lean into those fears and do the things that feel hard in order to be your most fulfilled and most successful."
Don't let this notion of perfection hinder you
"I want to be great, I want to exceed expectations but I think women sometimes get the most restrained by this idea that I have to be perfect in order to try."
Before becoming an assistant coach at the Cavs, Gottlieb was the ninth head coach of the California Golden Bears women's team at the University of California, Berkeley.
She led the Golden Bears to their first Final Four in school history in the 2012-13 season -- just her second season as the head coach. That season she also led them to their first PAC-12 Conference championship and was named PAC-12 Coach of the Year by the media.
Gottlieb noted that the biggest difference between the college game and the NBA is game prep.
"That's been my most arduous adjustment," said Gottlieb. "In college, in the PAC-12 in conference play we played on Fridays and Sundays, every week. Well I got to the NBA, and now we've got four games in a week and maybe you got two practices. And I learned in the NBA you do not talk about the opponent until game day."
Gottlieb has set a certain standard of expectations to create a championship atmosphere. She sets certain goals in the beginning of the season and reinforces them throughout, while also establishing roles but acknowledging that they may change.
"These are lifestyle jobs," said Gottlieb. "We are in it 24/7 and I think I just learned really quickly that in college basketball you are educators. If you are not in it for the people around you, what are we doing?"