The Basketball Journey with Tony Ronzone
Basketball has taken Tony Ronzone all over the world. He played professionally overseas in New Zealand and began his coaching career as the youngest head coach in New Zealand history (age 22). He also held head coaching positions with the Saudi Arabian National Team (1992) and United Arab Emirates Team (1992-1997). Since 1997 Tony has worked in the front office of the Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Before his professional basketball journey, he started by playing college basketball and baseball at the University of Nevada, participating in two NCAA tournaments, before finishing his collegiate career at Long Beach State.
He was a member of the Pistons during their NBA Championship run in 2004. He also was a member of the Olympic committee of F.I.B.A., and Ronzone has been very active with USA Basketball, where he serves as Director of International Player Personnel. In this position, he assisted with the gold-medal winning men’s basketball team at the 2008 Olympics (China), the 2010 FIBA World Championships (Turkey) and the 2012 Olympics (London).
In 2001, Ronzone became the first American to coach the Chinese National Team, winning gold at the East Asian Games with a team featuring Yao Ming. Ronzone has coached or conducted clinics in over 55 countries around the world. He is very active with NBA Basketball without Borders and has coached at Euro camp in Treviso, Italy for the past 14 years.
Tony is a big personality who lives his life with gratitude and optimism. In this conversation, he shares everything he has learned and give insight into what it's like to scout for talent.
Tony is active on Twitter so check him out @tonyronzone.
Lastly, if you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
-Brian
Listen: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify.