Rajaković challenges Malachi Flynn to take "steps forward" for Raptors
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković is finding his way through the opening month of his first few weeks as an NBA head coach.
Going 4-4 in his first eight games in charge of Toronto, one player that Rajaković is looking to get the most out of is fourth-year point guard Malachi Flynn.
While Flynn had an up-and-down tenure under previous head coach Nick Nurse, he’s found himself in the lineup for all eight games this season. Flynn has averaged 4.6 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds this year — hardly eye-popping numbers — but Rajaković is still pushing for the continued development of the 25-year-old guard.
“He’s continuing to grow and develop and I expect him to make another one, two, three, four steps forward,” Rajaković told reporters today at Raptors practice at Boston’s Harvard University. “He just needs to have fun playing basketball. You’re a young player in [the] NBA. You’re getting paid a ton of money to do what you love to do. Like what’s there to complain about, like you gotta embrace the moment and live for the moment.”
#Raptors HC Darko Rajaković expects "1,2,3,4 steps forward" from Malachi Flynn:
"He needs just like to have fun playing basketball. You know, you're a young player in NBA. You're getting paid a ton of money to do what you love to do. Like what's there to complain about? You… pic.twitter.com/VFbFDjnWr7
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) November 10, 2023
Rajaković spoke Wednesday night of using Tom Brady quotes during his time as a backup quarterback at Michigan as a motivator for Flynn, telling him, “Don’t think about ‘am I playing five minutes, seven minutes, 10 minutes?’; Make sure that everything counts when you’re out there.”
Flynn seemed to take these statements in stride.
“I don’t control how much I play, or how long I play when I go in,” Flynn told reporters. “But when I’m out there, I control the things I do. So I just try to focus on what I can control and that’s just coming in being having a lot of energy. And just going out there and playing hard.”
But it’s not just the head coach Flynn is learning from.
“His teammates really love him and support him,” Rajaković added. “And Dennis Schröder is very invested in him and talking to him and praising him and really trying to help him in every possible way for him to be Malachi Flynn out there, to be himself, and to be confident… he’s an amazing human being.”
Toronto returns to action Saturday night when they visit the Boston Celtics at 4 pm PT/7 pm ET.