‘Surreal’ life: High school coach reflects on Heat guard Gabe Vincent’s path to NBA Finals

Ken Green was beaming at the television Sunday night at Michael’s Pizza in Stockton while surrounded by 20 relatives and friends, including members of his coaching staff.

Green, the boys basketball coach at St. Mary’s High School of Stockton, was overcome with joy watching one of his former star players light up the biggest stage basketball has to offer.

“It feels like it’s a surreal experience,” Green recounted in a phone conversation this week with The Sacramento Bee.

Green watched former St. Mary’s star Gabe Vincent scored 23 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 111-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Finals to even the series at one game apiece. The series now moves to South Florida for Game 3 on Wednesday in Miami, where Vincent has a chance to continue writing the script to his storybook basketball journey.

“The coolest thing about him is he’s so grounded,” Green said of Vincent. “The game or the team isn’t too big for him. He understands it. He tries to make everybody around him better. He not only does that as a player, but as a person as well. He had an impact, not only on our coaching staff and how he made us better people, but our faculty and (his) schoolmates will tell you the same thing.

“Humble. He’s very humble.”

Vincent’s underdog story isn’t new to those who have followed him. He’s a starting guard for an NBA championship contender after playing in college at UC Santa Barbara — not known for being an NBA breeding ground — then going undrafted, passing through the Sacramento Kings in 2018 and their G-League team in Stockton before landing with Miami on a two-way contract in 2020.

He signed his first standard NBA contract in 2021, which meant he toiled on the league’s fringes for almost three seasons before earning a life-changing two-year, $3.48 million deal. And with double-digit scoring totals in eight of his last nine playoff games, including the Finals and Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, Vincent is setting himself up for a substantial raise as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Vincent’s story parallels the Heat’s unlikely rise to the NBA Finals. His team is a heavy underdog against the Nuggets and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, yet Miami has survived three straight playoff series as the No. 8 seed. The team’s resiliency is among the reasons the Heat have been able to carve out wins like Sunday’s in Denver.

The victory included coming back from a 15-point deficit and Miami outscoring Denver 36-25 in the fourth quarter.

“It’s part of our DNA, for one, everyone on this team has had to battle through adversity in some manner, get knocked down and have to get back up,” Vincent told reporters Sunday in Denver. “And, two, we’ve got a lot of experience in close games, so when it comes down to the wire, we’re strangely comfortable.”

But what’s been particularly satisfying for Green while watching Vincent blossom is that those who are around him every day notice the same things he did when he first started coaching Vincent as a 15-year-old sophomore.

In fact, Green sent around a video from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s postgame press conference, where he was asked about what Vincent brings to his team.

“We love Nnamdi. We really do,” Spoelstra said to reporters in Denver, alluding to Vincent’s middle name. “He’s a special guy. He really is.”

Spoelstra, regarded as one of the NBA’s best coaches, went on to tell the story of Vincent earning his keep with the Heat when the team went to the NBA Finals in the bubble during the pandemic in 2020.

Spoelstra said he asked Vincent to change his role, and Vincent responded. Miami is known for having one of the most unique cultures in the NBA. This has helped the Heat continue to make deep playoff runs despite being less talked about than other teams in the Eastern Conference like the Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.

“He took on the toughest, I think, role change for a young player,” Spoelstra said of Vincent. “He was a gunslinger, two guard. We wanted to develop him into a combo-guard, someone who could organize us, be an irritant defensively, tough, but learn how to facilitate and run a team.

“I think that’s the toughest thing to do in this league, is try to turn a two (guard) into a one. And he openly just embraced that. And then he struggled at times with that, because you’re trying to reinvent yourself. And instead of saying, ‘This is too tough, let me be me,’ he’s really grown the last three years. He’s just an incredible, winning player. This year he’s been a starter for us (and) off the bench he’s been great.”

Vincent, who turns 27 on June 17, went to St. Mary’s after growing up in Modesto and spending his freshman year in high school at Modesto Christian, where he played on varsity as a freshman. Green said Vincent transferred to St. Mary’s for the school’s academics. He went on to average 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game for the Rams.

Vincent first caught Green’s attention for his defense, where he continues to shine in the NBA.

“Early impressions, when he defended, he knew how to close out already. His hands were very active. He stayed low in his stance. And if you watch him right now and watch him play defense, he’s almost always in his stance,” Green said. “Not afraid to get dirty, ready to take a charge. There were things fundamentally that he arrived with, and he was 15.

“Offensively, the game was already very slow. He could shoot the heck out of (the ball), and as time wore on, he really improved his shooting range. He improved his athleticism. He was a leader from jump street. He didn’t have to say anything. He led by example. As he entered his senior year, then he became a vocal leader, and he could back up anything he was talking about to the younger guys.”

Green’s favorite stories of Vincent include when he hosted a free basketball camp for youth players in the Stockton area hosted at St. Mary’s. The 75 spots filled up in less than 24 hours. Vincent signed every autograph and took every picture asked of him. Green said Vincent was the first person there before the camp began in the morning, and was naturally the last to leave.

Vincent also spent time with Green’s high school players during their summer games, sitting on the bench and imparting knowledge without overstepping how they were being coached.

“He doesn’t forget where he came from,” Green said. “That was super special.”

All of which is why Green plans to head back to Michael’s Pizza with his group Wednesday to watch Vincent and the Heat take on the Nuggets in Game 3.