Pau Gasol is a now-retired professional basketball player. He’s Spanish, but he’s lived and worked in America for much of his adult life. He won two NBA Championships with the LA Lakers and he was incredibly close to Kobe Bryant and he’s still close to Kobe’s family. Well, Gasol is currently the President of Gasol16 Ventures and the Gasol Foundation. He’s also partnering with BetterUp, which means Gasol did an interview with BetterUp’s Chief Impact Officer Prince Harry. They spoke about teamwork, what it’s like to work with a coach, trust and more. Gasol also spoke to Sports Illustrated and they totally asked him about chatting with Harry:
Sports Illustrated: Why did you decide to work with BetterUp?
Pau Gasol: In our toughest and most challenging moments, I believe it is important to have a coach – a trusted voice who understands what you’re going through – to provide an objective perspective and help you break through any barriers that might be standing in your way.BetterUp is one of the inventors and pioneers of virtual coaching, and as someone who attributes so much of my career success to the phenomenal coaches I’ve had throughout the years, I loved the idea that BetterUp was offering a similar resource for employees, leaders and organizations worldwide. In the same way a coach and player relationship is vital to success on and off the court, BetterUp understands the pivotal relationship between organizations and their employees, and what is needed to drive successful results
SI: You’ve sat through many, many interviews over the course of your career. What was it like to be interviewed by Prince Harry?
PG: I had a wonderful time chatting with Prince Harry. He’s an extremely accomplished individual, and has done a lot for the world of sports through his work with the Invictus Games Foundation. He is someone who, like me, is dedicated to service and understands the role of mental fitness in overall performance. During my interview with him, I talked about how I sustained flow and peak performance during a game. Everything I talked about can be applied in the workplace when someone is facing a loss in flow or motivation. It was a great conversation that really resonated with me.SI: Is there one particular experience or part of your NBA career that you feel showcases the sort of teamwork and resilience you spoke about with Prince Harry?
PG: I would say our championship in 2010 is a perfect example of the teamwork and resilience we discussed. Heading into Game 6, we were down 2-3 against the Celtics, and knew that one more loss would be our last of the season. That Celtics team was unreal, with three guys who went on to the Hall of Fame. We were all exhausted, but we had to be ready to battle and take this series to the full seven games. As a team, we continued to practice, strategize, and dig deep to pull out all the possible energy we could for this stretch. As you know, we went on to win the final two games of the series and take home our second NBA Championship in a row. It’s hard to win a championship, and even harder to win two back-to-back championships, but having to overcome a deficit requires tremendous resilience, as well as physical and mental intensity. That’s the sort of success BetterUp tries to help organizations set themselves up for – the kind where leaders are able to help every member of a team reach their full potential.
I’m including a clip of Harry and Pau’s conversation below. I love that Gasol speaks about his admiration for Harry specifically as a mental health advocate and founder of the Invictus Games. What Gasol says about “emotional leaders” is fascinating to me. It looks like you have to sign in to BetterUp to watch the whole video (they didn’t put it on YouTube either) – go here to see.
Mamba Mindset 🐍
Basketball legend Pau Gasol in conversation with BetterUp Chief Impact Officer, Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex on how having Kobe Bryant as a teammate pushed his performance and flow ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9iOft8hUnC
— Dani (@ArchLiliHazMeg) October 3, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Lakers honored former player, international basketball star, Pau Gasol with the retirement of his #16 Lakers jersey at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, 01 March 2023,Image: 761151316, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: JERRY PEREZ / Avalon
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- Lakers honored former player, international basketball star, Pau Gasol with the retirement of his #16 Lakers jersey at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, 01 March 2023,Image: 761151431, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: JERRY PEREZ / Avalon
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- New York, USA. 9/24/24, New York, New York, United States HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex during the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative CGI Day 2, held at the New York Hilton, Tuesday September 24, 2024 in New York City,Image: 911487970, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com / Avalon
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- New York, USA. 9/24/24, New York, New York, United States HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex during the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative CGI Day 2, held at the New York Hilton, Tuesday September 24, 2024 in New York City,Image: 911486410, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com / Avalon
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- New York, USA. 9/24/24, New York, New York, United States HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex during the 2024 Clinton Global Initiative CGI Day 2, held at the New York Hilton, Tuesday September 24, 2024 in New York City,Image: 911487927, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Jennifer Graylock-Graylock.com / Avalon
Luv ❤️ it. People with means who care about other people’s outcome.
Sure Jan! The Sussexes are tanking in America. So unwelcome. So unloved. Nobody wants anything to do with them.
The rota must hate these articles. Destroys their hate narratives.
The way the Rota seems so confident that everyone will believe their unhinged narratives… do they think we sit around all day eating paste? WTF.
They have actually printed this story in the DM with a few nasty digs but fairly tame for the DM. I suppose they just can’t praise him, William wouldn’t like it neither would their readers.
I wonder if the Daily Fail said anything about Pau’s “broken English” since his first language is Spanish. I hate them.
You forgot to mention that they’re shunned.
And that Hollywood and everyone else has turned their back on them.
And that Harry is the dumb one, the dim one, who only became what he is because of his title.
I’m sure there’s more. /s
Pau freaking Gasol, one of the most successful European players ever.
Great to see Harry has grown as a person and speaker — into someone who’s confident, prepared and perceptive.
I loved this conversation. In grad school I did research with one of the theorists of “flow,” M. Csikzentmihalyi — the channel where high skill meets high challenge. It was great to see Harry in a conversation that brought those memories back together with the work of Better Up. Something for everyone who likes Harry, basketball, leadership, and/or peak performance. A great 14 minutes.
oh this interview sounds really interesting. I’ll have to watch it later today. I love what he says about mental fitness impacting overall performance.
The British press with their “what does Prince Harry do all day” sure look extra stupid about now.. it drives me insane that they always try to act like Prince Harry hasn’t accomplished anything when in reality the man has literally accomplished and achieved more than most of us ever will. I love to see it acknowledged in all the press outside of that island, it should be recognized and respected.
A very warm interesting interview. Harry’s confidence is evident every time he is speaking publicly. Proud to witness his growth.
” I had a wonderful time chatting with Prince Harry. He’s an extremely accomplished individual, and has done a lot for the world of sports through his work with the Invictus Games Foundation. He is someone who, like me, is dedicated to service and understands the role of mental fitness in overall performance. ”
Tell the truth, did we all hear the screaming coming from the UK, lol?
I hear the eruptions from KP all the way down here in Alabama.😜
Does the British press really believe that Harry wants to return to royal life/circles or are they deluding themselves and the public?
Harry is The hardest working royal who actually works! Not as James Oliver eould say; pseudo work!
I was going to comment earlier on the Royalist post but didn’t bother because it was the same old same old nonsense from the BRF. Harry and Meghan are moving in circles now that the BRF and monarchists don’t understand. And I love that for them. 2024 was a great year and I think 2025 will be even better. Having Invictus back in North America for the first time since 2017 is going to show how big its gotten. Going to sit here today and manifest the giant US delegation that the First Gentleman will be bringing to Vancouver/Whistler!
Oh, what a great thought! Maybe VP Walz will also accompany the IG team with First Gentleman Doug Emhoff since he’s a veteran himself! Something to look forward to as we trudge through these dark days before the election.
Anyone remember how Michelle and Dr. Jill went to Orlando together, and then Joe was there too, and Barack Obama and both Bidens went to IG Toronto? Statesman Harry!
Fingers crossed for Justin Trudeau to survive the next several no-confidence votes, looks like PP is going to make this into a weekly event, so he can be there too.
Clearly Harry is well prepared with insightful questions. Some can’t recognize that his “secret sauce” is that he actually likes people, has a genuine curiosity about others, and enjoys the connection of exchanging ideas and sharing experiences.
Love sports interviews with athletes. They’re on another level in some ways, the way they train and the dedication. But it always feels like there’s something an athlete says or does in their life that can be applied anywhere.