How OKC Thunder Summer League coach Kameron Woods rocketed through NBA ranks

LAS VEGAS — Kameron Woods might still be playing if Mark Daigneault had his way.

Woods, a 6-foot-9 forward, was one of Daigneault’s favorite players to coach with the G League Oklahoma City Blue. Woods was a connector. Unselfish, almost to a fault. He didn’t put up big numbers. He just made things work.

But after two seasons with the Blue, Woods, then in his mid-20s, quit playing. He was realistic about his slim chances to make the NBA. He didn’t want to be a G League lifer and he didn’t want to play overseas.

By stepping away, Woods put the brakes on playing while accelerating a new career: coaching.

“I’ve been like a rocket ever since then,” Woods told The Oklahoman.

Woods, 29, is the Thunder’s Summer League head coach, and next season will be his second as a Thunder assistant. After playing for Daigneault in the G League, Woods is coaching alongside Daigneault in the NBA.

Given Woods’ rapid ascent through the coaching ranks, don’t be surprised if he’s leading an NBA team some day.

It’s all part of the plan.

And one thing to know about Kameron Woods? He always has a plan.

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'Wasn't where I wanted to be'

Woods, from Louisville, Kentucky, played four years at Butler — the first two under Brad Stevens, and then one each under Brandon Miller and Chris Holtmann.

Stevens, now president of basketball operations for the Celtics, and Holtmann, now the head coach at Ohio State, are two coaches, along with Daigneault, who Woods counts as mentors.

Woods was a two-year starter at Butler, and as a senior he averaged a career-high 7.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

Woods led the Bulldogs in blocks in each of his four seasons, and he led the Big East in rebounding as a junior and senior.

In Butler program history, Woods ranks second all-time in rebounds, fourth in blocks and eighth in games played.

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Woods joined the Blue after going undrafted, but he put a timer on his G League career.

He told himself that he would play for two seasons, and then reassess how close he was to the NBA.

“I don’t want to be somebody who plays so long that they pass up on opportunities because they’re chasing something,” Woods said. “The NBA is so much younger. Windows for guys to make it are shorter because there’s 19-year-olds that are getting drafted all the time.”

After two years, Woods realized, “I wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

Woods could’ve kept playing in the G League, but he and his wife, Shakira, were starting a family, and Woods wanted a more stable career.

Woods moved to Atlanta, where he had family, and got a job as an IT recruiter.

Coaching, though, was still in the front of his mind.

Woods considered taking a junior varsity high school job, but Daigneault told Woods to hold off.

“I don’t know if we’re gonna have anything,” Woods remembers Daigneault saying, “but if we do it’d be a better opportunity than that.”

Woods and Daigneault stayed close even after Woods left for Atlanta.

“Which is pretty special to me, because he didn’t have to,” Woods said. “Like, I’m not playing for you anymore. I turned that down. But we stayed in contact.”

Woods had met his wife while playing for the Blue, and about one year after moving to Atlanta, Woods and his wife visited Shakira’s family in Oklahoma City.

Woods told Daigneault he was in town, and Daigneault told Woods that there was an opening on the Blue staff.

“Do you want to interview while you’re here?” Daigneault asked.

Not even Woods was prepared for that. He hadn’t packed the right clothes to wear for a job interview.

“Kam, we know you,” Daigneault told him. “Don’t worry about it. Wear whatever.”

Woods got the job.

“It took off from there,” he said. “It was incredible. That was not what I planned that trip to be.”

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What's next for Kameron Woods?

Woods said his first year as a Blue assistant was difficult. He didn’t have coaching experience, and he knew that he could still be playing with the guys he was coaching. It would’ve been tempting to scratch the itch.

Heck, Woods could still be playing today.

“Probably,” Woods said matter of factly. “I’m still young and I can still run around a little bit.”

After Woods’ first season as a Blue assistant, Daigneault was promoted from head coach of the Blue to a Thunder assistant under Billy Donovan.

Grant Gibbs, who’s on Woods’ Summer League staff, was named head coach of the Blue, and Woods was elevated to Gibbs’ top assistant.

When Daigneault was named Thunder head coach before the 2020-21 season, he hired Woods as a player development coach. Then, prior to last season, Woods was promoted to assistant coach.

“It’s just been growing every year pretty fast, and now I’m coaching Summer League,” Woods said.

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This is Woods’ second run as the Thunder’s Summer League coach. He served in the same position for three games last year when Gibbs entered health and safety protocols.

Woods looks more comfortable this time around.

“Great guy to play for, love him as a coach, love him as a person,” Thunder guard Josh Giddey said. “I’m having a good time with him as my head coach.”

Woods isn’t brash. He’s more introverted — quiet yet captivating. He has a presence about him.

“When it’s time to command a group I think I can connect with these guys really well because I’m close to their age,” Woods said.

Woods, not even 30 years old, has ambitions of being an NBA head coach.

That hasn’t always been the case, but it’s something he’s felt since leading the Summer League squad.

“Everyone says they wanna do it until you’re actually in it,” Woods said. “And for me, I ended up doing it and I thought the group responded really well.

“I was like, dang, there’s some decent dudes in here and they're receptive to me, they respect me, you know what I mean? That’s when that door opened.”

Every coaching door that’s opened for Woods has only done so because he shut the door on his playing career.

At the time it might have seemed premature, but it was all part of the plan.

“Every decision that I’ve made leading up to this point,” Woods said, “has never been rushed.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NBA Summer League: OKC Thunder's Kameron Woods rockets up ranks