During Media Day, much attention was paid to Coach Popovich mentioning the absence of a key member of the 2014 championship squad.

It began with a joke regarding the weight this teammate was expected to have gained during the offseason. This was followed by a hilarious Instagram reply by the player in question.

Given our recent expose about Boris Diaw being the only Spur to not attend this year’s training camp, was it fair to excuse ‘Bobo’ from an early return to San Antonio, so he could rest his old legs after winning the Bronze Medal in the 2014 FIBA World Cup?

RESULTS

Results are in and they’re unanimous. Did Boris Diaw play hooky? No way. He earned his time off from the team.

To take the term “playing hooky” loosely, it can mean not being somewhere where you should. Not that you have to be there, but that as a responsible adult you should be.

One might point out that Diaw’s boss let him take the time off. Pop responded to the media’s attention with grace. He even laughed at Boris’ Instagram response. If Pop considered Diaw’s break to be “playing hooky,” he might have responded with a demotion — but he did not. Instead, Pop honored Boris’ break by putting him in the starting lineup against Alba Berlin. This might be considered a promotion from last season.

The fact that Boris missed training camp wasn’t apparent from his performance against Alba Berlin. He shot 60% from the field, was +4 on the floor, and was part of a second quarter blitz that gave the Spurs the lead at the half. He didn’t have any highlight moments, unless you count being on the wrong end of a running jump-shot for the win — but that was the team’s fault (or at least the bench letting the game get away from them, as noted by Coach Pop).

No matter how you look at it, it’s clear that Boris deserved the rest and was not playing hooky.

[poll id=”7″]