Luka Garza’s Father Reveals the Mindset Behind His NBA Rise

Mar 20, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Boston Celtics center Luka Garza (52) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Since joining the Boston Celtics, Luka Garza has excelled in his role.

What Garza lacks in athleticism, he makes up for with footwork, a mind-over-matter work ethic, consistency, meditation, and visualization. His NBA role isn’t to score the most points or make the biggest impact on the court. His goal is to do whatever it takes to help his team win games: deflections, boxing out, stretching the court, setting elite screens that create scoring opportunities for teammates, or taking charges and sacrificing his body.

He might not be the most dominant player in the NBA, nor does he have the same impact he once had at the University of Iowa, where he was the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year. Through the years — from being told early on that he couldn’t play, to becoming the best player in college basketball, to being drafted by the Detroit Pistons and grinding through the NBA G League — Garza has developed into exactly what the Celtics need.

Maintaining the growth and development needed to make it in the NBA is the most difficult thing anyone can do. The dedication, the drive, the adversity, the get-backs— it’s all part of becoming great.

Truth be told, being a professional athlete is not easy, and Garza’s story is the ultimate testament to the triumphs that can define a career.

Luka Falls for the Game

Luka’s father, Frank Garza, sat down with The Lead to discuss Luka’s rise to the NBA, which started at an extremely young age. Frank, a former basketball player himself, didn’t push Luka into basketball— he saw the importance of letting Luka fall in love with the game. 

Young Luka Garza is lying on his childhood bed

“All meaningful and lasting change must come from the inside out. It had to be his idea, his heartbeat,” Frank said. “First off, he wanted to please his father. I had all these trophies and awards from my young playing days, but that wasn’t sustainable.”

Frank added, “I had collected well over 75 basketball VCR tapes in our house: NBA Superstars, Celtics, Pistons, Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, Walton, Bird, McHale, Sikma, LeBron. So when it was TV time in our household, he chose from a basketball library. He loved watching those videos and fell in love with the game. The most important thing is that we provided the environment for him to fall in love with the sport of basketball without pushing him.”

Over 25 of the tapes that Luka Garza watched frequently.

The Formula

Frank had the resources and connections to help Luka reach his goal: the NBA. He was a self-made player known for his work ethic, and he played at Santa Rosa Junior College. There, he met Bill Trumbo, one of the most sophisticated and sought-after coaching minds in college basketball. Frank would move on to the University of Idaho, following Trumbo, where he became a standout player in the Big Sky Conference.

“As the architect of Luka’s development, I am deeply grateful for every coach, trainer, and mentor who has and continues to pour into him BBIQ. The foundation we built together was only possible because of the wisdom passed down from coaches like Bill Trumbo, Loren Anderson, and so many others who helped shape him.”

Frank saw early on in the WADC basketball AAU circuit that the game favored guard play, leaving rebounding and interior defense to the taller players. Frank knew that if he could transfer the basketball IQ he learned from his coaches, he could help Luka become one of the most prolific, fundamentally sound post players in the NCAA.

Indeed, Luka accomplished what had not been done in 25 years in the Big Ten — winning Player of the Year twice and every other award unanimously during his senior season.

Luka Garza Was Not Joining the Chess Club

The confidence and support in Luka’s potential development couldn’t be clearer from Frank, even through the early criticism that Luka took about his skill as a player. 

“Those criticisms didn’t just happen in high school; they happened in junior high,” said Frank. “He literally tripped over the foul line. Because his feet were so big, the ball was stolen from his hands many times when he caught it. Parents were saying, ‘Hey, you should really think about the chess club for Luka.’”

Frank didn’t care. He used it as fuel to ignite Luka’s development. 

“[The criticism] didn’t bother me one second. It didn’t matter what kind of player he was, as a young boy, because he was going to develop into his body,” Frank beamed. “I knew that when it came to post player knowledge and development as taught to me by Hall of Fame coaches, coupled with Luka’s work ethic, the result would be epic.”

Frank included, “You can ask any coach about his work ethic, including Brad [Stevens] and Joe [Mazzulla]. We didn’t care where he was as an 8th grader because we knew it would take time and patience. As the saying goes, ‘we cannot expect to eat the fruit from the seed we just planted.’” 

Learning the Mental Game

To counter those early criticisms, one way Luka developed his game as a young kid was by establishing elite habits early. One of the first was to practice his father’s advice: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

Luka would consistently ask the coaches questions about his development: “What can I do better? What exercises or skills can I improve on?” Typically, there wasn’t a line for Luka to request this feedback, but it was required if he wanted to grow and become the best version of himself on and off the court.

Another skill Luka developed early was the ‘inner game’ of basketball. Frank officially introduced Luka to this concept in the summer of his first year of high school, when he averaged 4.0 points per game; it involved breathing techniques, meditation, and visual-motor rehearsal.

“Luka actually dressed in his jersey, socks, and shoes and visualized how he wanted to play, how he wanted to rebound, and how he’d react to a rebound; the instincts of a great rebounder,” said Frank. “So he went after it that way. He visualized himself being there first, even though he was the slowest player.”

Garza Rising Through the Ranks

Luka would raise his average to 20 points and eight rebounds per game by the time his sophomore year rolled around, and he would go on to be selected as the District of Columbia Gatorade Player of the Year and the MVP of the Capital Classic. 

“We went to Hawai’i in the summer after AAU ended, and I told him, ‘If you want to get back to America, that’s a long swim, but the plane leaves in two months,” Frank said. “We’re here to learn. We only went to the beach once in four summers. We were there to work in the most grueling conditions, along with my college coach, Bill Trumbo, who lived in Kona.” 

The constant drive to improve culminated in one of the most dominant careers in college basketball. According to Frank, Luka’s substantial rise wasn’t defined by a single sudden breakthrough but by a calculated, deliberate process of development and evolution throughout his early years.

“Repetition is the mother of education,” Frank said. “Over 15,000 hours through his senior year in college, which he and I put in. We worked on fundamentals. We practiced intelligently— just because you’re sweating doesn’t mean you’re getting better.”

Life-Threatening Scare

Aside from Luka’s work ethic being that of a maniac, before his sophomore college season, he had to undergo life-threatening surgery to remove an enlarged cyst. This was Luka’s first test of resilience as a player, and it helped him learn a valuable lesson from his father during that frightening time.

“This is when Luka really started to believe in visual motor rehearsal,” said Frank. “So, Luka, you have one and a half gallons of poison in your cyst. Who knows what’s underneath that? He could have a tumor; his career could be over. He told me he was going to be on the court in six weeks for the first game, no matter what.” 

The 22-centimeter cyst that engulfed Luka’s body

Luka envisioned his recovery and readiness for the start of the season. Not only did he start the first game of the season, but he was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden, demonstrating the power of visual-motor rehearsal. This marked the start of his dominance in college basketball.

Carving an Unstoppable Career in College

The once-clunky, tripping-over-the-foul-line Luka Garza would become one of the most decorated players in Big Ten history. He was a unanimous All-American and the Naismith POY, sweeping nearly every major national honor in 2021, including the John R. Wooden Award, Pete Newell Award, Oscar Robertson Award, and the Associated Press Player of the Year. He was a two-time Big Ten Player of the Year.

“After Tyler Cook left his junior year at Iowa for the NBA, it became Luka’s team, and that was his time to spread his wings and soar,” Frank said.

If that’s not enough, Garza would finish his career at Iowa as the all-time leading scorer in school history. His No. 55 jersey was retired in 2022, cementing his legacy as one of the greatest Big Ten players ever.

A graphic that was created to celebrate Luka Garza’s decorated college career

Combatting the Critics

Even so, coming out of college, NBA scouts doubted that Luka Garza’s game would translate to the NBA because of his lack of athleticism. They described Luka as having defensive limitations due to a lack of lateral quickness, which would make it difficult for him to defend in space.

“Five workouts in a day, and the fourth was defense,” Frank said with intention. “Ninety-nine possessions against Div. I and pro players, two-on-one scrimmages, switching, drop coverage, no offense, no shooting, strictly defense. The second workout of the day had no ball at all. Footwork, running up hills in the woods, pull-ups, push-ups, running in the sea, defensive drills in the sand, along with sprinting.”

Garza’s professional career has taken him across the league. After being drafted by Detroit, he proved his value in Summer League and training camp, signing a one-year guaranteed deal. After his first year, Luka was waived. He signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022.

Splitting time with the G League while fine-tuning his game, Garza would see very limited minutes as a backup center for Minnesota, which already had three other big men. Behind those limited minutes on the court was the same relentless routine that had defined him since his younger days. The workouts, the consistency, the drive never stopped.

Bouncing Over to Boston

The endless preparation would continue to carve out a role for Garza in the NBA— this time with the Boston Celtics, who signed him to a two-year contract this past July.

The years of dedication began to show at a new level. His mindset and role have been a perfect fit for a Boston organization that prides itself on sacrifice.

“Luka knows that the front of the jersey is more important than the back of the jersey, ever since he picked up a basketball,” said Frank. “The mission is the most important thing. He’s going to do whatever it takes to win. We are going to be ready, as we always are.” 

Breakout Season

With increased playing time, this season has been by far the best of Luka’s career, with career highs in every statistical category. Furthermore, he’s been spectacular in areas of his game one might not expect. Now, due to limited playing time, his numbers may be misconstrued relative to his league rank; nonetheless, he has been highly impressive this season.

Luka Garza is running through the woods. Training this way transformed Luka’s body, reducing his weight from 272 lbs to 255 and his body fat from 14% to under 6%.

Among bigs, Luka ranks in the 84th percentile in offensive rebounding percentage and tenth in effective field goal percentage across the entire league. He also ranks in the 89th percentile in assisted rim shot percentage among bigs, showing his soft but quick hands when the ball is thrown to him, often in the trees of the defense.

While it’s not super telling that he shoots three-pointers at a 43.3 percent clip — given his limited attempts and playing time — he’s still shown that, if granted the opportunity, he can light it up from deep. 

To put it into perspective, Luka has ranked in the 98th percentile among bigs in non-corner threes. Frank would be all in on Luka Garza’s three-point contest appearance in the near future. 

It’s not always going to be about statistics for Luka. He might become a 20-point, 10-rebound-a-night guy in the league, but it all circles back to him making an impact without the box score stats.

He has become a master at driving team wins without being the focal point or even the fifth option. Luka has certainly been a bright spot this season, and it’s a testament to his commitment to the grind and to his support team, led by his father and the Celtics’ development staff.

Capitalizing on This Momentum

“This past summer, our goals were to gain 10 pounds minimum of muscle, and we wanted to improve our hand speed by 300%, which I think we’ve proven,” said Frank. “We want to improve his ability to be a defensive stopper and an elite drop coverage post. The Celtics organization and development team is second to none, and what he’s learned since joining has been remarkable.”

“I have been truly impressed by the leadership and the high-quality, two-way communication I’ve experienced with the Boston Celtics. It has been vital to everything Luka has accomplished this season and remains the gold standard for player development.”

Frank enthusiastically explained what could come next in Luka’s game to unlock his potential.

“Push-ups, one-finger push-ups, two-finger push-ups, three, one-hand push-ups, Luka’s hand speed and hand strength will get even deadlier,” said Frank. “You’re going to see a guy on defense who can move his feet like a dancer and have the hand strength of a martial artist. Secondly, you’re going to see him attack on offense. Could you imagine Luka receiving a screen, one dribble pull up three-pointer like Sam Hauser, Jayson [Tatum], Jaylen [Brown] or our other marksmen?” 

Learning from All-Stars

Although fans expected Luka’s minutes to decrease after Boston acquired two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, Vucevic fractured his ring finger, which kept him out for 14 games before his return on Apr. 5, meaning Garza continued to provide substantial value as the backup center.

Frank admires Vucevic’s game and has the utmost respect for the former Chicago Bull.

“Incredible athlete. Luka is a sponge. He will learn as much as possible from the NBA All-Star.”

Luka Garza’s Journey Has Proven His Methods Right

For Luka Garza, the journey was never about proving people wrong — it was about proving his process correct.

Every workout, every repetition, every visualization added another brick to the foundation he built from the ground up. The accolades, the obstacles, the resilience, and the willpower all led him to this point. Now he plays a significant role on a championship contender, the Boston Celtics.

The kid who once struggled to keep up with his own feet is now keeping pace with the world’s best players.

The post Luka Garza’s Father Reveals the Mindset Behind His NBA Rise appeared first on The Lead.