Count former U.S. education secretary among Thibodeau fans

Tom Thibodeau's introduction as the new Timberwolves coach and president of basketball operations Tuesday brings with it the usual testimonials from coaching peers and former players.

Then there's one not so typical: Not everyone gets endorsement from a former U.S. secretary of education.

A decade before he helped an ambitious teenager named Kobe Bryant develop his game in Philadelphia, Thibodeau did the same in Boston-area gyms with an Ivy League player long on desire and short on ability.

Thibodeau was a Harvard assistant coach then, and Arne Duncan, a 6-4 combo guard who aspired to play across the Charles River for the mighty Celtics, was a Crimson co-captain.

"Not quite a Kobe," Duncan recalled nearly 30 years later. "The short story was I had this dream to play professionally, which to say the least was a long shot and probably not the most rational thing. But I had a huge passion for it and a huge love for it, and Tom just put an amazing amount of time and energy into me."

They worked together early mornings before classes, late afternoons and at night. Even after Duncan's senior season ended, Thibodeau offered his time and expertise seeking nothing in return, just as he did years later with Bryant.

"You have to ask him why," Duncan said wryly. "He may well regret it and think it was a terrible use of his time."

"He believes in players and gets players to believe in him," Duncan said about Thibodeau. "Whether it's me or Kobe or Kevin Garnett or Yao Ming, whoever it might be, he just puts all of himself into it. This is his life. This is his passion. My sense is he'd probably do the same for a sixth-grader. He just has a passion for making players better, and he's so good at it. There are lots of people who love the game but aren't good teachers. He's a great teacher."

The way Duncan tells it, Thibodeau might be at his best getting his players to believe in themselves.

"There was never a 'no' and he pushed me very, very hard, stretched me," Duncan said. "It wasn't always easy, but it was exactly what I needed. I was far from a Kobe Bryant. But just to have somebody who not through their words but through their actions believed in you, I can't tell you what that meant to me for my confidence. At a rational level, probably none of it was justified. But you know what? People say I can't do this. Guess what? Maybe I can.

"I will always be grateful for what he did. It's just something I've never forgotten."

All these years later, Duncan was one of the longest-serving Cabinet members in the Obama administration before he stepped down four months ago. A former MVP in NBA All-Star weekend's celebrity game and the President's favorite pickup-game teammate, he now is a managing partner for the Northern California-based philanthropic Emerson Collective, led by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple computer co-found Steve Jobs.

Duncan's words suggest none of his life's work might have happened exactly as it did if not for Thibodeau's help making him all he could be as a basketball player first.

He predicts Thibodeau will do for these young Wolves what he did for him, Bryant and so many others.

"He makes players better," Duncan said. "He'll have them competing at a different level. I think you'll see greater team chemistry there than ever before. That combination of love and passion and real skill stands out.

''You can see it everywhere he has gone. His players have loved to play for him. His players always competed and as hard as they work, they're never going to outwork him.