CANTON – Right before tip-off, Nate Reinking walked across the court to where his wife, Nikki, and 2-year-old son, Sawyer, were seated, and gave them kisses.

On a night when his Canton Charge beat the Windy City Bulls for their ninth win in 10 games, that's as demonstrative as their first-year head coach would get.

MORE:See why Reinking has such a special bond with the players he coaches

"You're either going to love to play for me or I'm going to lose the team because they don't think I'm tough enough," said Reinking, the former Galion and Kent State star who is not far from home and yet, figuratively, a million miles away as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers' NBA Development League team.

"I would still rather be a player, so I think like a player and want to coach that way."

On the court an hour before Canton's regular season home finale, Reinking still looks the part of a player in his shorts and "Cleveland Basketball" shirt. He's 42, but just five years removed from playing for Great Britain in the London Olympics, the capper to nearly two decades of competing internationally,

Playing against the U.S., Reinking's life flashed before his eyes as LeBron James came barreling down the lane toward him. Now they're on the same side. Reinking was even inside Oracle Arena as a member of the Cavs operations staff when they beat the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, completing a comeback from down 3-1.

Charge GM Mike Gansey had to prod Reinking to join the locker room celebration.

"The first guy I worked for was Joe Prunty and the best thing he told me was to stand there, put your glasses on, don't say anything, and everybody will think you're smart," Reinking said. "I still don't know my place in this cog. I'm available to do any work that's needed and I don't want to step on any toes."

When Prunty, a former Cavs assistant, was hired as Great Britain's head coach, he added Reinking to his staff, and that connection led to him landing in Canton four years ago as an assistant. He goes back to Great Britain every summer to work with the national team, which is perfect, since he met his wife in England. Those trips give her a chance to reconnect with family.

"It's kind of a crazy blessing of a route I've taken," said Reinking, whose Charge appear headed for the playoffs. "I don't know what my role is going to be in the coaching ranks. I didn't know (being a head coach) was going to happen this quickly.

"This is an unbelievable situation for me because it's home. I grew up being a Cavs fan. I'm in a situation now I could only dream of as kid. Growing up, I wanted to be a player at this level. It didn't happen. It's just grinding, to see where it might lead you."

When he first played in England, Reinking lived in an apartment complex where he would scale a locked gate at 3 a.m. (there's a five-hour time difference) to call home on a pay phone. Now he can just shout across the Canton Civic Center court to his parents, who moved to Wooster three years ago to be closer to their three children.

Ron Reinking was a long-time coach and official in the Mansfield area. His best piece of advice for his son?

"You always do the best with the talent you've been blessed with, regardless of the situation," he said. "And you always out-work everybody else."