Jay Triano: Learning from Steve Nash, Practicing in a Parking Lot & Fun is Fundamental

Jay Triano has spent almost all of his 67 years in sport. He's a former captain of Canada's Men's Basketball Team, the first Canadian head coach in NBA history with the Toronto Raptors, and a current assistant with the Dallas Mavericks. He's also the son of a high school basketball coach and the father of three kids who all played youth sports, which means he's seen every side of the equation.In this conversation, Jay draws direct lines between how he was raised in sport in Niagara Falls and the NBA coach he became. He talks about playing basketball, volleyball, baseball and track until he was nearly 18, why Steve Nash never acted like the best player in the room despite being exactly that, and what a parking lot practice with no hoops taught him about fundamentals that individual skill sessions never could.Jay is direct about what he sees wrong in youth sports today: parent-driven environments that prioritize exposure over development, social media that skips all the steps, and a growing culture of selfish play filtering down from the professional game. And he's equally clear about the fix: fun, teamwork, open communication, and coaches who understand that they're coaching twelve kids, not just yours. 🎙️ Better Sports Parents: helping parents positively contribute to the youth sports environment. Subscribe for new episodes every week. Chapters00:00 Opening01:35 Introducing Jay Triano03:18 A Life in Sport: 67 Years and Still Going04:16 How Jay's Dad Shaped His Love of the Game05:37 Multi-Sport Until 17: Basketball, Baseball, Volleyball & Track06:44 Unstructured Play: Street Hockey and Stats in the Front Yard07:20 How Multi-Sport Cross-Training Made Jay a Better Athlete08:21 Raising His Own Kids: Let Them Love What They Love10:00 What Youth Sport Looked Like When His Kids Were Young11:32 What Jay Looked for in a Youth Coach12:31 Youth Sport Today: Parent-Driven and Overspecialized13:55 NIL, Agents at Young Ages & Money Changing the Game14:17 Higher Skills, Lower IQ15:47 Too Many Games, Not Enough Practice18:25 Multi-Sport and Learning to Fill a Role19:08 Steve Nash: The Best Player Who Never Acted Like It22:14 The European Model: Growing Together24:15 Canadian Basketball's Rise and the Affordability Problem26:14 If You're Good Enough, You Will Be Found28:04 What Jay Wanted His Kids to Get Out of Sport29:51 Learning From Bad Coaches Too29:58 The Coaches Who Shaped Jay33:32 The Biggest Mistake Jay Made as a Young Coach36:11 Number One Advice for New Coaches: Make It Fun38:19 How to Recognize and Reward Every Role on a Team40:16 Phil Jackson's Rule: Acknowledge the Screen, Not Just the Bucket44:54 What Jay's Dad Said After the Games47:15 The Volunteer Coach and Referee Crisis48:07 No Secrets: Jay's Rule on Parent Communication52:10 He Wasn't Going to Cut a Kid in Grade Seven53:51 What a Good Youth Environment Actually Looks Like58:23 Developing Canadian Coaches: A Missed Opportunity01:00:14 A Simple Thank You Can Keep a Coach Coming Back01:02:16 The Parking Lot Practice That Built His Fundamentals01:04:06 Social Media Is Skipping All the Steps01:06:01 Are We Over-Parenting? Kids Need Difficult Situations01:07:38 Learning to Be Coached Hard01:09:06 Jay's Biggest Issue in Youth Sports TodayResourcesJay Triano