Bob McAdoo trying to step up more as supportive tennis father to touring daughter

Bob McAdoo has been there before — “in a funk," as he calls it.

The Hall of Fame center, 1975 NBA MVP and now Miami Heat scout knows what his daughter, Rasheeda, is going through.

Rasheeda, a two-time state singles and doubles champion at American Heritage-Delray who got a full ride to play tennis at Georgia Tech, is still grinding away at the lower levels of the WTA Tour at age 27.

“I call it the G League," McAdoo says with a laugh.

Then McAdoo turns serious.

McAdoo, now 71, is sitting at a Starbucks in Boca Raton, where he moved with his family 12 years ago. The McAdoos moved from Miami to Boca to give Rasheeda her best chance at a tennis career — surrounded by all those illustrious tennis academies.

It is three days removed from Father’s Day and McAdoo had just returned from an NBA draft meeting with Pat Riley, his former Lakers teammate, and Heat brass at the Kaseya Center. He planned to be in the war room for the Thursday draft when the team selected UCLA power forward Jaimie Jaquez Jr. in the first round.

But his mind was also on his 5-foot-11 daughter who had just lost a first-round doubles match in an event in Kansas — the $25,000 Wichita Tennis Open.

McAdoo often harks back to his playing days when he rocketed to stardom as the pioneering outside-shooting big man at 6-foot-10. He starred for the Buffalo Braves (now the Clippers), the New York Knicks and later won championships in Italy and with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But it wasn’t all rose petals.

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“Like I explained to her on text this morning — and this is part of my job — I explained to her from my experiences," said McAdoo, sipping a glass of apple juice. “I had down moments, too. My down moments were when I was in Detroit, Boston, New Jersey. I was on teams that were just bad. When I got to the Lakers, it brought new life to me and also to Italy. My talent came out. I knew it was still there because I had it in Buffalo and New York.

"When they traded to these teams, it was a downer to me. Playing the games, it wasn’t fun. It was like drudgery. I’m hoping it’s not getting like that for her. I know her goal is to get to play in a Grand Slam. She hasn’t been able to do that yet. She’s there but she’s not there."

Rasheeda McAdoo, ranked 250th in doubles and 711 in singles, was to play an afternoon singles match in Wichita and McAdoo was going to watch the scores on his cellphone. If Rasheeda lost, she’d be headed home to Boca where McAdoo was ready to announce a new plan.

But Rasheeda wound up winning that match and again Thursday before losing in the quarterfinals to Gabriela Lee 6-4, 6-2.

McAdoo believes he can give a further jolt to her career. “I try to keep things uplifting and positive for her, be an uplifting voice," McAdoo said.

A five-time All-Star, McAdoo wasn’t in the era when players of much lesser status made $50 million a season. But he made enough money to further Rasheeda’s tennis ambitions that looked so promising when four years ago she was Coco Gauff’s doubles partner for four tournaments.

“I’m her benefactor, but I’ve got to do more on my part," McAdoo said. “My wife and I have talked about it. We probably have to get her a travel coach and a mental coach. If you’re going to do it, do it full speed.

“I watch tennis on TV all the time. I know she’s not on (Iga) Swiatek’s level, but those girls are making millions and they have a team with them — a masseuse, a mental, a hitting coach. We can’t afford all that, but we have to give her more in terms of coaching."

A couple of years ago, McAdoo ran into former pro turned TV announcer Mary Joe Fernandez, who lives in Delray Beach and has a son heading to Stanford on a tennis scholarship. Fernandez said getting a mental coach is more important than an instructor nowadays.

“The more you’re around tennis, you keep hearing of players with mental coaches," McAdoo said. “It can’t be a good look for her when she goes to a tournament and playing against a girl whose coach is up against the fence coaching the player. You can do that now."

McAdoo tries to do his part, even when traveling on a scouting mission. A former assistant coach for Riley, Stan Van Gundy and Erik Spoelstra, McAdoo moved to the scouting department after the Miami Dream Team broke up in 2014.

By calling her former college coach and other tennis coaches he knows, he’ll sometimes get a scouting report on an upcoming opponent.

“She got all the athleticism," McAdoo said. “Matter of fact, she was probably more athletic than me. But I was about the mental game."

And that is what he’s trying to instill. “Sometimes she’d rather talk to her mother (Patrizia) than me," McAdoo said. “She thinks I’m more of a hard-ass. But I’m not. I’m really a teddy bear.’’

He will support Rasheeda’s tennis until she’s ready to turn the page. Next month, Rasheeda will play tournaments in Italy and stay with relatives on her mother’s side. (McAdoo met his wife when he was playing in Milan.)

“The expenses add up," McAdoo said. “It gets tough. I wonder how thousands of girls playing, how do they do it? But we moved to Boca from Miami. It’s a better situation with all the academies up here. Chris Evert Academy, she was there and commuted (from Miami), doing homework in the car and my wife was cooking dinner at 9 p.m."

Rasheeda, who met the Williams sisters at Heat games when they were younger, still has lofty tennis dreams. Jessica Pegula, now ranked fifth who also moved to Boca Raton as a young teenager, didn’t fully blossom until 2022 at age 28.

There is no talk of retirement.

“She’s been playing since she was 5," McAdoo said. “That’s what she knows."

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Bob McAdoo trying to step up more as tennis father to touring daughter