I got better at it in my last three years in Portland … but it’s not about having a pecking order it’s about getting guys to be better at it.”įortunately for the Spurs, they may have the best two-way player in the league to build around. It’s about showing it and doing it in those teaching moments. That’s how Tim started it and did it for 20 years, so that’s how our culture is. “Coach tells us to be on the nail, close out, do it this way, you do it. “It’s more about doing the right thing, and showing the guys the way to do it,” Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge said. He leaves that, now, to the next generation. A joke or a bang on the head from Duncan did wonders for the young and struggling his words were brief but powerful. He had a major hand in each of the Spurs’ championship seasons, and was Obi Wan to a generation of knights who had yet to learn the ways of the Spurs. But I miss him, sure.”ĭuncan is the franchise’s all-time leader in games (1,392), minutes (47,368), points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), blocks (3,020) and field goals (10,285) - as well as rings (five). I’m getting used to a new look, I guess, when I look around the gym. “It’s felt weird every day,” Popovich said last week, “just walking in the gym and not seeing the big fella. He has an open invitation to do whatever he wants for the franchise. The Spurs don’t have their paintball-loving, franchise all-time-best and future-Hall-of-Famer as their defensive anchor for the first time in two decades, and that will take a while to fully process during the course of this season.ĭuncan still shows up from time to time at practice, detailing what coach Gregg Popovich wants done on the floor. Give the Golden State Warriors all the light and the heat and the immediate expectations. So, Tim Duncan retires in June? I see you a Kobe retirement and raise you a KG retirement. Even when they successfully recruited LaMarcus Aldridge as a free agent in 2015, the biggest story of that NBA summer was the insane on again-off again DeAndre Jordan follies with the Dallas Mavericks and LA Clippers, not San Antonio’s low-key persuasion. There’s never any attention paid to the Spurs in the offseason. Carrot cake for 20 years … but you know Timmy’s special so he had to have carrot cake.It’s not that there was no attention paid to the San Antonio Spurs in the offseason. Popovich, among other things in his speech, also joked about the carrot cake delivery. He’s grown as a person as we all do through experiences but his inner core - he was over himself when he came in and after all these accolades and all the success, he’s still gotten over himself. “I can still remember before his father passed away him looking at me in the eye and saying ‘I’m going to hold you responsible to make sure that when he’s done, he’s the same person that he is now,’” he said at the time. It’s a compliment that perfectly illustrates how special their relationship is: Popovich told reporters in July that he promised Duncan’s father before he passed away that he would make sure he stayed the same person as he was when he began his NBA career. Duncan, who have passed, that that man right there is exactly the same person now as he was when he walked in the door.” “This is the most important comment that I can make about Tim Duncan,” Popovich said. So when Duncan’s jersey was retired on Sunday at the Spurs game, it was no surprise to see the two become emotional when speaking about their relationship, one that transcended basketball. When Duncan retired, it was Popovich who spoke on behalf of his longtime player, saying that he owed him his career. Gregg Popovich made sure to leave a slice of carrot cake by his star player’s door when he went out to eat during his team’s road trips. Tim Duncan thought of his longtime coach as more a father figure than just a guy who made sure he was doing the right thing on the basketball court.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |