Last year, during Game 7 of the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs, I sat in the apartment of my brother-in-law. He’s a Mavs fan from Waco, but supports my commitment to a Texas team and was kind enough to lend me his 55-inch TV for the night.
His wife and mine are sisters, both Laker fans and Clipper haters, both pregnant and due within a week of each other. We all had the same goal, but different motives: to see the Clippers lose.
My one-year-old son was playing with Legos on the floor of the apartment.
We were all watching intently, yelling at the TV as if it made a difference.
Then Chris Paul, with half a good leg, tossed up a floater that would make Tony Parker roll his eyes. It went over the outstretched arms of Tim Duncan and banked in, with one second left. My brother-in-law and I screamed and my heart sunk in my chest. Ouch, that hurt.
If you’re like me, and needed a coach to draw up a last second play, and needed a team to execute that play, you would want Gregg Popovich and the Spurs. The tension was raised, and we were all quiet, knowing the probable outcome, but hoping for a surprise. Basically, there was a chance.
The one-year-old was still playing with the Legos… we thought.
The ref handed Boris the ball and we all inhaled for the apartment in Southern California. The ball was floating in the air. I saw Kawhi gather for his jump… and then the TV went off.
Seriously.
Someone had apparently lost interest in Legos and found the little flashing lights on the cable box. He decided to push the green one. My brother-in-law and the preggos gasped and looked at me. But as the only actual Spurs fan in the room, I lost it.
“NOOOOOOO!!!! GET AWAY FROM THAT!!!”
This scared the ever-living out of my one-year-old. He looked at his mom, then me, with that look on his face like, “Oh no. I wasn’t supposed to do that, was I? Dad, I am really sorry.” Then big alligator tears welled up in his eyes and started to stream down his face. He tried not to cry, but couldn’t help it.
This kid knew he did something bad and while he didn’t understand the magnitude of what he did, he was legitimately sorry.
As I ran out the front door, my pregnant wife yelled at me, “Dude, it’s just basketball!”
Thanks, Coach Pop.
Outside the apartment, I cringed. Pregnant wifey was right. I no longer cared about what happened on that lob to Kawhi, about the game or the playoffs.
All I cared about was that my 18-month-old son, who idolizes me, was crushed. I’m his hero. What type of terrible father puts a sports team above his kids? Who does that?!? I embarrassed myself in front of my wife, brother and sister-in-law. Most of all, I let my son down. Truth is, I sat out on that front porch and teared up a bit myself.
Time to man up.
I went back inside, gathered my little dude up, hugged him and loved on him for a few minutes. Then I loaded him in the car and drove straight to the ice cream shop. We munched on some chocolate and laughed together. I bought him a couple of Hot Wheels cars and when we got back, we played with them on the porch for about an hour.
Forget that Spurs game.
* * *
It wasn’t until a few days later that I actually watched the full play. I prepared myself to be hurt again by the loss, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. It was just basketball, as Pop says. I “had some dinner and a Gatorade,” and moved on.
When the offseason started, I tried not to get invested. There were some rumors that the Spurs might sign some guy from Portland. I didn’t buy it. I thought they might have a better chance of signing a guy from Indiana, but didn’t trust that either. So I passively watched free agency rumors from the safety of Twitter.
Then the Clippers kidnapped a guy, resulting in a massive search party that involved banana boats, private jets, cars, emoji wars and terrible clip art, so I was interested again. By the 4th of July, I was rather optimistic.
We all know what happened next.
The Spurs won the offseason. They paid bigger bucks than normal to bring in the Portland guy; that paid off. Not only has Aldridge been seen shooting in the gym an hour and half after a preseason game, but along the way, he has convinced a few other guys to join him. Apparently, guys decided they like the idea of playing with LA. Everyone was like, “Hey Pop, I don’t like money anymore, so can I play for free?”
After LA, the Indiana guy signed for basically Monopoly money.
Then Manu and Tim decided they weren’t ready for canasta and bingo at the local community center.
Then Danny Green just wanted the team to get “close.” They did. Sort of.
The starting point guard in Sacramento was beyond excited to play third string in the Alamo City. (Has anyone ever been happier to be traded than Ray Mac was, leaving the Sacramento circus for San Antonio?).
Then SlowMo chimes in, “Hey guys, you are all going to play for free? Well, I already have a dirt cheap contract, so now I’m going to be good.” Now apparently he shoots 19-foot fade-aways off one leg.
Even Rasual Butler was willing to ride the bench.
The only person who didn’t care was Kawhi, who in the most boring way possible, inked a 5 year deal with the black and white. Then he went to a gym in California and did three-a-days.
Freak.
* * *
Fast forward to October 14. The Spurs-Hawks game is recorded on my DVR. Dishes are done, coffee prepped for the morning and now I get to unwind and watch the game by myself downstairs. My wife is putting our three-month-old down for the night and then she’s off to bed. My son has been in bed for about an hour, but isn’t asleep yet.
I head downstairs and grab some ice cream. I turn off the lights and turn on my sound bar for the full experience. I glance at the baby monitor and see the boy, almost two now, having a rough night.
I go into full Dad mode. I tip-toe up the stairs, turn on the lamp and the little dude is crying. I scoop him up and read him a book. Nothing. We say some prayers. Nada. So I toss him up on my shoulders and we head down stairs.
I turn the light back on, pull out his Hot Wheels and figure he’ll play while I watch the game, burn off some energy. Since I can fast forward free throws and commercials, at half-time, in about 25 minutes, I’ll put him back down.
Well, the kid didn’t want Hot Wheels. He crawls up on my lap and gives me a monster hug. I know this game: he wants the ice cream. So I offer him a bite and he takes it. I offer a second and he declines, as if to say, “No thanks, dad. I just wanted a bite.”
Then, he jumps off my lap, runs over to the blankets, goes three down from the top and pulls out the black Spurs blanket. He turns off the light, runs back to me, hands me the blanket and climbs back on my lap. He stretches out his legs, gets under the blanket and reclines back against my chest.
Parker makes a lay-up and the boy claps and yawns simultaneously. Green hits his third three in a row and the boy claps and yawns. By the time halftime gets there, he’s out, curled up under the Spurs blanket with me.
I let him just lay there as I finish the game. I thought back to Boris’ lob to Kawhi, when the same kid turned the power off and I didn’t get to see the play live. I thought about what I could have done differently in that moment. But I also thought about how I responded to the mistake I made of scolding him immediately.
I thought about how I got back up on the horse and refused to be a crummy father. Instantly, I began working on that relationship. I righted the wrong, sort of, and learned from it. If I hadn’t, there’s no way my son, just weeks from his second birthday, would want to crawl up on my lap and watch a San Antonio Spurs preseason game. The kid would have just wanted ice cream and his Hot Wheels.
And isn’t that kind of the Spurs way? You make mistakes, you correct them and move on.
* * *
So with the season opening tonight against the Oklahoma City Crossing Guards (have you seen those new uniforms?), I’ll begin my weekly “Wednesday Whine” with what I am looking for this year:
The Twin Towers
I have to tell you, my favorite Spurs season to date was the ’99 championship when Duncan and Dave played together. It was so much fun to watch and so unfair. I’m confident the Spurs would have won, regardless of whether it were 82 games or not. They were monsters in the paint. The addition of Aldridge this year presents an opportunity to flash back to some of that.
There were some past attempts with big men like Rasho, Elson, Oberto and maybe a couple other “Big Guys,” but since the Admiral passed the torch to little Timmy, we haven’t seen anything close to what they did.
My favorite Tim-Dave play was when the ball would enter the low block to Tim and Dave would come and screen him. On the low block. Like, eight feet from the basket. So you have a pick-and-roll with two 7-footers and their two 6ft, 10” defenders (since most teams didn’t have two 7 footers). It would be a huge cluster for defenders, but Tim and Dave were so smart, so athletic, and so quick, they could run that play 10 times a game and no one could stop it. Could this be the tandem that brings back the 4-5 pick-and-roll?
God, I hope so.
The Next Step
Someone will be taking the next step in their career this season. The early candidates are obvious. Kawhi is the future of this team. He gets a side kick this year in Aldridge who is still on the ascent. No doubt, both could become even better, but everyone already knows this. So who else?
Will it be Kyle Anderson? Dude is still slow as molasses in February, but man is he crafty. I hate using that cliché, but it’s true. I don’t understand how he gets to certain spots, or how he gets his hands in on a play, but he does. Plus, he looks like he might be able to shoot.
What about Patty? Swaggy Mills is by far our best option at backup point guard. I like Ray Mac, but he will need some time before he can transition into a dependable role. In the past, if Parker was out, we would see CoJo get the start and Mills still being the back-up. (Pop likes to keep rotations as close to normal — a coaching strategy I absolutely love). So is Patty ready to be the true back-up we all hope he can be? Not that Parker is old, but is Patty the heir to that throne?
What about Danny? He’s made it clear, especially with his contract, he wants to be a Spur. That means he isn’t after money and he isn’t after the other stuff. The dude is a baller and he wants to win. I think that Kawhi pushes him. I am really excited about Danny this year. I think he wants to prove to the league that he could have gotten a crazy rich contract, but he opted for less because he loves this team. He gets my vote for the guy ready to take the next big step.
A Whole Lot of “I Told You So”
It’s coming you guys, so be ready. Everyone who has ever sent a text message about the Spurs is going to use this phrase. Every journalist, beat writer and blogger who has been kind enough to grace us with their “insider opinion” as to why this team will work or why it won’t work will use it.
Instant chemistry; lack of chemistry. Big ball; small ball. All the rebounds; none of the rebounds. Everyone can shoot; no one can shoot. Team ball; hero ball. It’s all out there.
That’s not even counting the people who aren’t writers, but just make “water cooler” talk at the office. The day Aldridge signed, a Warriors fan texted me and said, “The Spurs got Aldridge? That’s not fair. There goes our championship.”
Hours later, a Rockets fan texted me and said, “Fools gold. He can’t play team ball.”
Everyone will be right at some point. The Spurs will struggle and the ball will stick. The Spurs will succeed and the ball will move. Injuries will happen and their depth will show. Players will be healthy and we will all cry to have guys benched. So be ready when the Spurs lose 8 of 11 in December and someone from ESPN writes that the Spurs window has closed. And be ready when they win 17 in a row in March and someone from the Express-News refers to what they said back in August. It’s all coming.
The Rise and Fall
This could be so much more than just one player. This could be the rise and fall of the offense. It could be the rise of a player, like Kyle Anderson. It could be the fall of the defense as a whole. It could be the rise of Gregg Popovich, now the Head Coach of USA Basketball. It could be the rise of Tim Duncan as the unanimous vote for best player of this generation — sorry, Kobe — as he wins his sixth title, retires and then rides off into the sunset in a lifted 4×4. Maybe it is the fall of Boris Diaw, who sees his minutes decline once David West gets a grip on the offense. Maybe it is the decline of Tony Parker’s hamstring.
It could be any number of these things. There will be a rise and there will be a fall. Let’s just hope the fall doesn’t overshadow the rise.
The Panic
Something bad is going to happen. It happens every year. Aldridge, West and Ray are all new guys who played large roles on other teams. What if they have problems? Would they vocalize it to the media? What if Aldridge gets undercut by Corey Brewer in a preseason game and breaks his wrist? What if Tim Duncan stinks? What if the Spurs lose to every title contender in the Western Conference and barely make the playoffs as the eighth seed?
Personally, I think there is going to be a rough patch this year and some questions about the toughness of LaMarcus Aldridge. He’s good, but his rebounding and shot blocking expectations for a player of his caliber are high. It will be interesting to see how long of a leash he gets from the fans of San Antonio.
There will be reasons to panic at some point.
But, don’t.
The Surprise
Just as there will be panic, there will be surprises, and of the good variety. What if the Spurs win 70 games? Do we think they can be that good? What if the Spurs have four All-Stars? What if David West wins 6th Man of the Year? What if Pop sits a few games out and has Becky Hammon coach the team?
Personally, I think ‘The Surprise’ this year is going to be Manu Ginobili. He looks completely revitalized right now. Duncan, who we all know is going to retire, has flourished at the end of his career. Ginobili, on the other hand, has made some of us in recent months (cough cough, me, cough cough) wish he would retiree.
But Manu looks good this preseason. He looks youthful and fun and energetic. With all the talent around the old Big Three, their load appears to be significantly lighter. The new Big Three (LA, Kawhi and Danny) will have much bigger roles this season and I think Manu will stand to benefit the most of the old Big Three. He will probably play 18-23 minutes a game and they will be some fun minutes.
Ultimately, this is going to be a fun year. I am eager to watch and see what Coach Pop does with this group. How much of the old will he bring back and how much of the new will he get rid of?
One thing we know for sure: we don’t know anything. It’s a crap shoot as far as what to expect. My bet is that, whatever we think will happen, won’t. And we will all be shocked at how it actually turns out. Mistakes will be made, corrected and then they will move on.
And isn’t that the Spurs way?
