The measure of Dwane Casey’s coaching job with the Toronto Raptors will go far beyond wins and losses and in-game adjustments and after-timeout plays and which buttons he pushes at what time in any particular game.
It will go to how he has managed personalities, how he has shifted a veteran team away from a style of play that was good to one that is better, how he has managed men and improved his relationship with them while asking them to change ingrained habits.
It has been a subtle but masterful job.
“This year stands out because he had to sell them on changes, and that’s not easy to do,” fellow NBA head coach Doc Rivers said of Casey.