OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (WSAW) – When Dave Bliss was in high school at Wausau West, coaching was never really part of his vision. He was more focused on playing.
“Being at West, I was just trying to be as good as a player as I could and open up as many doors as I could,” said Bliss. “I was able to play college ball, which was a great experience for me and realized coaching would be a great option later.”
Bliss had a great playing career. He was a two-time NewsChannel 7 Basketball All-Star in 2003 and 2004. He went on to play collegiately at Georgia, where he was a starter and helped the Bulldogs to an SEC Tournament Championship in 2008.
However, once his playing career wrapped up, a call to coaching came. Georgia assistant Pete Herrmann showed him how coaching could keep him close to the game he loved by creating relationships and instructing.
“The competitive fire gets fed a little bit still being able to do that,” said Bliss. “Not the same as playing, but I always enjoyed the teaching part of it. I probably would’ve been a teacher if I hadn’t done this.”
Bliss would soon join VCU’s coaching staff, working alongside now-Marquette head man Shaka Smart. While at VCU, Bliss got the chance to work alongside NBA Draft prospect Larry Sanders. Through that process, Bliss got to know NBA scouts, striking up a relationship specifically with Thunder GM Sam Presti.
“Just built a relationship with him in November, December, didn’t think much of it that year,” said Bliss. “Then in May, when the season kind of ended, they were looking for some more guys to help on the court and I just started out just as a scout team defender, video, chopping video, doing whatever the coaching staff needed.”
At just 23 years old, Bliss was a part of an NBA staff, a whirlwind after just recently wrapping his own playing days.
“We hit the ground running with Durant, Westbrook and Harden in those years,“ said Bliss. ”We made the Western Conference Finals in my first year and the Finals my second year so I was just trying to keep up, to be honest with you, at the beginning because they were rolling.“
Through that early experience, Bliss started to find his own coaching voice. He’d have stops at other places before ultimately re-joining the Thunder in 2018. From there, he took part in a remarkable NBA turnaround.
Through Presti’s vision, the Thunder accumulated draft capital, building a roster that was homegrown and young. With talent like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder became a contender with some youth star power. With a hungry group like this, Bliss got to further sharpen his coaching style.
“We can throw a lot of different things at them and they’re able to execute it and it’s so much fun when you can do that, because you can test yourself as a coach,” said Bliss.
The Thunder roared to the best record in the Western Conference in 2023-2024. They’d do the same thing the next season, with Gilgeous-Alexander taking home the league’s MVP Award.
In June, the Thunder won their first NBA title in OKC, beating the Indiana Pacers in seven games. It was a night that still is surreal in Bliss’s memory banks.
“I’ve been in basketball since I was five years old in some capacity and never won a state title. We won a conference title when I was in college, but never won the whole thing,” said Bliss. “To be able to do that at the NBA level is amazing.”
The feeling is still starting to resonate, but Bliss hopes his win can be an inspiration to the people in his hometown of Wausau who were cheering him on from the Badger State.
“It’s crazy but it just goes to show you, the kids back there, gives them something to dream about,” said Bliss. “If you work at it and continue to improve and put yourself into it every day, anything’s possible.”
Copyright 2025 WSAW. All rights reserved.