{"id":1869545,"date":"2026-04-07T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1869545"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:00:09","slug":"mike-conley-ive-never-been-called-for-a-technical-in-1224-games-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1869545","title":{"rendered":"Mike Conley: I\u2019ve never been called for a technical in 1,224 games. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This story is part of Peak,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak\u2019s newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Mike Conley is a guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves in his 19th season. He has played more than 37,000 minutes in the NBA and has never been called for a technical foul.<\/em><\/p>\n

At least 15 times a year I get the questions from other players: \u201cAre you going to get a tech tonight? Are you going to finally do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

There have been a few games where I\u2019ve reacted right away and jumped up and down after a missed call, and everybody else gets kind of excited: We thought you were going to get a tech<\/em>!<\/p>\n

\n

As I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve become more receptive to the streak. I used to think: Maybe I should just get a technical foul because people are going to think I don\u2019t care<\/em>. But the older I get the more I realize it\u2019s a super power.<\/p>\n

It allows me to move on really quickly. When you have a bad play or something bad happens to you (you feel something should have been a foul), you can spend two or three possessions or even a quarter thinking about it. Man, that\u2019s messed up. I can\u2019t believe they did that<\/em>. You can spend so much energy on it that you might not realize you\u2019ve been playing terribly for the last 10 minutes because that\u2019s all you\u2019ve been thinking about.<\/p>\n

Well, I don\u2019t ever have that issue. If I do something bad or something bad happens to me, I go back to thinking about the next play or the next shot. I keep moving forward. I think that just gives you a level of aura.<\/p>\n

When I go to the free-throw line, I don\u2019t feel a thing. What should be a nerve-racking situation feels very comfortable to me, and I think that\u2019s because I don\u2019t have many highs and lows mentally during a game.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n

<\/span>
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n

It\u2019s an extension of the way I approach basketball in general. A lot of people think being quiet and not showing as much emotion means you\u2019re lacking something or maybe you\u2019re weak. But I beg to differ.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

{“endpoint”:”https:\/\/api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com\/graphql”}<\/p>\n

To me it\u2019s the opposite.<\/p>\n

You have full control of your emotions, full control of every situation. You\u2019re able to find a way to be calm through it all and regulate your mind to the point where you\u2019re able to think and not just react.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big Indianapolis Colts fan. I watched Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne score a million touchdowns. And not one time did they score and start dancing. It was just business as usual. It was just like: We scored, what\u2019s next<\/em>? I wanted to adopt that approach to the game. I liked that kind of mindset way better, and I wanted to be like those guys.<\/p>\n

It really had a profound impact on my outlook.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

I tried to approach the game the way they did, and when you start approaching things that way, you start falling into an identity: This is who I am. This is my standard. This is who I want to be when I play<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I get mad just as much as the next person, but it\u2019s all about how you react. How long are you going to let it bother you?<\/p>\n

We played a game recently against Detroit. We got a steal, I leaked out to run down the court for a layup, and while they were trying to throw the ball ahead to me, it went out of bounds. My teammates were all down on the other end of the court saying, \u201cReview, review, review!\u201d<\/p>\n

I was by our bench, and I thought our coaches were going to review it. I was talking to the ref near me. Then the ref handed the ball to the other team to inbound it \u2014 I was still on the far end of the court, so it was essentially a five on four.<\/p>\n

Inside, I was pissed. I was thinking: I\u2019m about to be on film because I\u2019m not in the right position defensively. I\u2019m on the other side of the court when the ball is being inbounded. I\u2019m about to let my team down. We\u2019re about to give up points in a tight game<\/em>. There were a bunch of things going through my mind, but I brushed all that to the side and just thought: How can I approach the refs and hold a conversation without escalating it<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I did get one phantom technical. This was in 2014.<\/p>\n

There were three plays in a row where they didn\u2019t call fouls. The ref missed another call and the ball went out of bounds. I was like: Man, come on bro. It was something as simple as that. I wasn\u2019t looking at the ref or talking to him. Then I heard a whistle and that they had called a tech. I was like: On who???<\/em> I thought there was no way they called it on me.<\/p>\n

The referee was Monty McCutchen. He looked at me immediately and was like: \u201cMy bad.\u201d It was funny, and within 24 hours the league rescinded it.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The No. 1 thing for me is breathing. It\u2019s become a really big tool. Breathing in for four counts. Breathing out slowly. Getting all the way to the end of your breath. Holding it there for a little. Then breathing in again to the count of four.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s always allowed me to center myself again. To remind myself: Alright, we\u2019ve got a job to do. Don\u2019t let what just happened a second ago let what\u2019s about to happen for us<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When you do that, you\u2019re always the same no matter what. That, to me, it says a lot about your family and the people around you. That\u2019s what means the most \u2013 to represent the people around me. If I can continue to find a way to not get a tech in the next year and make it out of the NBA unscathed, that\u2019s something that will stand for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u2014 As told to Jayson Jenks<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story is part of Peak,\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s desk covering the mental side of sports. Sign up for Peak\u2019s newsletter\u00a0here. Mike Conley is a guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves in his 19th season. He has played more than 37,000 minutes in the NBA and has never been called for a technical foul. At least 15 times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1869545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1869545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1869545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1869545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1869545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1869545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1869545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}