The Sacramento Kings have hired Galen Duncan to serve as Vice President of the Kings Academy and professional development.

Duncan, who spent the last 10 years as senior director of player development with the Detroit Lions, will take on the role of player development and establishing a player-centric curriculum that aligns with the organization's philosophy to help athletes mature into well-rounded professionals.

Duncan considers himself more of a life coach than a sports psychologist. Duncan helps players through their finances, off-court opportunities and general counseling. 

"With that money, there is the pressure to perform. There's family members who may understand or don't understand the situation the young man is in. Some of these guys are coming from situations where they've been the guy, they've been getting a certain number of minutes a night and that might not be the same case when they get to this situation, so my job is to mentor them through that," Duncan told Sactown Royalty. "A lot of these guys, other than AAU trips and a year in college, it's the first time they've been away from home, so my job is to make them feel a little more comfortable and help them become young men and work to be better people."