Marvin Williams was traveling in Spain last spring when the Charlotte Hornets picked their new coach.
It was past midnight in Europe and an unfamiliar phone number showed up on his cell phone, so Williams, the Hornets’ veteran power forward, let the call go to voice mail. The next day he called back new coach James Borrego, and they set up a lunch appointment at Charlotte’s Cheesecake Factory.
It wasn’t just large portions and scrumptious desserts that made that lunch memorable. Williams learned something important about his new boss.
“He really, really listened,” Williams recalled Tuesday night.