Be like Mike? LeBron? No, be like Spida, says NBA trainer Jasper Bibbs

NBA trainer to the stars Jasper Bibbs now heads up the athletic performance programme at the NBA Africa Academy in Senegal, and is urging the youngsters there to follow the example of Cleveland Cavaliers‘ Donovan Mitchell.

Former Utah Jazz conditioning coach Bibbs, who was also Zion Williamson‘s recent personal strength and conditioning coach before moving to the academy, singled ‘Spida’ out as a particularly consistent athlete for the Academy teens to emulate.

Bibbs told ESPN: “One story that I’ve shared with them about Donovan Mitchell is that he’s a consummate professional and whether he had 43 points, 50 points, 38, 12 or 17, or eight turnovers or ESPN highlight dunks, you would never know, because he was always the first one in the practice facility the next day.

“He was always the first one in treatment, the first one in the weight room and the first one on the court. Day after day, he was that guy. He was the consummate professional and that regimen ultimately paid off for him and continues to pay off for him.

“You would never know if he had a career game or a career worst game. He was going to come in the next day and put in the same level of work and the same level of focus.

“It wasn’t like: ‘Oh, I had a good game. I’m going to come goof around now.’ I shared that with the young men here at the NBA Academy here as well – just detailing Donovan’s professionalism as a basketball player.”

Bibbs and Mitchell forged a special relationship during their time at the Jazz after Spida was drafted 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets and then traded to Utah in 2017, the same year which saw Bibbs promoted from sports science assistant to assistant strength & conditioning coach.

Bibbs recalled: “Doing his draft workout and being a part of that was great and even through Summer League, we worked together very closely. He played very well and I worked with him through that summer while he was a rookie, just working relentlessly.

“Sometimes, while he was in town, we would go run hills at the park and just put a lot of work in preparing him for his rookie season. He played at a very high level that year.”

Bibbs continued to travel abroad with Mitchell during offseasons, but the former eventually left the Jazz in 2021 and the latter followed suit in 2022, getting traded to the Cavaliers.

Bibbs went on to work one-on-one with Williamson, helping him recover from a fractured fifth metatarsal which kept him out of the 2021-22 season.

“Zion is a generational talent. He has amazing physical attributes as well as tremendous skill. Having the opportunity to work with him was a blessing,” Bibbs said.

“I am very grateful and thankful for him and his camp for affording me the opportunity to use my education and skillset as a performance professional.”

He subsequently moved on to the NBA Africa Academy this year, where he trains some of the continent’s most highly-rated prospects, including star South Sudan center Khaman Maluach, and Cameroon’s Ulrich Chomche, possibly the best homegrown Cameroonian talent since Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam.

When Bibbs encourages them to prioritize work ethic, he is not only speaking as someone who watched Mitchell grow in front of his eyes, but also as a trainer who sacrificed every last dollar he had to chase his NBA dream.

In 2014, two years before joining the Jazz, Bibbs interned at the Toronto Raptors. According to him, he was hiding from them the fact that he was sleeping in his car at the time.

He said: “I was a student at Western Michigan University at that time. I had maybe $60 my mom gave me and drove to Toronto. I went there with [the permission of strength & conditioning coach] Jon Lee – he told me I could come for draft workouts and I really thought I was going to go for a day.

“At 7:30, we began taking measurements for 8:00. We concluded the day at around 2 o’clock and he says: ‘Alright. See you tomorrow.’ I’m like: ‘OK. I’ve got to stay. This is what I dreamed for.’ I ended up staying and slept in my car for well over a month.

“Sometimes, I’d go to a fast food restaurant before I got to the facility and wash up or I’d get there a little earlier and jump in the shower, grab some towels and make sure I was ready to work.

“They had no clue. [Lee] had no clue. One of the days towards the end of my training, he asked me: ‘What hotel have you been staying in,’ and I just began to cry. I just had tears coming down my eyes and I told him: ‘I’ve just been sleeping in my car.’

“That was a very touching moment. I’ll never forget that day and I just wanted to prove to him I would do anything for the opportunity. I’m just so grateful to Jon Lee that he gave a first generation African-American college student a chance to assist and learn from him and gain experience from such a prestigious organization.”