Chris Carr’s life after the NBA continues to heavily involve basketball.

The creator of 43 Hoops Basketball Academy clearly has a passion for teaching the game, and it’s on a larger stage beginning this season. Carr is the first-year coach for the girls’ basketball program at Eden Prairie, a position that “kind of just presented itself” and so far Carr has taken with a great deal of seriousness.

From the first day of practice, his no-nonsense attitude has been at the forefront.

“Play hard and don’t make mistakes,” said Carr, 36, a former second-round draft pick of the Phoenix Suns who played in six NBA seasons, including parts of three with the Timberwolves. “A lot of games can be lost just by mental and physical error. Go out and play your hardest. Do whatever it takes to win on both ends of the court. Get the desired result you want to have by execution.”

An Eden Prairie resident with a daughter in the youth system, Carr saw this opportunity as an open door to further basketball accomplishments in the area.

“I wanted to help a team that’s already had great success before me,” he said. “We’ve made some significant gains. It’s great to put some expectations on these players: You don’t turn the ball over, make shots, rebound, draw charges. Your expectation to not let your team down is to fulfill your role.”

Carr hopes this kind of direction leads to more than just wins on the basketball court.

“Someday they’ll be expected to get up and go to work and bring home a paycheck,” he said. “I’m hoping to set them up for the everyday rigors of life.”

But first, there’s a basketball season to handle.

The Eagles finished 21-7 a year ago, falling to Chaska in the Class 4A, Section 2 tournament after defeating the Hawks in the regular-season finale only nine days earlier.

Six of Eden Prairie’s top 10 point scorers from a year ago are back, including 15-point-per-game players Shayne Mullaney, Morgan Van Riper-Rose and Jackie Johnson. The Eagles also have the services of Aubrey Davis this season. She scored 16.4 points per game for Bloomington Jefferson last winter before moving to Eden Prairie.

“We’re going to be fun to watch,” Carr said. “That’s the one thing I wanted to bring to the table to generate more fan support. It’s not very often that you have the amount of scholarship potential on one team that we have been blessed with. This is a very good situation to just get handed to you.”