Pep Guardiola’s influence has resurfaced in NBA circles, with yet another coach citing him as a source of inspiration: Charles Lee, head coach of the Charlotte Hornets—an organization in which Michael Jordan remains a minority shareholder.
With this, Lee officially joins the growing list of Guardiola admirers across the league, a group that already includes Steve Kerr (Warriors), Joe Mazzulla (Celtics), fellow Catalan Jordi Fernández (Nets), Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers), Nick Nurse (Sixers), and Darko Rajaković (Raptors).
In total, seven coaches—nearly a third of the league’s benches—now openly acknowledge the Manchester City manager’s tactical influence.
In an in-depth conversation with Mundo Deportivo, Lee reflected on how Guardiola’s cutting-edge football concepts can be transferred to basketball. Many NBA coaches, he noted, continue to study the Catalan’s ideas to enrich their own systems.
Pep Guardiola
Lee himself is well-versed in Guardiola’s principles, having been part of the Boston Celtics’ coaching staff during the 2023–2024 season—when the franchise claimed its first championship in 16 years.
That title run came after head coach Joe Mazzulla visited Guardiola in Manchester and later hosted the City manager at the NBA Finals, where Guardiola advised him on spacing. I
t proved to be golden advice: the Celtics dismantled Luka Dončić and the Mavericks in a dominant 4–1 series win.
“I learned from Joe, from Pep, and honestly my daughter loves playing soccer too. So lately I’ve been watching a lot more of the U.S. women’s national team,” Lee explained ahead of Charlotte’s game in Toronto (an 86–111 loss), despite LaMelo Ball sitting out with ankle soreness.
“But when I think about ball movement—one of the core things we talk about in basketball—the more you can move the ball and your players, the better chance you put your team in a position to succeed. It’s the same concept in soccer: good ball movement helps you create chances. In basketball, it helps you generate quality scoring opportunities.”
Lee added that passing and collective movement are major concepts he borrows from football:
“We focus a lot on passing, sharing the ball, showing soccer clips—because nobody can just dribble through an entire team and usually score. Maybe a few great players can. I’m no soccer expert, but Messi and those guys are probably ridiculous. Still, most of the time you have to go wide, play with your winger or striker, recycle the ball. The passing and the movement are what I take most from soccer.”
The Hornets coach—an NBA champion as an assistant with the Celtics in 2024 and with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks in 2021—also recalled how Joe Mazzulla used football videos to teach tactical principles. Celtics player Xavier Tillman recently revealed that some of those clips featured Lionel Messi.
“I don’t usually show videos to players myself, but in Boston Joe would sometimes show soccer goals or tactical sequences because he’s a huge fan. With the Hornets, we’ve sometimes used American football—I like the NFL, I’m a big Panthers fan. With young guys coming from college, we’ll show clips of certain plays and how concepts from football can translate to basketball situations.”
How Guardiola’s Ideas First Entered the NBA
Steve Kerr was the first NBA coach to fully implement Guardiola-style concepts, introducing them to the Warriors when he took over in 2014.
That summer, Kerr showed Stephen Curry and his teammates videos of Pep’s “tiki-taka” Barça to illustrate how he wanted the ball to move. Those ideas became foundational in building a dynasty that has claimed four championships in the past decade.
But the NBA is often described as a “copy-and-paste league”—and the Guardiola template is no exception. Joe Mazzulla followed Kerr’s path, and after visiting Manchester in 2024, Sixers coach Nick Nurse traveled to City’s facilities in August to meet Guardiola as well.
Six of the seven NBA coaches who have acknowledged learning from Guardiola have won at least one championship:
- Steve Kerr – four titles as Warriors head coach (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022).
- Kenny Atkinson – assistant on the 2022 Warriors title team.
- Joe Mazzulla – head coach of the 2024 Celtics title team, with Charles Lee as an assistant.
- Nick Nurse – led the Raptors to the 2019 championship alongside Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.
- Jordi Fernández – assistant on the 2016 Cavaliers championship team.
Europe Continues to Draw NBA Praise
Charles Lee Also Looks to ACB Coaches for Guidance
Lee’s admiration isn’t limited to Guardiola—he also studies prominent European basketball coaches, many with ACB pedigrees.
Days after Kenny Atkinson praised Pedro Martínez, Lee cited Croatian coach Neven Spahija, who previously worked with Valencia and Baskonia and currently leads Reyer Venezia in Italy.
“I’ve taken a lot of influence and inspiration from European basketball and European coaches. One coach who immediately came to mind is Neven Spahija. I had the pleasure of playing for him briefly and also working with him in Atlanta. He’s someone I still speak with often. The way he approaches both sides of the floor, the way he builds relationships and manages a program—it was invaluable learning from him, given everything he achieved overseas and how he translated that to the NBA.”
Spahija joins a list of European coaches mentioned in recent days in Toronto: Pedro Martínez, Željko Obradović, Duško Ivanović (referenced by Pacers coach Rick Carlisle), and Sergio Scariolo (mentioned by Jordi Fernández). All have coached in the ACB.
Looking to European basketball minds—and to Pep Guardiola in particular—has become an increasingly prevalent trend across the NBA.