Los Angeles Lakers Director of International Scouting Adam Filippi Interview

Adam Filippi is the Los Angeles Lakers’ Director of International Scouting and Player Development Coach, and he also agreed to take some questions from me to let us all know what his job’s about, and why and how he got into his profession.

He, like one of the players he coaches, grew up moving back and forth between the United States and Italy. While in Italy, he pursued his basketball career, and ended up in the Italian B League. After a career that admittedly wouldn’t have NBA teams calling and a few knee injuries, he took up a career on the management and operational side of the game.

When he’s not working hard, he’s playing hard and keeping busy with his wife and three children.

 

Q: What exactly are your duties with the Los Angeles Lakers?

A: I am the Director of International Scouting and I follow all major overseas leagues. Along with that, I must have a working knowledge of all players that are NBA Draft eligible and all free agents playing outside of the NBA. After that, it’s a long process of elimination and hoping that four or five of them fall into your draft range. I like to find American players that may have developed their games overseas that could be NBA ready.

Q: What team did you follow when you were growing up?

A: I’ve always been a Lakers fan, as soon as I saw Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar play, I fell in love with the team. After that, I fell in love with all of the role players—Michael Cooper, Bob McAdoo, Byron Scott, etc.

Q: Who were the players that you idolized?

A: There were so many—Magic Johnson, Julius Irving, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar initially. And, even though I hated the Boston Celtics, as I grew to understand the game, I started to admire the Celtics too—Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, etc. And every...

About the Author