![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SOE1-1.jpg\")
Kelly McCarty. Photo courtesy of Charles Hallman.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\tOverview: Behind the Bench<\/p>\n
The annual NBA Summer League is now over. It isn’t just for players hoping to get invited to training camp later this year, but also for coaches who aspire to move up the ranks one day. MSR talked to two Black Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coaches in separate interviews earlier this month before the team left for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Kelly McCarty<\/p>\n
Kelly McCarty. Photo courtesy of Charles Hallman.<\/p>\n
I stood behind the local media scrum as Wolves Summer League Assistant Coach Kelly McCarty took questions after a practice. He handled the questions as if he were the head coach, who usually conducts such sessions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting trying to get a group together just because there\u2019s so many new pieces,\u201d McCarty said.<\/p>\n
McCarty played 15 pro seasons, including one NBA season with Denver, but mostly labored internationally in Israel and Russia. It is during his time overseas that the assistant coach believes he developed an edge in working with foreign-born centers, 7-foot-3 Rocco Zikarsky, who played in the G League last season, and 6-foot-11 France native Joan Beringer, who played in Slovenia before the Wolves drafted him in 2025 and split time between Iowa and the parent club.<\/p>\n
McCarty, before turning to coaching, played collegiately at Southern Mississippi, where he\u2019s in the school\u2019s Hall of Fame. As a pro, he is a two-time EuroCup champion (2004, 2011), 2004 EuroCup Finals MVP, 2005 FIBA EuroChallenge MVP and won that year\u2019s EuroChallenge championship.<\/p>\n
His first coaching job came with the Iowa Wolves, the Timberwolves\u2019 G League affiliate (2023-25), and he finished his first season with the parent club as an assistant coach.<\/p>\n
McCarty reflected on his Iowa Wolves days: \u201cThey give you a workload. They\u2019re really strategic about how they develop coaches as well as players. I think that\u2019s super good for coaching to develop, if you have to learn and develop your voice as a coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that was great for me to go there, develop a coaching voice,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand a little bit more about our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
After he met with the media, I had a few stolen moments with McCarty as he left the group. He told me he fully understands that summer league players want to show what they can do to impress the coaches and get invited to training camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not just been chosen, they\u2019re here for a reason,\u201d McCarty said. \u201cWe want to help each one of the guys on the roster grow their value, whether it\u2019s here, whether it\u2019s with other organizations, wherever it is. We want to help them grow their potential to be NBA players.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his first summer league experience on the sidelines: \u201cI\u2019m just super excited to be a part of Summer League, my first time coaching,\u201d McCarty said. \u201cJust get a chance to lean into these young guys, not just about basketball, but about life.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SOE2.jpg\")
James White. Photo courtesy of Charles Hallam\/MSR.<\/p>\n
James White<\/p>\n
Summer league games are more than just winning games, says third-year Timberwolves Assistant Coach James White.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to win, of course,\u201d White said before the Wolves\u2019 summer league squad headed to Las Vegas earlier this month, \u201cbut really it\u2019s to see what we can do with these two bigs,\u201d 6-foot-11 Joan Beringer and 7-foot-3 Rocco Zikarsky, \u201cget these guys better and see how they play our system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to play the right way,\u201d White said. \u201cWhat are you going to bring to the table with the other guys, not just for summer league but will we get some real support? Can you help us? I think that\u2019s the biggest thing for us, more important than just winning games, even though we do want to win games.\u201d<\/p>\n
White\u2019s coaching resume includes two seasons as a Timberwolves assistant player development coach, and a season as Iowa Wolves assistant coach. He played in the NBA, NBA D-League and overseas after college, one year at Florida and three years at Cincinnati. Portland drafted White 31st overall in 2006.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody gonna try to do some stuff, try to show people stuff that they\u2019ve been working on,\u201d White said of the summer players on the roster, especially the rookies. \u201cBut at the end of the day, the smartest thing to do is try to play to win it the right way, winning basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Playing in Vegas also offers White the opportunity to work on his own coaching: \u201cContinue to get better,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m getting way more experience running drills, running the defense, being able to have a bigger voice, and hopefully I can carry that over to the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have a little bigger role,\u201d he said. \u201cSo just being prepared, preparing for that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 Charles Hallman<\/p>\n
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