An Interview With 2x NBA Champion Zaza Pachulia

All the to-do lists, spreadsheets, coaches, and strategy sessions will not help you seamlessly deal with the inevitable–change. It happens when you least expect or want it. It upends your routines, hurls you out of your comfort zone, and brashly forces you to adapt. Change becomes your constant companion as you learn to navigate the turns and pivots of your professional and personal lives. Nobody knows this better than two-time NBA champion Zaza Pachulia.

Growing up in an athletic family who towered over his peers, six foot eleven Zaza Pachulia’s story begins in Tbilisi, Georgia. Zaza loved basketball with an unbridled passion and, like many young teens, dreamed of playing in the NBA. But between a dream and reality is thousands of miles, endless hard work, a dose of luck, and opportunity.

His home country had limited infrastructure for the game, so at the age of 14, shortly after losing his father, Zaza moved with his mother to Turkey so that he could play basketball. He faced learning a new language, culture, and religion. A determined teen, he exhaustively worked on honing his skills. Up before others and getting his practice in, he decided that no one would outwork him. Millions of teens aim for the NBA, but only 450 ever make it. Of those, only about 20 percent are international players. The odds were not in his favor, but he pressed on.

From dream to reality

Zaza’s vision was beginning to unfold as he received his first NBA contract at the tender age of nineteen. His agent dropped him off at the Orlando airport, wished him luck, turned on his heels, and left. Zaza stood at the airport alone and knew what lay ahead. Once again, he learned a new language, English (his fourth language, in addition to Georgian, Turkish, and Russian), culture, and the US tax code.

As shared in the book, The Success Factor, Zaza has the makings of a high achiever: intrinsic motivation, passion, and commitment, a dangerous combination for anyone who wants to try and succeed. It worked. Zaza spent 16 years and over 1,000 games playing for the NBA, three times the average of most players. “I ran a lot of miles on the court,” shared Zaza.

The longer he played, the more his approach varied. “The older you get, you focus on quality, not quantity,” said Zaza. He changed his workouts and routines. “It’s the small details that differentiate between good and outstanding,” said Zaza. From his first year in the NBA to the last, he always worked on perfecting his game and ensuring there was always an improvement.

Failure is data

Zaza’s path to those two NBA championships is paved with success and sprinkled with failure. Although no one likes to lose a championship, knowing that he did his best and put his best foot forward each time makes Zaza okay with failure. He’s not comfortable with it, who really is, but he understands its purpose. He understands that failure is data. Zaza would routinely watch movies of his games, not to see what he got right, but to learn from his mistakes. Every error he corrected improved his game, and he was a man on a mission. In adult learning, this is called reflection on action.

From the NBA to the Ivy League

While Zaza loved basketball to his core, he always had an eye for business and became a lifelong learner. While in the NBA, he simultaneously studied at some of the most prestigious institutions, including Harvard Business School, Stanford, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.

While he hung up his sneakers, Zaza did not leave the basketball world. Today he is a liaison for the business and basketball of the Golden State Warriors, where he melds his passion for the game with the business side, and a Golden State Warriors Ventures board member. He is a respected figure in the locker room and a mentor to the junior NBA players. While a fierce competitor on the court, he was the ultimate teammate off of it.

His impact on basketball goes far beyond the NBA. He developed a basketball academy for kids in his home country of Georgia, where he shares his love of the game with thousands of kids.

Zaza Pachulia’s journey from Georgia to the NBA is paved with hard work, focus, sheer determination, and the ability to adapt routinely. He never dwells on the problem; instead, he searches for a solution. His legacy and optimism continue to inspire generations of athletes worldwide.