Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Interview with David Robinson

I recently interviewed David Robinson on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. David Robinson is an NBA Hall of Famer, former MVP, 10 time All Star, and two time NBA champion and a member of the Dream Team. David is also the founder of Carver Academy, now known as Idea Carver, which has changed the lives of inner city children and Dave is also the founder Admiral Capital Group, a private equity firm focused not just on making money, but on helping low income neighborhoods through education and investment. David, thank you for joining us.

David: Thanks. I'm happy to be here.

Adam: David, I've had some great military leaders on the podcast so far, including a retired four star Admiral, but it's an honor to have The Admiral on the show.

David: Yeah, that's kind of part of the problem with that nickname is you know, I don't really compare to the real guys. Those guys who've done it, you know, 30 years, 35 years of amazing work and lead millions of troops and I've dribbled a basketball. But I'm honored to have a great nickname.

Adam: Can you take listeners back to your early days from your decision to join the Naval Academy to your most formative and impactful experiences at the Naval Academy and in your time in the service?

David: Yeah, I decided to go to the Naval Academy because my father was a military guy. So my grandfather was in the army. My father was in the Navy, and I'd been around the military most of my life. So I wasn't opposed to going in and I thought, you know, the Naval Academy is a great engineering school, I want to be an engineer, it would be a good path for me with the discipline. I knew I needed the discipline. You know, in high school, things were kind of easy and I didn't really force myself to work as hard as I could have. So, yeah, I thought just about everything about the Naval Academy would be positive for me and I was pretty much right. You know? They pushed me from day one and, and really gave me a solid foundation in just work ethic, with being a part of something greater really having a sense for mission and duty. And, you know, they obviously trained me well to lead. I think all the service academies are incredible leadership factories, they do a phenomenal job in preparing people to lead. So when I went to play basketball, I think I was maybe more emotionally and mentally prepared than I would have been coming, you know, straight out of college.

Adam: 1989 was your first year in the NBA. The Spurs are coming off of the worst record in franchise history right as you're about to join the team as a rookie 40 games under 500. And you lead The Spurs to what was then the largest turnaround in NBA history. The team finished 30 games over 500. How did you and the other leaders on the team turn a losing team into a winning team? And what advice do you have for leaders on how to turn around a struggling team, business, or culture?

David: Wow, that's a big topic. I get to give you a little bit of my experience and hopefully appeal to folks who are in situations where they feel like there needs to be a turnaround. I think, you know, everyone talks about culture, but very few people really follow through on culture. And I think it's because it demands a lot of you, right? You have to know what you stand for. And you have to be willing to really be the example of what you expect from others. And I think that that was the biggest challenge, you know, coming to the Spurs, you know, clearly we didn't have a great culture, we had, you know, a bunch of guys who were used to losing and comfortable with losing. I wasn't comfortable with losing and so clearly something needed to change. I just think that everybody kind of knew what needed to change. So I just tried to provide some leadership in that respect, you know, with a work ethic with coming to practice and with the right focus with trusting one another, building a locker room that had a great deal of encouragement. You know, I think at the pro level sometimes it can be about money right? Like it's at anything you can think about, what's my next salary gonna be? And you know, when am I going to sign for my next contract, as opposed to how do we win? How do we win today? Right? Like how do we, how do we help one another and put each other into a position to be successful? And then guess what- if we're successful, everyone on this team is going to do well. You know, whether you're, you know, a guy coming off the bench, or even somebody who was, you know, an assistant coach who, you know, might get a head coaching job, just because you've been affiliated with that franchise, everyone is going to win. And so convincing people that that's the truth is the most difficult part. So you've got to convince people that you've got their best interest in mind, just like a parent has to convince a child. Yeah, I may discipline you, but I've got your best mind.

Adam: Were there any moments in that season that really stood out to you that you can look back on and say, we, as a team came together, we were able to really turn the culture around because of this experience or that experience?

David: I wouldn't say that there was a moment in my rookie year particularly I thought, you know- we had a bunch of different guys from different diverse backgrounds come together. And I wouldn't even say that we got along. Well, you know, to be honest with you, everybody knows in the 70s you know, the NBA kind of had a different image, right? It was different, you know, there were a lot of drug issues. And, you know, even my old coach was involved in some of that stuff. Oh, John Lucas, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for but you know, he was involved with some of that stuff. And so we had an image issue to overcome. And really, I think building the work ethic was the first thing. Let's treat this thing like a profession. We're making a lot of money. It's a great opportunity. Let's come to work like we believe it's work. And you see that today, and a lot of these young guys, they come to work. I mean, they've got whole teams around them to support what they're doing on the court. And I think that that's a huge improvement from when I first got in the league, and people were showing up to training camp and hadn't even worked out, like, hi, how are you gonna play yourself into shape? You know, they're like, we got one week to get ready for a season, basically. And, you know, you think you're gonna play yourself in the shape. That's not discipline. That shows a total lack of respect for your teammates and a lack of respect for your team. And, you know, a total lack of preparation, right? It's a lack of self respect. And so, just changing that culture to one of I'm going to prepare myself, I'm going to put myself and others in a position where I can be successful. That's been kind of my number one mantra- put the people around you in a position where they can be successful. That's what a leader does. A leader says, I care more about your future than you care about your future and, and whatever it takes to help you get there. That's what I'm going to do. Right. So that's what a parent does. That's what a leader does. A leader takes people somewhere, takes the organization somewhere So I tried to be as much of an encourager and have a vision, get people on the same page so that we could all be successful. That was my goal. And obviously, a lot of things have to go right. Your ownership has to believe that, your coaching staff has to believe that, you know, your fan base has to buy into it. And fortunately, things kind of came together in a nice way. So, the last 25 years have been unbelievable, like, you know, just having the success we've had as an organization and the reputation we've had, has meant a lot too.

Adam: Can you talk about your daily routine as an NBA player? You talked about the difference between the work ethic of the average NBA player when you were coming into the league compared to the average work ethic of the typical NBA player today, but you were known as a guy who brought it every day, physically on the court off the court, in the community. Can you talk about a typical day in the life of David Robinson during the NBA season?

David: Wow. Yeah, I mean only about, you know, three to four hours, we're really focused on just basketball, right? So you're training your body, you have practice, you have film sessions. So that takes really, on average, probably three to four hours a day, the rest of the time, is really just about being disciplined and focused on, how I make all the things around me work for me, right? So, you know, I had a family, young kids and you want to be a good dad, you want to be present for your kids, you know, but your job is pretty demanding and you're on the road, a lot of the time you're gone, you know, three to four days a week, finding that right balance between how am I, you know, going to be a good husband for my wife? How am I going to be a good father to my children, and then a good athlete? And then building on how do I give back to my community? So all of those things are a bit of a juggling act. But you spend- which I think is great about professional sports is- you spend about, you know, four to four to five hours a day, really focused on being the best athlete that you can be. And that's less than most people work for a day, right? So that's actually a good thing. So you can focus on family, you can focus on some other things. But you have to take them all very seriously.

Adam: In 1992 you were on the Dream Team. Jordan, Magic, Bird, a roster full of NBA legends. What were your sharpest memories from that experience and what are the best lessons you took away from that summer?

Mark: Yeah, great memories from that experience that, you know, if you're at the peak of your career, and you get a chance to play on a team with some of the best people who have ever done, you know, what you do? That's an amazing opportunity. I don't think anyone on that team, let that opportunity pass without understanding how great it was. So that was one thing that was special about the Dream Team is that everyone took it very seriously. It was an opportunity for us to kind of right the USA Basketball ship which was obviously important to us, but also to make the states worldwide to make a statement we, we kind of knew, I mean, I guess you don't always know. But we kind of knew that this was a seminal moment in international basketball, right? I look back at it now and I see people coming up to me and saying, I grew up with this and it changed the way basketball was in Europe or in Australia or in the Middle East. And I see the impact more profoundly now. But I think at the time, we felt strongly about that. It was a pretty important moment in basketball history.

Adam: On the back half of your career you played for Gregg Popovich, arguably the greatest coach of our era. Can you describe Gregg Popovich, his leadership style, and what it was like playing for Pop? What makes him such a great coach and such an effective leader?

Mark: Part of it is having the right players, right? I think that's important. But part of it is understanding how to put those pieces together. And I think Pop has a really good understanding. He brings a lot of military background, you know, discipline and structure and focus. You know, he's always talked about pounding the rock, and he's had that theme and he's had a vision for what he wanted to do with the team and he stuck with that vision, even through different makeups of your team, right? You have the Twin Towers at one point and then at another point, you've got this kind of wild three points to the group of guys running around, you know, and it's just a different makeup. We were a huge defensive and kind of a slow down team, very physical and then he kind of transitioned into this, you know- Kawhi Leonard, just a really upbeat, fast paced team and, and it's just fun to see him kind of evolve around those. The pieces that he has- you know Pop is a really good communicator he's a very clear, no nonsense guy which I think I appreciated about him the most. He will tell you what he feels and where he stands but you also feel that he does have your best interests in mind. And even if that means you know, we can't pay you what you want, but there's other opportunities out there and we'll help you find those opportunities. You've seen you know, players and coaching staff like to go get amazing jobs, amazing opportunities and Pop tred to stay and sweat. So I think people have appreciated that over the years.

Adam: You mentioned the Twin Towers. You and Tim Duncan were a dominant duo. And when Tim Duncan came into the NBA, he was like you as a number one overall pick, a player who everyone believed was destined for stardom. And you took him under your wing, you mentored him. Can you talk about, number one, what were some of the lessons that you tried to impart to him early on in his NBA career? And number two, what goes into being an effective mentor?

Mark: Well, first of all, you know, I think if you're going to be a good mentor, you got to take the time to get to know the people that you're mentoring, and I think with Tim- just sitting down with him and getting to see him as an individual that first summer, we got him. He came to Colorado with me and spent you know, like a week down there training. And so we ran up and down the mountain and we talked and I got to, you know, play with him one on one and get to see what kind of a game do you have? How do I put you in a position to be successful? And so I think that's where our bond really started. You know, we looked at each other and said, we're going to do everything we can to help each other. And I think the second good thing was that the ego wasn't really a factor for him. I mean, he's got less than me, so you know, I thought I was okay in that area. But, man, being around him, I realized, man, I'm full of myself. So it's really good to have people around you like that, right? You want to put that guy up on a pedestal, you want to help him, you want to encourage him. Not only is he an incredibly talented player, and you could see right away he was gonna be a Hall of Fame level player, but again, just a humility about him and a hunger to do the right thing. So yeah, I was super excited. So as a mentor, I just wanted to clear the way for him, first of all take pressure off of him as a rookie, you know, that can wear people down, right? Thinking that they’ve got to be great every night. Well, guess what, in that situation? He didn't have to be graded. You could have some off nights and I'll take the pressure, you know, I'm supposed to be great here. So, I don't mind taking that off you but he grew into it very, very quickly by the second year. I mean, he was starting to take the reins, you know? Even I didn't expect things to transition so quickly because he was, he was just so he's such a killer. I mean he’s a quiet, silent killer. He just knows how to approach the game. He never gets ruffled. He's relentless in his improvement. And I just saw day in and day out how good he was getting. So, you know, at some point, you got to acknowledge man, this guy offensively is better than me. You're like on the block. This guy can do everything. And you know, I'm a good score, but you know, fundamentally, he's incredible. You just got to let that guy do what he does, so it changed my role with the team, which was fine as long as we could be successful. And yeah, our relationship was amazing. I mean, he's 10 years younger than me so he’s kind of like a little brother to me. And even to this day, we have a tremendous relationship. So, you know, every time I get it, I was working out with him a lot before he became an assistant coach with The Spurs. We were doing kickboxing and some other things. You know, he's just an amazing personality, and obviously has had an impeccable career.

Adam: That's awesome. Who in today's game do you admire? Who are players that you watch and you say, I really respect their game, and I really respect what they do as leaders on the court off the court in the community?

Mark: Yeah, I will say across the board, if they made it to the NBA, I respect their game. Now, I guess the next logical question is do I like them? Do I want to watch them? You know, that's a different story for a lot of guys. So, you know, I think my favorite players, you know, right now, I would say, you know, I like Steph Curry. You know, I like the way that the Warriors kind of brought both the defense and the offense. They played like they were having fun. You know, they just did things the right way. Steph Curry's one of my favorite guys, he played with us down in San Antonio. And just to see him have that level of success is just amazing. It was wonderful. So, you know, that was one of my favorite teams to watch. You know, obviously watching the Spurs. I mean, you know, my favorite guys were Manu, Tony Parker, and you know, I mean, they're amazing guys right there. They're high, high quality guys who played with a fierceness and a feistiness, but they always respected the game. They respected people around them. They were the ultimate teammates. You know, some guys I mean, you look at a guy like Russell Westbrook, who's an incredible competitor. This guy is a fiery, incredible guy. But you know, he's had to mature over the years, right? Like he's had to kind of learn how to play with other guys. How do I help other guys and I think he is maturing. I think he is growing into that. You know, Kevin Durant is a guy I respect for his abilities, man, it’s just his set of abilities is not like anything I've seen. Just- it's remarkable. And he's had to kind of grow into being you know, being who he is and so I respect and I appreciate that about him. LeBron James has had to grow up a lot. And not only that, he takes very seriously his role in the community which you know, I think is phenomenal. You know, he's very outspoken. I don't always agree with everything he says and does but and I'm not personally a big fan of how social media kind of puts everything out there on the front page, but at the same time, I think, you know, a guy like LeBron is coming into his own where he's earning the ability get the platform to speak. A lot of guys speak but have no platform. There's nothing that they've done that backs up what they're saying. But I have respect for people who put their money where their mouth is and their time and energy where their mouth is. And so I think he's getting to that stage where, yeah, you know, you've seen it, put money behind it, you've seen him put his you know, his reputation on the line and so, you know, I don't mind guys like that speaking out.

Adam: I know the NBA community assist award literally has your name inscribed in the plaque. You set the standard for how players can impact the community. What inspired your decision to start Carver Academy and to then start Admiral Capital Group and what would you like listeners to know about both and what advice do you have for anyone listening in on how they can make more of an impact in their communities and in the broader community that we all live in?

David: Okay, so at BMO capitalism- it's a business venture that was started to support what we were doing in the community. So, you know, we've been working in school systems here, and charter schools, public school systems for the last 27 years. Right. I grew up with my mom and dad from Little Rock, Arkansas. My dad was a Little Rock guy and in the 50’s, right, so that's segregation. That's Central High School. That's all of that stuff. And so, you know, when I remember going to Little Rock when I was a kid, and kind of knowing that, you know, that's what my dad grew up in. And my mother grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, not much different, right, at the, at the time, very segregated. She went to the black school on the outskirts of Columbia when she lived near a really good school. It was a white school, so she couldn't go there. And so, for them, when they grew up, when they got married, and they said, we're gonna have kids, our kids will go to college. And you think about that, yep. You know, these parents from the 50’s- black parents from the 50s- I have my master's degree, my sister has a PhD, and my brother went to the Naval Academy afterwards and has been a pastor now for 25 years or so. That's an amazing job that they did, really putting that in a saying, you know, regardless of where we were, you're going to do this. And so I give them a lot of credit for being the inspiration kind of the, you know, that's the true meaning of a patriarch and matriarch of a family, you know, to be able to change the narrative. So for me, I feel like, I've got to step on their shoulders, and I've got to teach my kids to step on their shoulders and, and so that's why Carver knows what it was about going into these communities. I see the numbers just like everybody. People in any city in the country, you say, okay, here's I-10 or I-35. And on one side of I-35, is a certain community and on the other side of I-35, is another community right? In the minority community, you see 9% of those kids transitioning into college. On the other side of the highway, you see 77% of those kids going to college. That's an unsustainable statistic. That's crazy. So you know, you dig a little bit deeper and you say, okay, on that side of it- and that's 35 those people on average, because society between $150 and $200,000 per person, on the other side, those people will contribute to the economy. $200,000 per person. That's a vast difference, right? There's a huge inequity difference. So, for me seeing that and saying, okay, what can I do? Like I have limited resources, I'm not in charge of everything. So, you know, personally, I don't have enough money to change the world. So I started and said, Look, I'm gonna help educate these kids. I'm gonna get them to go to college. I can get them to focus like my parents got me focused and said, you're going to college. You say what you want to say, that you're going to college. And so starting them at kindergarten and preparing them for that mentality of I've got to come against the best kids in the country. That was important to me. And so Carver Academy, that's where we started. We started with pre-K through second grade, in a low income area here in San Antonio. We bought four city blocks, we kind of took down the crack houses and whatever, we built a campus, a beautiful campus that the community could take ownership in. And, you know, early on, we had some incidences of vandalism, some other things, but over time, it's become a real source of pride for the community. And in that whole area we've seen all the housing prices and everything quadrupled in the last, you know, 20 years. So, you know, we wanted to have impact economically, we wanted to have impact, you know, educationally, socially, all these different ways. And now we have a, you know, we joined up with a charter school system about seven years ago, seven or eight years ago, called idea public schools. And we became their first school here in San Antonio. They started in the Rio Grande Valley, with, you know, one school and in Texas, and through the Charter School Network they grew. We were having trouble really growing to scale. And so I said, hey, why don't we become a charter school for them? Because I like a lot of their same philosophy about being in low income neighborhoods, getting these kids focused towards college. They had a 100% matriculation rate to college. And I said, that's what I want to do in San Antonio. So I went to them and said, look, I'll help you raise money, we'll raise, you know, $50 million here in San Antonio. We'll build 20 new schools. And we'll keep the same standard. We'll send everyone to college. Basically, double the number of low income kids in San Antonio going to college each year. So they agreed. We became their first school in San Antonio now we have 25 schools, 26 schools here in San Antonio and, you know, 12,000 students, 13,000 students here in San Antonio. We have 55,000 students across the network all through Texas and Louisiana. We're the fastest growing charter school system in the country now expanding into Tampa and some other places. So IDEA Public Schools has become an incredibly high performing charter school network. And hopefully we're having a more resounding impact on public education in general, right? That it is possible to do this, to have the results we're having in low income areas. And we've even, you know, we get less money than the local public schools get, you know, so we get 80% of what they get per student. And we're able to do what we do. So hopefully we can be a voice in how do we build a public education system that can serve all students at a high level? 

Adam: David, that's unbelievable. It's incredible. It's putting not only your money where your mouth is but your time, your blood, sweat, and tears, not to be cliche, but literally you've led an unbelievable effort. And there's so much that listeners can learn from your example. But I do want to ask you, what advice do you have for listeners practically? What are things that you would tell anyone tuning in to this episode that he or she can do to make an impact today in their community, and in this greater community that we all inhabit?

David: Well, first of all, I would say, just get outside of your doors. Like that's the first thing. You know, one of the things I like about the discourse that's going on in America today is that people are really trying to make an effort to listen. You know, I think that's the first thing. You know, if you're married to somebody and you did something wrong, you can't just brush it under the rug. You can't just say, oh, yeah, I'm sorry about that. You know, don't worry about it. Let's just move on. Your wife's not going to go for that. She's going to be like, let's let's dig in here. Are you really sorry? And what are you going to do about and and so yeah, America has kind of a history of mistreating anybody that comes here, whether it's, you know, Native Americans or, you know, like, Mexican Americans- we've not done a great job of finding a good balance. I mean, but we are striving to be a more perfect union. That's the great thing about America, right? Like we're growing, we're learning, we're continuing to evolve, which I think is fantastic. So my suggestion to people would be to continue to get outside your doors, you know? The people on the other side of the community do affect the way you live, and they're going to affect the way you live. You got to get out there and see what's happening. The best way to not get caught up in your own miseries is to be serving other people. So look for ways to be helpful and serve even if you don't have the money to give. You can love, you can spend time and energy and encourage people and you know, that can start small. You know, it starts at home and then you build outside of that. So yeah, that would be my big encouragement to people right? Like, just reach outside your own doors and listen to other people's issues and challenges and then try to be helpful to that.

Adam: David, you touched on this a little bit earlier on in our conversation, but I wanted to ask you point blank, what do you believe are the defining characteristics of a great leader and how can anyone become a better leader?

David: Yeah, I think the, like top three things, probably, a great leader is one; having a vision, right? You, you can't lead if you don't have somewhere to go. If you're not taking people places, then you're not leading, right? You're posing. So I think you got to have a vision, you got to have a vision and vision for your organization, and you got to have a vision for the people that are serving in your organization. That's top of the list. Number two is to have an understanding of what you're doing, right? Like, if you're the leader, you gotta have a good basic knowledge of your subject matter. It's like, you know, it's kind of hard for somebody who doesn't understand basketball to come on the basketball team and then be the leader of that team. You know, you gotta be able to talk and play the game. And then people can follow because they know you know what you're talking about. So competency, I think, is really important. Competency and understanding. I think the third thing is that you have to have an understanding that your personal life and your business life are intimately related. You can't do one thing in the office and a different thing at home. I think it's really hard to be a leader if you're not genuine, right? Like if you're not consistent. People can see that- people can feed off of that. Children can feed off of when parents are being inconsistent. If I tell you one thing, like don't smoke, but then I'm smoking, it just makes it really hard to believe anything I say. My credibility gets shot. So I think as leaders understand that about your life. The things you do at home do matter. Not necessarily that you have to talk about them, but people aren't going to see it. They're going to notice that you know, you don't treat your wife well or your kids are a mess. They're going to notice those things, and then it kind of makes it harder to follow you. And so I think, you know, that's one thing that we're missing, you know? We look around our society, and then we've got leaders who are terrible examples of what you would want to be, you know? Even if the policies around you accidentally work out, but you're not a very good person, then, you know, that makes it really difficult, right? Like it makes it hard to be sustainable as a leader. So I think you just need to be consistent throughout your life, right? If you have philosophy, if you have beliefs, you've got to walk according to those beliefs and be consistent. So I'd say those are probably the top three things I would say: have a vision, know what you're choosing for both for your organization and for your people, have competency, and then be consistent.

Adam: David, I love it. Everything you said is on the money. Thanks so much for joining us, and thanks for all the great advice.

David: Oh, my pleasure, Adam. It's worth what we paid for it, but I always like to encourage people and I mean, if a guy like me can come up and be successful and find some good things to happen, then you know, it's possible for anybody who looks like me in any community in this nation.

Adam: I think if anyone listening follows the blueprint that you laid out and that you've exemplified over the course of your career, not only as a basketball player, but as a leader in the community, we can get there. So thanks for leading by example, and thanks for sharing your insights on the show today.

David: Alrght, thanks, Adam.