Brian Keefe Compares Wizards to Iconic Team

Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe has led a long road to get to where he's at, serving as an assistant among several teams in the NBA.

Keefe's first stop in the NBA came with the Seattle SuperSonics in 2007, the same year Kevin Durant was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. A year later, the franchise became the Oklahoma City Thunder and drafted Russell Westbrook. Then, James Harden came into the picture in 2009.

While the Thunder drafted three future MVP's, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows in Oklahoma City. They had to go through growing pains, similar to what the Wizards are dealing with now.

“It wasn’t like they just rolled out of bed and were winning 50 or 60 games,” Keefe said via The Athletic. “They had to go through some adversity, and I think we used that adversity as a foundation piece for what we were doing there.”

In the 2008-09 season, the Thunder won their third game on Dec. 19 after losing 24 games. That's worse than what the Wizards have done up until this point in the season as they compile a 3-20 record.

This isn't to say that the Wizards are going to be the Thunder, but it shows that Keefe is prepared for what the team is going through.

“We developed a lot of resiliency,” Keefe said. “I think our players, our organization really dug in and really used that as a momentum to build us to go forward.

“Those guys developed a toughness, a mental toughness, a resiliency, and then we really just embraced the work, and those guys really embraced the everyday building of habits and working on their craft and their game. And I think that really set the franchise forward during that time.”

The following year, the Thunder won 50 games and were back in the playoffs. It may not be the Wizards' timeline, but there is a vision and recipe for what the team is going through, and it could require some patience to see it through, but it could turn out to be exactly what Washington needs for the long haul.

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