Zaza Pachulia on Consistent Authenticity

I’ve been really fortunate to spend time with some of the best athletes in the world, whether it’s through my podcast or whether it’s through other relationships I’ve had in my life, I’ve gotten to be inside certain circles that put me in spaces with professional athletes. I also had a sport psychology practice where I worked with a number of professional athletes. One of my favorite athletes that I’ve ever interacted with is today’s guest. Zaza Pachulia is just an amazing human. He’s likeable, he’s thoughtful, he’s curious, he’s caring; he is the type of person that you just want to be around. He was an amazing teammate; I think if you asked players that played with Zaza, that’s how they would describe him: a great teammate who would do whatever it took to help the team win, including some of the not so glamorous aspects like playing defense and setting screens and helping out on the boards; he was an amazing offensive rebounder. As I think about today’s conversation, it actually has less to do with Zaza’s 16 years and over 1000 games that he played in the NBA, and more to do with his mindset and his curiosity and his desire to learn, grow, develop, be vulnerable, be willing to change, be willing to evolve, be willing to grow. At the core, that’s as much who Zaza is as winning 2 championship rings with the Golden State Warriors. And make no mistake, he’s also a competitor. He cares deeply about winning and being the best version of him that he can be when it comes to parenting, when it comes to mentoring, and when it comes to playing a game.  

Zaza had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:

“Every human being has a turning point in their lives” (6:15).

“Every day is a battle” (9:20).

“[Your kids] have to have goals, have to have dreams, and how can we, as parents, make sure that every day they wake up they’re inspired” (11:15).

“Give your best, give 100% every single day” (13:35).

“We all have different journeys. Every successful person has different paths to success” (15:35).

“When I retired from basketball, I had to work on myself because I was preparing to live a different kind of life” (21:45).

“It’s not only about what I tell [my kids]. It’s not authentic if I tell them to be happy but I’m miserable” (22:55).

“Kids observe everything” (25:55).

“Lead [your kids] by example” (26:35).

“I was lucky to have coaches who cared a lot” (27:40).

“It’s not about what outsiders think. It’s about what we think as a group, as a family” (31:30).

“Control whatever is in your hands” (36:25).

“I believe in consistency and I believe in authenticity. You have to be who you are” (38:50).

“I am who I am, but I am the same person every day” (39:05).

“In everybody’s journey, decisions are such an important part” (46:45).

“Basketball helped me bring [my curiosity] into my real life” (53:15).

“You’re never going to get time back” (1:00:45).

“Curiosity led me to reading and hearing the stories of amazing people” (1:01:00).

“Basketball has always been priority number one” (1:02:40).

“I gave everything to basketball and basketball gave lots of things back to me” (1:02:55).

Additionally, you can find out more about the Zaza Pachulia Basketball Academy here.

Thank you so much to Zaza for coming on the podcast!

I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.

Thanks for listening.