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2018 San Antonio Spurs Offseason Thread -- Into the Great Unknown

Patrick Bateman

By Patrick Bateman
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Mitch Cumsteen
Mitch Cumsteen

Tony Parker also took multiple contracts at less than market value to keep the roster intact. David Robinson had a clause in his contract where his salary had to be among the top 2 paid players in the

Radical Larry
Radical Larry

He only played nine times. Niiiiine times.

Mitch Cumsteen
Mitch Cumsteen

That's bullshit. Other than drilling Brent Barry's wife (and really, who could blame him) he has been a model Spur. Always put team first. Never complained about touches. Never got into any trouble of

Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman 3,911

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No.... thank you, Tony.

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People talk about “Spurs Culture” a lot … so much that I think sometimes you can almost lose sight of what it means. But even with all of this talk, there are certain moments from my time in San Antonio that still really stand out — and I think help me to understand what is the difference, and great privilege, of having come up in this league as a Spur.

One of the things about coming up as a young player on a veteran team, a team that has already won a championship and has a goal in mind to win more of them, is that there is not this same room for error that you might get as a young player drafted to a lottery team — where they can just say to you, “O.K., don’t worry about the rest, we will just focus on your development this year.” And yes, it’s true: with the Spurs, we were built to win. Winning was the most important thing. But what I will always remember, and always be grateful for during those years, is how — even with these priorities — somehow my development was never left behind.

The veterans took me under their wing right away. They just always made room for it — and I don’t mean in these huge, obvious, “stop everything and teach the French kid about the meaning of life” kind of ways. Just very subtle things: a quick lesson here, a short conversation there.

With a guy like David … I mean, it was just amazing to see. You have this first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he’s in the middle of another championship run — and yet somehow he is not viewing me, this young guy getting brought along at the same time, as a burden. With David, and with the other veteran players on the Spurs, it always felt like this was just the natural way of things. Everyone had their expectation of winning championships. But then they also had this other responsibility, that they valued just as much, of, like … leaving the team in better shape than when they found it. And that’s Spurs Culture, to me, you know? Fulfilling your expectations, while also making room for this larger responsibility to the whole.

Of course, the biggest reason why Spurs Culture exists … this is pretty simple, isn’t it? We had one of the best players of all time, for 19 seasons, in Tim. But the thing with Tim is that he wasn’t only the greatest player for those years. He was also the greatest teammate. O.K., maybe this is a cliché. But I don’t think people realize how much of our team’s entire culture could really be brought back to just Tim being Tim. That’s the truth.

Here’s an example: People would always ask about why the guys on our teams were so coachable — about how we always seemed to squeeze nearly the best results possible from any player who came through our organization. And how, when new guys would come here, they would seem to just sort of magically get better, you know, or transform their work ethic, or get rid of this one flaw that had been holding their game back. And I tell people, always, that this wasn’t magic. I tell them that we had an elite coaching staff, an elite training staff, sure. I tell them that we obviously had a one-of-a-kind head coach in Pop. But if you want to know the thing that set us apart the most in these situations? It’s Timmy, man. It really was Timmy. Simple as that.

Because here’s the thing with Tim Duncan: Was he the greatest player of all time? I don’t know — he’s the greatest I ever played with, I’ll say that, and I’ll let the experts take it from there. But here’s one thing I’ll tell you, absolutely: Timmy was the most coachable great player of all time.

That was always our secret weapon, to me: You see this all-world player, this All-NBA First Team, MVP of the Finals, about to be MVP of the league guy, and here he is in practice, willing to be coached like he’s fighting for a spot on the team. It was unreal. And if you think that’s too passive for a star player to be? Well, then you’re not thinking it through on Tim’s level. Because Tim knew the truth: which was that to let himself be coached in this way, you know … that’s true charisma, and that’s true swagger. It’s like he was challenging everyone else in our gym: The best player in the entire league is willing to put his ego aside for the good of this team — are you?

And that was the deal, you know? Guys would come in, take a look around, and eventually they would do as Tim does.

That was Spurs Culture.....

 

The last “Pop decision” of my Spurs career, I’ll say, I think it’s very telling — because it was like the shoe now was on the other foot. This time it was Dejounte who was playing my role, as the young Spurs point who was going to get some news. And then it was almost like, for this one, I was the Pop figure leading the conversation now.

I came up to Pop one day, and I told him my thoughts: It was time for Dejounte to take over full-time as our starting point guard. I didn’t want it to be a dramatic thing, or this ego thing, or one of these big media things, but I just wanted to get it out in the open — for the good of Dejounte’s development, and for the good of the team. Pop agreed, and thanked me. And then I went and had the same conversation with Dejounte. He was grateful.

Was it bittersweet? You know what, I’m not trying to seem like a robot here or anything, but it really wasn’t. It’s a discipline thing, I think. That’s just kind of the way that I was raised, and how I’ve grown up as a player — to always stay moving forward. Of course don’t get me wrong: every now and then, you know, Manu and Timmy and I, we’ll get together for dinner … and when this happens, for sure, then it’s time for a little bit of nostalgia. You can’t help it — and we have this great time, sharing all these great memories back and forth. But when it’s in-season? And I’m in work mode? When you’re in work mode in this league, I think, you have to be pretty disciplined: about letting the present stay the present, and the past stay the past.

And so that’s how I tried to keep that moment. I wanted Dejounte to know that he’d earned it — but also that what the decision came down to, in the end, was the exact same thing that it would always come down to during his time in San Antonio: the good of the Spurs.

And for the most part, I think, that’s how I’ve wanted for this summer to go as well. A few years from now, when I retire, I figure there will be time for nostalgia. But in the meanwhile? I signed a two-year contract with Charlotte, and I’m very excited to play that out. It will be this brand new experience for me, with a brand new organization. And if you are looking for a second team to root for, in the East, you know … maybe even give us a look :) I promise we are going to give them hell.

But mostly I just wanted to say thank you.

Thank you to the Spurs organization, from top to bottom, for the most amazing opportunity of my life — and for 17 years of the greatest job on earth. Thank you to Spurs fans, everywhere, for always showing up, always being loud, and always, always having my back. And thank you to the city of San Antonio, for being the only thing that I could ever possibly call it now: home.

The truth is, I know it’s impossible to summarize what my time with the Spurs has meant to me, in a letter like this.

But I guess that’s also the beauty of basketball, and of life in a way. How it can become less about the summary of things — and more about a collection of moments. How you just … become these moments, you know what I mean? All of these relationships, and conversations, and lessons, and decisions. All of these little things that just sort of sneak up on you, and begin to shape you, and eventually, if you’re lucky, even come to define you.

And while I won’t try to define who I’ve become, over these last 17 years, in a single letter … I can say this for sure: I have the Spurs and I have San Antonio to thank for it.

And I will carry that with pride.

: Should read the whole thing when you get a chance..... Most of the stuff we know, but it's interesting to get it from his perspective.

 

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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman 3,911

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11 minutes ago, Chad said:

The Spurs were snubbed from the opening week and all of the holidays.  Oh well, I like it when the Spurs fly under the radar.

Yea, I don't really care about all that but it does go to show how folks feel about the Spurs this season...... I think most are expecting a slow demise.

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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman 3,911

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A few schedule highlights:

The league schedulers really do think the Spurs are going to sink back to anonymity.  Lakers/Spurs used to be a premiere rivalry.

I'm sure it'll be lovely for him.

Gonna guess it'll be more pleasant for DeMar.

Be sort of cool if it finishes up that way but his last home game is the night before so he may not play....

In comparison, the Lakers have 36, the Warriors 34.  We have no games on ABC.  Sort of in the middle, which is not bad I guess, but our biggest star is our coach.

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Chad

Chad 1,728

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https://clutchpoints.com/raptors-news-jay-williams-doesnt-think-kawhi-leonard-wrote-thank-you-letter-to-spurs-fans/

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I honestly don’t feel like Kawhi wrote that. It’s like ‘hey team, let’s find some way to smooth this thing over.’ And we talk a lot about athletes being authentic to who they are… I don’t think that’s Kawhi. And almost, in a way, I wish he wouldn’t have said anything – because that’s who Kawhi is. He doesn’t really say anything. And that’s fine, just let your play prove or dictate how you feel on the court. But that wasn’t Kawhi.

 

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ZanTheFan

ZanTheFan 49

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https://clutchpoints.com/raptors-news-jay-williams-doesnt-think-kawhi-leonard-wrote-thank-you-letter-to-spurs-fans/
I honestly don’t feel like Kawhi wrote that. It’s like ‘hey team, let’s find some way to smooth this thing over.’ And we talk a lot about athletes being authentic to who they are… I don’t think that’s Kawhi. And almost, in a way, I wish he wouldn’t have said anything – because that’s who Kawhi is. He doesn’t really say anything. And that’s fine, just let your play prove or dictate how you feel on the court. But that wasn’t Kawhi.
 
Who gaf? He's gone. Been gone a year already.

I welcome our lord and savior demar dechosen one
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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18,547

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I just found out about this, but Bob Bass passed away a few days ago. There probably aren't a ton of folks on here who remember him, but he was pretty much the glue for basketball operations for the Spurs from the time the franchise moved to SA until Pop took over. RIP BB.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/article/Former-Spurs-GM-Bob-Bass-dies-after-series-of-13165095.php

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