Adonis Arms, Tremaine Dalton, and Trusting “The Process”

In life, there will always be some good in the bad, and there will also be some bad in the good. It’s just how life works. It’s always been that way, and it always will be. One thing that remains as consistent as fate is trusting the process and knowing that the pendulum swings both ways. For example, in the midst of what seems to be the most horrific season in recent Memphis Grizzlies history, there’s good brewing. In Memphis and in Southaven, Mississippi, 17 miles south of the FedEx Forum at the Landers Center, where numerous G League players for the Grizzlies developmental affiliate “Memphis Hustle” have graced the dreamlike opportunity of being called up to 10-day contracts to play ball in the big league. All the players who’ve had the opportunity have deserved it and rightfully made the most of it, and they continue to do so. There’s still one player who has silently carved out one of the more impressive seasons in the G League and has yet to get called up this season. His name? Adonis Arms. 

Adonis, who averaged 2.7ppg as a high school senior, and clawed his way through every level of college basketball is currently averaging 21.5ppg, 7.2rpg, and 3.1apg in his last 10 games, broke the franchise record for points in a quarter with 22 points, and has quietly became one of the main leaders of this Memphis Hustle team and hasn’t wavered a bit in the midst of a very wild season. Arms started the season coming off of the bench and providing limited scoring in a condensed role and has become one of the most consistently solid players in the G within this season alone.

His trainer Tremaine Dalton knew it was destined and says this is only the beginning. Welcome to “The Process.”

I had the pleasure of meeting Tremaine, learning about The Process, and picking his mind. I learned a lot and developed trust. The same trust that Adonis Arms, ex-Grizzly Killian Tillie, former first-round draft pick James Young, and many other professional ballers have developed with Tremaine Dalton.

Check out our interview below :

Firstly, for those unfamiliar, what is “The Process”, who is Tremaine Dalton, and what experience does he bring to the table when it comes to training and mentoring?

TD : I’m the founder of The Process Basketball. We’re considered one of the top basketball programs in the world, both on and off the court. We work at the Olympic level, the WNBA level, and the NBA level. 
A lot of the philanthropy that we do, or mentorship, we do at the government level. You know? So when it comes to world-class training and mentoring, I more or less use my platform to connect athletes with mentoring and philanthropy. So any athlete that I work with, I make sure that they participate in philanthropy, giving back to kids, and helping out. The process has challenged pretty much every social issue on every continent. So, let’s say, for example, what’s going on with gender equality and racial equality throughout Europe. We’ve done projects and documented stuff that we directly told FIBA about.
We’ve also fought for the for the homeless in Central and South America. We’re getting NBA players out there and doing projects to help over 200, 300 kids. Same thing with Australia and helping the community in South Sudan. Even here in the States, I do an annual gun violence program to get kids off the streets and put the guns away and stuff like that, which kind of connects with what Ja Morant was going through last year. We try to provide a lot of opportunities, and we work with some of the top players in the world. We make sure philanthropy is the way. That’s the most important thing. A quick example: I worked with the Estonian national team. I was getting ready. I was getting them ready for the Euro championships, and at the same time, while I was preparing them for that, I was also working with the United States government, doing peace talks for what you see going on with Ukraine and Russia, speaking to Russian communities at the border, and doing basketball camps and stuff like that. 
So everything we do in The Process is at the top of the list. Not necessarily so much in the United States, but everywhere else, like all throughout Europe, Australia, Central and South America, and the Middle East, and we’re starting to expand out in Japan and China in October. We just took over those markets, man, and we’re doing our thing. And now, with the upcoming Olympics, I have to train some of the French national team players. The Olympics are in France this year. So we’re doing, more or less, a project out there with some really big names. I’ve got my own facility in the French Riviera Hangar 21, me and my partners have some major stuff coming up.

When you first started “The Process” I am sure you had an image of what you wanted this program to be and who you wanted players to become. Adonis already possessed a lot of talent obviously, but what have you worked on with him the most and where have you seen him grow?

TD : When I first started doing The Process and world-class training, I already had an image of who I was. I’m a one-on-one guy. I’m a get-buckets guy. It started when I won at King of the Rock in 2011, the international one-on-one tournament. I was one of the champions. I was also one of the first coaches to really emphasize efficient one-on-one skill sets in European basketball. You can kind of say I’m one of the forefathers of European players playing like us in the NBA because I was over there for so long. That’s really how the process started. I teach efficiency. I teach players to get buckets and make it work in a team setting. And with Adonis specifically, what he needed to do was really enhance that. He already had a great skill set, but sometimes he was too much of a team player when he’s really a superstar. He’s an all-around player. He can pass. He can dribble. He can shoot. He can defend. But most importantly, what I taught him throughout the years is how to get a bucket, how to get key buckets, and how to get efficient buckets. And as you can see, in some of these games, you know, he dropped 30. In one game, he had 22 in a quarter. You know? That’s a lot of the stuff we’ve worked on over the years.

A lot of basketball is taught, but ballers know how mental a game it is. From your general mentality and the way you attack situations to your ability to lock in and perform in the clutchest of situations, Adonis seems to have the instincts of those who are wired differently. Can you comment on him and his approach to the game?

TD : That’s a great question. Adonis has had a long, long journey. He went from junior college to Division II, from a small Divison I to a major Divison I at Texas Tech, to the NBA and the G League. We started way back when he was in junior college, and he was preparing for these moments. I was preparing him for these moments. I actually had him come out to France earlier in his career, and that was back when he was in DII, and I had him going against NBA players, European NBA players, and Olympians. So when he got his opportunity, he was already prepared for it. Imagine you’re a junior college player, an Division II player, or a small Division I player, and you’re going against some of the top players in the world throughout Europe. So that’s what we emphasize in training with these guys. So for me, seeing his results, seeing his instincts, and seeing his kill—it all came from what we’ve been doing over the years. I’m not even surprised. It’s just a matter of opportunity. That’s why I feel like Adonis is an NBA player. It’s just a matter of who’s going to pick him up. And once somebody picks him up, he’s going to be a superstar because we’ve been preparing for this for years, not just training alone in the gym but actually using the process of basketball. And what I do is train some of the top athletes in the world and put athletes like him in front of those animals just to see how he was going to do and how he was going to fare. Adonis killed it every time; every year he was pounding these guys. He was going at them. So this is no surprise. He has this talent. He’s making it look easy to me.

“I feel like Adonis is an NBA player. It’s just a matter of who’s going to pick him up.”

Adonis has had stints with NBA programs including Denver, Phoenix, and Brooklyn. Unfortunately, they weren’t long-term stints. What is different about the player Adonis is now versus the player he was then? How has your work together made him stronger?

TD : It’s all about perseverance. And Adonis—he’s patient, and he has that perseverance. He continues to work hard. He sees certain things that the NBA wants or a certain team wants, and he learns and gets better. In the beginning, he just had a skill set, and now he’s got the complete package. Like I said, it’s just a matter of time, and with him being a part of my program, it really gives him the opportunity to keep that NBA mindset.

Do you have Adonis working with any other NBA or Euroleague players? If so, who and how does that impact his game?

TD : This summer, we’re working with Killian Tillie, who was with the Grizzlies, and I’m helping him get back to an NBA level. Tidjon Keita is another guy who Adonis has been working with for years and who played for the Suns. He’s already ready. Him getting into the NBA is simply about opportunity. It’s definitely not about skills. It’s definitely not about attitude. It’s simply about getting an opportunity. That’s the work we’re putting in. This summer is major for Adonis, especially with the Olympics in Paris and me working with some of the national team guys like Mathias Lesort, who actually is the second best player in Europe right now under Mike James. These are the opportunities that Adonis will have, so when he comes back, whether he’s in the NBA or the G League, he’s still got that top-level NBA mindset.

We’ve talked about “The Process” and your camp in Paris this summer with Adonis, former Grizz Killian Tillie, and some other guys. Is there anything either you or Adonis really want to tackle going into October specifically? If so, what are those things?

TD : No. This summer, we’re just going into it war-ready. You know what I’m saying? Like any and every summer. And this year out in France, there’s some really big names coming through there, so it’s an opportunity for him to show that he’s NBA-ready or an NBA-level player. Adonis is a really humble kid, man. He really doesn’t talk about the things that he does or all the hard work he puts in. For example, in Arizona, me and him have done water dry projects, helped the homeless, helped the kids, and done other things in the community. In France, we did the follow-up to LeBron James’ More Than an Athlete campaign. So on and off the court, Adonis is a superstar. Let alone just an NBA player; he’s a superstar, and this summer, especially with the Olympics going on, he’ll have the opportunity to really show his face and really represent the NBA and G League in a great way. So come October, when the season starts, he’s going to be ready. This camp is really big for Adonis. That’s why I’m happy he’s coming. He’ll be able to work with Killian, who has major NBA experience, along with Tidjan, a couple other guys like Mathias, and some other big names. I’m just happy for him one way or another. He’s going to get there.

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