Nick Young Reveals Displeasure With Lakers’ Moves, Opens Up on Experiences as a Big 3 Coach
After yelling at both his players and the referees, Nick Young flashed his familiar, gregarious smile.
Young has not changed his personality following his 12-year NBA career filled with secondary scoring and a self-given nickname (“Swaggy P.”). But as the head coach of the “LA Riot” in Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league, Young has shown his emotional side. During LA Riot’s recent win over the Detroit Amps at USC’s Galen Center, Young displayed his frustration with the officials over calls and with his players over some late-game execution. Hence, Young jokingly called himself “Bobby Swag” in light of the often volatile former college basketball coach (the late Bob Knight). Afterwards, though, Young talked to his players in the locker room with a dose of encouragement and bravado.
Moments later, Young spoke to R.org a bit about his time in the Big 3 as well as his take on the Lakers’ offseason moves.
Editor’s note: The following one-on-one interview has been edited and condensed
Interview With Nick Young
What have you thought of the Big 3?
Young: “BIG3 is in the ninth season. Nobody expected us to be going this long. It’s good for the players like myself. I’ve been at home. I get a chance to be back on the road and get back in the league. It’s been very competitive. It’s fun.
What got you into it?
Young: “Gil had played [Gilbert Arenas]. So he came and got me. Once he started doing the whole podcast stuff, he didn’t have time to be the coach. So I took over as the coach. We ended up winning the championship.” [Young won the 2023 BIG3 championship as player-coach].
Why do you think the league has worked?
Young: “The consistency. It’s good. The way social media is going. You got all the 1-on-1 tournaments going on with YouTube, I feel like this is right up that alley. I think it’s a cross between the NBA and YouTube. You get the best of both worlds.”
What do you think of the format?
Young: “It’s different. 3-on-3 is no joke. It’s really hard out there. It’s a little bit harder than 5 on 5. But I like the 4-point play. I like the one free throw for two points. They’re trying that out in the NBA. It’s crazy.
3-on-3 is harder than 5-on-5.”
How so?
Young: “Just because there is nowhere to hide. In 5-on-5, you can sometimes hide in the corner. 3 on 3, you miss, you got to get the rebound, get back on defense, it’s tough.
Where do you think this league is headed?
Young: “I think it can be really big. There is nothing to do in the summertime. This can get people out of the house. You can travel. You got some big names.”
What are you like as a coach?
Young: “It totally depends. I’m still a little laid back and trying to get used to it. But when they need to get yelled at, sometimes I do yell at them. The toughest thing for me is coaching superstars, such as coaching Dwight Howard.”
What’s that like?
Young: “It’s tough. But luckily Dwight is a good dude. He goes in and comes to work. So he’s made it kind of easy for me. I thought he was going to be like Kobe [Bryant] where he’s not listening to me and thinking, ‘Nick Young is coaching me.”
Does Dwight listen to you?
Young: “Oh yeah. It’s been dope. It’s been dope.”
What do you yell at guys about?
Young: “We were stuck at 45 points for a minute. So I had to yell at them to keep going and get the energy going. They were getting stagnant a little bit. I broke a clipboard today. I had to go Bobby Knight today. I was ‘Bobby Swag.”
I saw you yell at the refs. What are those exchanges like?
Young: “The refs are tough. We’re the home team, and we still got fewer fouls than the other side.”
As a coach, are you now diving into film to prep?
Young: “Nah (laugh). I watch film sometimes before so I let them know what’s going on and how they run certain sets. But the Big 3 is pretty much pick-and-roll, 1-on-1. The team who hustles the hardest and gets the loose balls pretty much wins.”
You’ve played for a bunch of coaches. Who are you trying to model yourself after?
Young: “I’m more like Luke. He’s laid back. But when he has to get on guys, he gets on guys. I give them the freedom to be themselves. I don’t try to change people. I also try to coach like Mike D’Antoni with his practice times. It’s just 40 minutes and you get what you need. You shoot 3s. But we don’t live and die by the 3.”
You going to try to be like your guy, B Scott? [Byron Scott]
Young: (laughs). “That’s the last person. If I take that into the Big 3, they’d kick me out if I’m having guys run (laugh).”
What do you think of what the Lakers did this offseason?
Young: “It’s tough. I don’t know. I’m not liking it. I don’t really like this team right now. We’ll see, though. I like Austin Reaves. I love what he’s doing. I love they paid that man. But getting rid of LeBron [James]? They need that superstar. But he might go to the Warriors!”