Being a professional basketball coach has allowed Dave Joerger to explore all parts of the world, but at the end of the day he still gravitates back to Aberdeen.

Joerger maintains a home in the Hub City and spends as much time here as his schedule allows. One of his daughters, Kiana, will be a senior at Aberdeen Central, while another daughter, Alli, is a recent Central graduate.

“I really like it here. I have ties here,” said Joerger, who has lived in Aberdeen part time for the past five years. “We’ll see what that entails and my employment going forward and stuff like that, but my neighborhood is great.”

Joerger, who was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, is a past head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. However, whenever the season ends, Joerger takes off for Aberdeen.

“As soon as the playoffs are over, 48 hours, 72 hours later, my truck and I are heading across country,” Joerger said. “I can tell you the whole route, and get here to Aberdeen.”

He and his wife, Kimberly, then try to get to as many sporting events that the girls participate in before heading back to life in the NBA.

A native of Staples, Minn., Joerger played collegiately at Moorhead State – he still maintains friendships with some of his former Northern State foes – before getting into coaching. Success has followed every step of the way including championships with the Dakota Wizards and Sioux Falls Skyforce before eventually landing in the NBA.

“There’s a lot of ‘pinch me moments.’ From where I came from, and people that are all happy for me. Those people all go with me,” Joerger said. “That’s all my family and all my friends and relationships that I’ve had in Minnesota, and North Dakota, and South Dakota before going to the NBA.”

The son of a high school basketball coach, Joerger always had an interest in coaching and went that route once his playing days were over.

“I wish I could still play,” Joerger said. “Even now, I wish I could still play, so coaching for me fills that cup, and that’s always been the case.”

While Joerger has been able to surround himself with knowledgeable basketball people, he also has an insatiable appetite for the game which has allowed him to accumulate as much information as possible.

“I am just a sponge. Sometimes I ask too many questions, but I’m very curious. I want to learn,” Joerger said. “I’m very passionate and I want to be as good as I can be, and I love the game. I really do. I love the game. If could still play I would.”

One of the qualities that Joerger has learned from others is to develop his voice, regardless of the role he is in.

“That’s been really critical for me in trying to help as an assistant and the mindset of who can I help when I am assistant,” he said, “and then what are the leadership skills I have to have and show to the team as a head coach.”

Joerger always try to do the best he can in his role, whether that be as an assistant or a head coach at the highest level of basketball.

Joerger said it is crucial that everyone on a team understands their roles, accepts them and then tries to excel in them.

“As far as getting buy-in by everyone, it’s convincing guys of their role. First of all, it’s articulating that role to them, whether they like it or not, but it has to be communicated,” Joerger said. “And then convincing them to be a star in their role in life. If everybody is a star in their role, we’re all pulling in the same direction for a common goal, then you get a lot more buy-in and guys are tied together.”

While the NBA is much more visible than most professions, Joerger said the same basic principles still apply.

“It’s no different than any other business,” Joerger said. “It’s a relationship business, and building relationships and trying to help people with a genuine true heart, and being authentic and caring.”

Joerger isn’t quite sure what the future holds for him in the ever-evolving world of professional basketball, but said he will likely be in Aberdeen a bit more this upcoming school year for his daughter’s senior season with Central.

He knows he will still be traveling some “and always base back here, being with my daughter and my wife as much as possible.”

It’s already been quite a journey for Joerger, who has quickly ascended the coaching ranks to be a leader of the best basketball players in the game.

“You just never know where the good Lord will lead you. I’ve been very blessed,” Joerger said. “I look at the experiences that I’ve been able to have and coming from where I came from. But it’s anybody, nobody tapped me on the shoulder with a magic wand. … You’re not entitled to this life.”

Joerger would still like to get back to being a head coach in the NBA someday, but is prepared to use his gifts at whatever level of basketball that he can.

“I’m a people guy. The relationships that I’ve been able to have throughout these travels, it’s been unbelievable. I’m looking forward to that continuing in the future,” Joerger said. “And what that role might be, whether that be a head coach or an assistant coach, but I hope that it’s as a head coach. That’s what fuels me and I enjoy the most, but if that’s being an assistant or doing other things and contributing where I can, that’s what it is.”

And regardless of where that basketball journey may take him in the future, Joerger will always have a place that he can call home in Aberdeen.

“I enjoy it here. It’s good people, it’s good living. People care about you and look you in the eye. They’re true to their word,” Joerger said. “There’s nobody holier than thou as far as looking down on anybody else. We’re all in this together. I think that’s what makes for a good community, and I enjoy being a part of it.”