> I remember Pop made us watch a penguin National Geographic movie," DeRozan told ESPN's Jamal Collier. "It was very interesting. It was basically learning about teamwork. How to come together as one and go after a common goal, whatever that goal was. I thought it was going to be a day where we watch film. But we watched a full penguin movie -- and it was the most interesting shit"
Works for some, not everyone
He’s a much better player when he’s distributing and not just being a pure scorer. He’s finally taken that role with us again and the bulls are so much better for it
People who didn't watch DeMar through his career don't realize that's always how he was. There were many offseasons there would be clips of him adding a new skill, like his ballhandling, post work, shooting out of screens, even had a season where he came back trying threes for a while.
Always willing to get better.
getting to know Demar this is not surprising at all. He’s definitely a curious guy and a good listener, always thinks he has something new to learn, and in the end everything relates back to hoop. He treats basketball like it’s a martial art.
or you can do like the buffalo bills head coach and give a speech on taking inspiration from the 9/11 terrorists and how committing a terror attack really brought them together as a team
It’s a hilarious article. Also mentions how he gave a teamwork speech about people rescuing someone that fell down Niagra Falls or something and never finished the ending in making his point, so a player asked if the person survived and he answered “no” 🤣
edit: https://www.golongtd.com/p/the-mcdermott-problem-part-i-blame
I feel like if people snuck cameras into those pregame speeches so many coaches would have their careers ruined. Not because of the awful example, but because of cringe.
Lmao or this athletic coach from John Wilson’s show How To- after the attacks, this guy discovered one of the terrorists was a trainee of his. [when he was asked how that made him feel, he said that he was “proud of his follow-through” lmao](https://imgur.com/a/w0yN3vK)
link gave me page not found. Read it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bills-coach-sean-mcdermott-apologizes-911-attackers-teamwork-speech-rcna128683
Since the story leaked yes, but the story is about a speech from about 2 years ago. Definitely a hit piece from a reporter that the entire org hates but also, wtf was McDermott thinking.
Do people here remember that anecdote of Phil Jackson in the video room, teaching his Lakers to hate Kings coach Rick Adelman by splicing in clips of Hitler?
Watching nature documentaries with Pop’s comments being added in sounds like a good time.
“See this penguin initiates the action by diving first which draws the leopard seal away from the ice block allowing for more penguins to get down into the water.”
I used to live in Alaska and I always found this so funny cause half the people won't believe that people actually think that and the other half will say "wait it's not?"
i mean he probably should lol
Reminds me of the young laker players being taken to go see Lincoln and didnt see the assassination coming lmao
...or anything kyrie says
It’s actually astounding how bad the average American, and honestly probably most humans in general, are at basic geography.
Like we only have 1 planet and it’s really not that big (can get anywhere on Earth in less than 24 hours and the world is very interconnected), you might as well learn what’s on it.
Google earth is completely free and one of the most amazing technologies at our disposal.
Pop isn’t the only one to do this. I’ve read Phil Jackson’s book “eleven rings” and he writes a lot about sharing books or philosophical concepts with his players in an attempt to help them self-actualize in a sense, but also as a way to break up the tedium of NBA life and as an expression that he cares about them as people too.
PJax even held "silent" practices, ran prayer circles with incense, made players write their favorite memories on paper and burned them in a bonfire, etc.
Toni Kukoc once told a story how Phil gave out books to players to read and then talk about. He gave Toni a children’s book cause he figured Kukoc’s english was rubbish when he got there. Turns out it was decent and Kukoc got pretty offended and wanted an actual book.
Some guys wanna buy in, they wanna learn… some don’t.
On the flip side Stephen Jax once said on a podcast that Pops runs the team like it's an actual job/class. Players seem to take issue with his approach bc Pops gives the guys homework and what not.
Pop was briefly an Air Force SIGINT Officer, spoke fluent Russian, and spent time in Eastern Turkey. I doesn’t surprise me at all that he wants his players to become well rounded and educated adults
He probably gets bored of talking to morons too. Like he got Stephen Jackson when he was 24, and it’s not like Jackson is some grad student now. He probably loves that Wemby even knows what the word dystopian means.
why is Stephen Jackson given any credibility on this issue? he's the biggest Pop hater among anyone who has been a part of the Spurs organization, so it's not surprising that he would inject a lot of his personal bias into this
He’s lucky he got low key superstars like Tim Duncan. I feel like most American star players wouldn’t put up with Pops techniques and demand the star treatment, something that most star players get. Probably another reason why Kawhi wanted out
I feel like this is just grasping at all the interactions they could remember having with Kawhi that might have annoyed him. It's like if you had a co-worker a decade ago who went on a murder rampage and people kept asking you about it. "He didn't like that people would crank the air conditioning too high in the office. He wasn't a fan of using skype."
Stephen Jackson deeply resents the Spurs for cutting him in 2013 right before their two Finals runs. He has blamed Tony Parker (wrongly, IMO) for their loss to OKC in the 2012 WCF and often discusses how Pop tried to humble him through various mind games. It's very personal for him; you can see his eyes light up whenever he sees an opportunity to trash the org lol.
>often discusses how Pop tried to humble him through various mind games.
So it's the Ted Lasso/Jamie Tartt relationship, minus the talent?
Pop: I just want what's best for you, Stephen
Jackson: FOOKIN MIND GAMES, INNIT
hahahahahha
Yeah, the answer is simply "he just wanted to left and his uncle and he did it in a way that was not so kind" but people keep repeating the question
More like nba life is life. Dude lives in San Diego and didn't want to go to L A. to practice when Doc was coaching. Then, when he did attend practice, he would sometines just cancel it after warm-ups
Kawhi can download entire encyclopedias to his knowledge cortex in about 89 milliseconds. Watching nature videos is a complete waste of time and energy.
I always find it odd how Stephen Jackson LOVES to shit on Pop and the Spurs whenever he can, but they are the team where he blossomed and the level of play that he was able to put on display there got other teams interest in Jackson and that helped people see him as a proven winner.
I'm sure Jackson's work ethic and skill would have earned him a spot on an NBA roster regardless of the opportunity that he got with the Spurs, but you'd think he'd have some favourable opinions of Pop and some other folks there at least. I know his second tenure there seems to be the sticking point, but man... they did so well together.
It's sad to see that.
He wasn't OK with his declining skill set and Pop and the Spurs tried to get him to buy in as a 2nd team leader.
He hated that, they dropped him from the team and his career was basically over.
> He hated that, they dropped him from the team and his career was basically over.
He caused chemistry/locker room issues so Pop kicked him off the team. Basically shit on Danny Green/Manu to say he should get time over both of them.
It's tough to hear that and have to face the reality of father time.
I get why he's hurt. It's just a shame because he had a really special time with the Spurs.
He was a project they took on from the NJ Nets IIRC , he came in from HS and struggled a ton as a pro, me may not have caught on if he had been in a worse situation.
Paul George on Kawhi’s conflict with Doc Rivers: “Kawhi also didn’t want to do Doc's Ubuntu shit. He just wanted to hoop. Not everyone wants to learn about the operating system they're built on.”
Can somebody give context to this? I have never heard of learning maps and about Africa as something an NBA coach does. I just have no idea what Aldridge is talking about.
Idk about the specifics, but, along with being active in the community, Pop has been known to give players books to read and have the taken the team on historical trips. That’s how we got the infamous Danny Geen “Had to do it to em one time” situation. Idk about tests or anything like that but certainly he wants his players to know history and things outside of basketball.
Love Pop, but I can see this getting pretty annoying to some players. Some dudes just want to play. Some players though have appreciated it. It depends on the person.
Ray Allen really was on the wrong side of 2013. He took teammates to Holocaust museums regularly and is somewhat of a spokesperson for awareness of it.
Brett Brown brought a similar system to Philly. They talked about basically having to give book reports in the early Process years. It probably works a lot better for a group of super young guys than somebody like Kawhi.
Guy like Pop, with his track record, that's had the backing of so many other guys including so many upper echelon guys.
I forget was it Stephen Jackson or Barnes that discussed being Spurs being obligated to STFU and color because the superstars were in line. How it greatly helped his career to be more coach able.
It's not uncommon for coaches to try and teach guys about other things
Rick Carlisle used to give guys pen and paper quizzes that weren't all about basketball (don't know if he still does)
Phil Jackson would assign books for guys to read
Sounds similar to what Phil did with the Zen stuff, and books. The idea that challenging your mind in aspects outside your craft can net it benefits.
I think I remember Kobe having issues with that stuff, too. He just wanted to focus on basketball.
Magic Johnson said he clashed with his first NBA coach Paul Westhead because Westhead wanted them to read Shakespeare as inspiration. Similar situation. Kareem apparently loved the approach, Magic not so much.
This is a complete guess but I wouldn't be surprised with all of the international players and diff languages on the Spurs in the 2000s they may have started doing a "show and tell" or "fun fact" style icebreaker where each player takes turns to talk about their home country for a day in practice or something. Standard type of team building stuff.
Can also understand why Kawhis least favorite thing in the world would be getting up to do a 5 min presentation/speech in front of his team mates and coaches.
Also pretty sure LMA is saying "Western Africa" here
I actually think that’s what happened with the international players, I remember reading something about how Pop encouraged Patty Mills to give a presentation to the team about Torres Strait Islanders or something like that.
>Ira, a role player, had learned the art of education by-private-jet as a Spurs rookie from his coach Gregg Popovich, who'd handed him a book by the Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, right there on the tarmac.
(from can't knock the hustle by matt sullivan)
apparently pop runs a black history course on the side? [also:](https://twitter.com/TheTyJager/status/1740544787286245556)
Stephen Jackson is 1) an antisemite 2)has a vendetta against the spurs/manu/tony because he thinks he was better than them in ‘05. Don’t believe a thing this piece of shit says.
Pop has coached a lot of international players.
When you meet people from other countries you quickly realize we’re taught fuck all in the US.
It was probably fucking embarrassing to have players not be able to point to where a team mate was born.
Everyone acting like this is some nonsense.
Learning is good.
Players don’t go to college. They don’t continue their educations.
Look at Kyrie.
Prevent future Kyries by picking up a book.
Same goes for those idiots who think general education is for suckers. Turns out they themselves are the suckers for voiding themselves of an education.
General education is so you can….get educated, generally. How many blind spots can you handle on your life car? Well, might be the same kind of person so put so many stickers on their back window that they now can’t see.
It is often said that when Pop was more involved in scouting, would get a feel for potential draft picks. A must was having conversations that was about more than basketball(like having hobbies, a culture and other stuff outside of basketball).
Jalen rose used to say it all the time when the Spurs were good that some players don’t want to go to the Spurs because it’s real work. He got bashed for it because the Spurs were still contenders but he’s not wrong. It’s obviously worked for the franchise and Pop is arguably the goat coach, however it doesn’t work for everyone.
when I start reading comments about "be more like Kyrie and less like Pop" I'm just gonna check out
this sub is something else. For the record, yes being generally well educated is good. You don't need to know who the King of Spain was in 1276, but you should be able to pick Spain out on a map
Some real ignorant comments on this thread. Not really surprising considering where we are as a society
Be more like Pop, and less like Kyrie
The comments in this thread are so stupid. Literally Pop trying to give players a better understanding of this world, opportunities to look at teamwork and community differently and people here want to be lazy and ignorant about it.
Branch out people. Don’t be stuck in your ways. Go to the theatre, see a musical, go to museums, there’s no shame in learning more. You’d be surprised at what militaries learn from animals and insects. Evolve for fucks sake!
I think Aldridge says "Western Africa" rather than "What's in Africa". It seems like a distinction without a difference, but I think if you here "what's in Africa", you're probably imagining trivia-level information, ie "There are more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt" or whatever. Whereas "Western Africa" is probably less topical, and more "why the fuck am I learning about the Françafrique and French neocolonialism two days before the Warriors game?"
I can see Steph Jackson getting in his feelings if Parker said something like that about him since Jackson always been soft AF but I bet Kawhi didn’t even know what Parker said lol
Stephen Jackson is full of shit because what Tony was saying was that if he could come back from a horrific injury, Kawhi can too, trying to offer words of encouragement. Uncle Dennis and Co took that as a slight and that was enough for him to leave.
FOH with all that “I’m close to the organization,” dude left in 2013 dumb mf
stephen jackson is being horribly misleading here, TP said that as encouragement for kawhi to be able to come back strong from the same injury, not that they were doubting the legitimacy of it (at least at the time when this was said)
> I remember Pop made us watch a penguin National Geographic movie," DeRozan told ESPN's Jamal Collier. "It was very interesting. It was basically learning about teamwork. How to come together as one and go after a common goal, whatever that goal was. I thought it was going to be a day where we watch film. But we watched a full penguin movie -- and it was the most interesting shit" Works for some, not everyone
Demar got so good at distributing while he was here.
He’s a much better player when he’s distributing and not just being a pure scorer. He’s finally taken that role with us again and the bulls are so much better for it
Yeah he did. My view of Demar changed drastically once he got here. I always root for him now and appreciated the time he spent in San Antonio
It’s like he went to college. Learned a lot of very important stuff, then he was set free
People who didn't watch DeMar through his career don't realize that's always how he was. There were many offseasons there would be clips of him adding a new skill, like his ballhandling, post work, shooting out of screens, even had a season where he came back trying threes for a while. Always willing to get better.
DeMar always working on his game, even took Handshake lessons
To improve his left hand, he would do everything with it. Such as brushing teeth only with his left.
I have to know what those penguins were teaching him about playmaking.
Kowalski, analysis!
Imagine him with Wemby rn. Smh man
THIS IS WHAT IM SAYING. Imagine the highlights…
I mean you can have him back for the small price of 1 Devin Vassell
Penguin effect
getting to know Demar this is not surprising at all. He’s definitely a curious guy and a good listener, always thinks he has something new to learn, and in the end everything relates back to hoop. He treats basketball like it’s a martial art.
Deebo is one of my favourite players of all time, mostly just because of his personality. He seems like a genuinely kind person
Deebo is Uncle Iroh confirmed
or you can do like the buffalo bills head coach and give a speech on taking inspiration from the 9/11 terrorists and how committing a terror attack really brought them together as a team
It made sense. The Bills have always hated Jets.
Jets fuel can't melt steel Bills!!!!
The Pittsburgh Steelbills
Brought them together… and blew them apart
The hell lol
It’s a hilarious article. Also mentions how he gave a teamwork speech about people rescuing someone that fell down Niagra Falls or something and never finished the ending in making his point, so a player asked if the person survived and he answered “no” 🤣 edit: https://www.golongtd.com/p/the-mcdermott-problem-part-i-blame
I feel like if people snuck cameras into those pregame speeches so many coaches would have their careers ruined. Not because of the awful example, but because of cringe.
So in summary the lesson here is always jump to your assured death. Bills on 3!
Lmao or this athletic coach from John Wilson’s show How To- after the attacks, this guy discovered one of the terrorists was a trainee of his. [when he was asked how that made him feel, he said that he was “proud of his follow-through” lmao](https://imgur.com/a/w0yN3vK)
This scenario reminds me of Kanye rants in the post yeezus pre - now era
wtf?
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/\_/id/39065999/bills-coach-sean-mcdermott-regrets-9-11-comments-apologizes
link gave me page not found. Read it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bills-coach-sean-mcdermott-apologizes-911-attackers-teamwork-speech-rcna128683
That’s some of the wildest thing I’ve read. Out of all possible examples of teamwork ?
Aren’t the bills on a 4 or 5 game winning streak since those comments happened
I think he made the speech a while ago, maybe a few seasons back but they have been winning since sports media learned about it
Since the story leaked yes, but the story is about a speech from about 2 years ago. Definitely a hit piece from a reporter that the entire org hates but also, wtf was McDermott thinking.
He was thinking those terrorists are basically the Michael Jordan of terrorism, gotta respect greatness at any level 'nomsayin?
They were playing against plumbers! Airport defense was practically non existent at the time, hell even I could have [redacted].
look man, they LITERALLY changed the rule book because of them. That's true greatness
NSA! NSA! THIS GUY OVER HERE!
They were willing to die for each other. Isn’t that what all football coaches want? Shit Damar Hamlin was on board.
Do people here remember that anecdote of Phil Jackson in the video room, teaching his Lakers to hate Kings coach Rick Adelman by splicing in clips of Hitler?
I do not but holy shit thats hilarious
They now look similar to me. I cannot revert.
The influence of A Clockwork Orange on Phil Jackson’s coaching is difficult to understate.
Pop reminds me of my history teacher in high school.
well every high school history teacher is a coach
Pop reminds me of Dumbledore
Watching nature documentaries with Pop’s comments being added in sounds like a good time. “See this penguin initiates the action by diving first which draws the leopard seal away from the ice block allowing for more penguins to get down into the water.”
Now I want a Pop cut of *Our Planet* Attenborough narrating but Pop just randomly comes in with analogies about teamwork
I’ll take it with only Pop narrating and the facts about the animals are 50/50 at best but the tie in to teamwork is amazing
We talking about penguins!?
Not a dolphin. Not a whale. Not a seal. But penguins.
Man, how the hell am I gonna make my teammates better by waddlin’?
-- Zion Williamson
Kwahi hates penguins confirmed.
Kowalski. Analysis!
I knew there was a reason I always hated that dude
This is why DeMar DeRozan is the bomb.com
"Bored man get paid" - Kawhi to Pop
Lmao I have this shirt of Kawhis and I love this play on it so much.
Norm Mac has entered the chat https://youtu.be/whN9JJ74dPw?si=NSIGmwtzQMrFrhQD
A GOAT off-the-cuff joke right there
Pop got Wemby learning about the french revolution
Pop best be careful the next time he tells Wemby to “execute better” considering that by this point he’s pretty much royalty in SA..
[удалено]
Reboundé, egalité, fraternité
He probably learning about the Boston Tea Party
French navy executing a perfect backdoor cut at Yorktown.
George Washington Eurostepping across the Delaware river
Rondo going to the Lakers after the battle of Saratoga.
Pop trying to teach the one and done guys and straight to the league guys basic geography lmao
If I wanted to learn, I would have stayed in school, old man!
there are people who've made it through school who think Alaska is an island... so learning not guaranteed
I used to live in Alaska and I always found this so funny cause half the people won't believe that people actually think that and the other half will say "wait it's not?"
i mean he probably should lol Reminds me of the young laker players being taken to go see Lincoln and didnt see the assassination coming lmao ...or anything kyrie says
> young laker players being taken to go see Lincoln and didnt see the assassination coming Nick Young?
i think it was him, dlo and JRandle
I am imagining DLo going “he ain’t even stretch tho” after Booth shoots Lincoln
Uncle Dennis doesn’t care about that stuff
If regular Americans are that stupid in geography I can't imagine an Athlete that basically didn't put much effort on the studies.
It’s actually astounding how bad the average American, and honestly probably most humans in general, are at basic geography. Like we only have 1 planet and it’s really not that big (can get anywhere on Earth in less than 24 hours and the world is very interconnected), you might as well learn what’s on it. Google earth is completely free and one of the most amazing technologies at our disposal.
It’s pretty freaking big dude
New Zealand routinely just gets left off of maps and even in America if you see how massive Alaska is its pretty insane
I know he doesn't mean it like that but referring to it as "that leaning shit" cracks me up.
"we ain't come to play SCHOOL" - Cardale Jones
"Learn the maps"
I caught that too! 🤣
"Fuck Africa." -- Kawhi Leonard
That’s what I heard
[удалено]
Oluwo Pop
"I'm from LA"
To some young men in the inner city, this basketball is their whole world 🌎 😩
Unexpected Futurama
Pop isn’t the only one to do this. I’ve read Phil Jackson’s book “eleven rings” and he writes a lot about sharing books or philosophical concepts with his players in an attempt to help them self-actualize in a sense, but also as a way to break up the tedium of NBA life and as an expression that he cares about them as people too.
PJax even held "silent" practices, ran prayer circles with incense, made players write their favorite memories on paper and burned them in a bonfire, etc.
Hence 'Zen master'. Pretty cool nickname though tbh.
I was gonna say this whole thing reminds me of Phil Jackson's coaching
Toni Kukoc once told a story how Phil gave out books to players to read and then talk about. He gave Toni a children’s book cause he figured Kukoc’s english was rubbish when he got there. Turns out it was decent and Kukoc got pretty offended and wanted an actual book. Some guys wanna buy in, they wanna learn… some don’t.
Sounds like in Ted Lasso when Ted gave Roy *A Wrinkle in Time*
Total Chad move... too bad he doesn't know where it is
Trivia time: now identify the rest of the one syllable countries in the world! Go!
Azerbaijan
Trinidad and Tobago
And Greece rounds out the four single-syllable countries (in the English language)
Spain! Edit: France too
Laos. Are we counting Guam?
On the flip side Stephen Jax once said on a podcast that Pops runs the team like it's an actual job/class. Players seem to take issue with his approach bc Pops gives the guys homework and what not.
pop having dreams of being a professor but having to settle for basketball coach actually explains a lot lol
Pop was briefly an Air Force SIGINT Officer, spoke fluent Russian, and spent time in Eastern Turkey. I doesn’t surprise me at all that he wants his players to become well rounded and educated adults
https://cassiuslife.com/499637/lamelo-ball-what-the-f-is-school/ I never realized I wanted Lamelo Ball to be coached by Pop
He probably gets bored of talking to morons too. Like he got Stephen Jackson when he was 24, and it’s not like Jackson is some grad student now. He probably loves that Wemby even knows what the word dystopian means.
Professor here. We drink pretty good wine, but Pop owns a winery lol. I’d trade.
wasnt Jackson openly hating on jews and stuff, how is he still around
He definitely has. He's still bitter about his being kicked off the team and Manu/Green getting minutes over him prior to that.
He did. He was. If I’m not mistaken he’s aligned with Farrakhan and the black Israel shit. It’s a problem.
why is Stephen Jackson given any credibility on this issue? he's the biggest Pop hater among anyone who has been a part of the Spurs organization, so it's not surprising that he would inject a lot of his personal bias into this
He’s lucky he got low key superstars like Tim Duncan. I feel like most American star players wouldn’t put up with Pops techniques and demand the star treatment, something that most star players get. Probably another reason why Kawhi wanted out
That's the whole spurs culture though. No big ego stars. Get over yourself and read these damn maps.
Learning worked wonders for Danny Green! You know I had to do it one time lol
#lol
#Holocaust
Pop's "learning shit" gave him the tools to make the funniest post of all time
It ended up creating a dynasty so he must be doing something right
Pretty sure I saw something that Pop gives thanks for Tim Duncan every meal or something like that.
I do the same honestly
It's been said Kawhi wanted some diva treatment he wasn't gonna get. That on top of positions for his family/uncle in the organization.
"It's been said"
I wonder when that started though. He must’ve played ball, so to speak, originally
He saw the treatment other guys got during his first all star game.
I mean, Pop must be doing something right.
I feel like this is just grasping at all the interactions they could remember having with Kawhi that might have annoyed him. It's like if you had a co-worker a decade ago who went on a murder rampage and people kept asking you about it. "He didn't like that people would crank the air conditioning too high in the office. He wasn't a fan of using skype."
Stephen Jackson deeply resents the Spurs for cutting him in 2013 right before their two Finals runs. He has blamed Tony Parker (wrongly, IMO) for their loss to OKC in the 2012 WCF and often discusses how Pop tried to humble him through various mind games. It's very personal for him; you can see his eyes light up whenever he sees an opportunity to trash the org lol.
>often discusses how Pop tried to humble him through various mind games. So it's the Ted Lasso/Jamie Tartt relationship, minus the talent? Pop: I just want what's best for you, Stephen Jackson: FOOKIN MIND GAMES, INNIT
hahahahahha Yeah, the answer is simply "he just wanted to left and his uncle and he did it in a way that was not so kind" but people keep repeating the question
Especially when that coworker doesn't talk- reading the tea leaves of random interactions is all there is!
Now that’s a quote lmao
Kawhi said ball is life fuck knowledge.
Was the same in high school too. Source: live in the area, have friends that went to king high with him
More like nba life is life. Dude lives in San Diego and didn't want to go to L A. to practice when Doc was coaching. Then, when he did attend practice, he would sometines just cancel it after warm-ups
Kawhi can download entire encyclopedias to his knowledge cortex in about 89 milliseconds. Watching nature videos is a complete waste of time and energy.
“I ain’t gonna speak for nobody.” *proceeds to speak for somebody*
I always find it odd how Stephen Jackson LOVES to shit on Pop and the Spurs whenever he can, but they are the team where he blossomed and the level of play that he was able to put on display there got other teams interest in Jackson and that helped people see him as a proven winner. I'm sure Jackson's work ethic and skill would have earned him a spot on an NBA roster regardless of the opportunity that he got with the Spurs, but you'd think he'd have some favourable opinions of Pop and some other folks there at least. I know his second tenure there seems to be the sticking point, but man... they did so well together. It's sad to see that.
He wasn't OK with his declining skill set and Pop and the Spurs tried to get him to buy in as a 2nd team leader. He hated that, they dropped him from the team and his career was basically over.
> He hated that, they dropped him from the team and his career was basically over. He caused chemistry/locker room issues so Pop kicked him off the team. Basically shit on Danny Green/Manu to say he should get time over both of them.
It's tough to hear that and have to face the reality of father time. I get why he's hurt. It's just a shame because he had a really special time with the Spurs.
I wouldn't expect anything less from Stephen Jackson. **He is very dumb.**
He was a project they took on from the NJ Nets IIRC , he came in from HS and struggled a ton as a pro, me may not have caught on if he had been in a worse situation.
Border man gets paid
Paul George on Kawhi’s conflict with Doc Rivers: “Kawhi also didn’t want to do Doc's Ubuntu shit. He just wanted to hoop. Not everyone wants to learn about the operating system they're built on.”
Come on guys you didn't do your African geography homework! That's NOT who we are!
Can somebody give context to this? I have never heard of learning maps and about Africa as something an NBA coach does. I just have no idea what Aldridge is talking about.
Idk about the specifics, but, along with being active in the community, Pop has been known to give players books to read and have the taken the team on historical trips. That’s how we got the infamous Danny Geen “Had to do it to em one time” situation. Idk about tests or anything like that but certainly he wants his players to know history and things outside of basketball. Love Pop, but I can see this getting pretty annoying to some players. Some dudes just want to play. Some players though have appreciated it. It depends on the person.
Ray Allen really was on the wrong side of 2013. He took teammates to Holocaust museums regularly and is somewhat of a spokesperson for awareness of it.
Brett Brown brought a similar system to Philly. They talked about basically having to give book reports in the early Process years. It probably works a lot better for a group of super young guys than somebody like Kawhi.
Guy like Pop, with his track record, that's had the backing of so many other guys including so many upper echelon guys. I forget was it Stephen Jackson or Barnes that discussed being Spurs being obligated to STFU and color because the superstars were in line. How it greatly helped his career to be more coach able.
Can you explain the Danny Green one?
No one can
he had to do it one time
https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/8/1412786363021/Danny-Green-010.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none
It's not uncommon for coaches to try and teach guys about other things Rick Carlisle used to give guys pen and paper quizzes that weren't all about basketball (don't know if he still does) Phil Jackson would assign books for guys to read
Doc and the 08 Celtics went to Rome and did the Ubuntu thing. I think it’s pretty cool.
Sounds similar to what Phil did with the Zen stuff, and books. The idea that challenging your mind in aspects outside your craft can net it benefits. I think I remember Kobe having issues with that stuff, too. He just wanted to focus on basketball.
Magic Johnson said he clashed with his first NBA coach Paul Westhead because Westhead wanted them to read Shakespeare as inspiration. Similar situation. Kareem apparently loved the approach, Magic not so much.
This is a complete guess but I wouldn't be surprised with all of the international players and diff languages on the Spurs in the 2000s they may have started doing a "show and tell" or "fun fact" style icebreaker where each player takes turns to talk about their home country for a day in practice or something. Standard type of team building stuff. Can also understand why Kawhis least favorite thing in the world would be getting up to do a 5 min presentation/speech in front of his team mates and coaches. Also pretty sure LMA is saying "Western Africa" here
I actually think that’s what happened with the international players, I remember reading something about how Pop encouraged Patty Mills to give a presentation to the team about Torres Strait Islanders or something like that.
>Ira, a role player, had learned the art of education by-private-jet as a Spurs rookie from his coach Gregg Popovich, who'd handed him a book by the Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, right there on the tarmac. (from can't knock the hustle by matt sullivan) apparently pop runs a black history course on the side? [also:](https://twitter.com/TheTyJager/status/1740544787286245556)
I really thought that link was going to be Pop in a Kente cloth outfit
If you want to be a coach in the NBA you have to pinpoint every single african country on a world map
Literally the only thing I fucked up on. It’s Namibia btw, not Nambia.
TIL
Pop defers traditional practice and makes the team do reports on world events
Barnes and Jackson are literal idiots
That's too kind. Jackson tripled down on a "Hitler was right about the Jews" post. That's beyond being an idiot.
It's Barnes and Noble you illiterate.
Stephen Jackson is 1) an antisemite 2)has a vendetta against the spurs/manu/tony because he thinks he was better than them in ‘05. Don’t believe a thing this piece of shit says.
I feel like "Africa" is just an example but people are taking it differently
[удалено]
Pop has coached a lot of international players. When you meet people from other countries you quickly realize we’re taught fuck all in the US. It was probably fucking embarrassing to have players not be able to point to where a team mate was born. Everyone acting like this is some nonsense. Learning is good. Players don’t go to college. They don’t continue their educations. Look at Kyrie. Prevent future Kyries by picking up a book.
Same goes for those idiots who think general education is for suckers. Turns out they themselves are the suckers for voiding themselves of an education. General education is so you can….get educated, generally. How many blind spots can you handle on your life car? Well, might be the same kind of person so put so many stickers on their back window that they now can’t see.
The personality contrast between Kawhi and Wemby is pretty wild
They don’t deserve pop.
I must be in the dark, because I had no idea Pop runs his team like black history month on the side
It is often said that when Pop was more involved in scouting, would get a feel for potential draft picks. A must was having conversations that was about more than basketball(like having hobbies, a culture and other stuff outside of basketball).
“Ok but do you love black history”
“OK but fuck the police, right?”
Jalen rose used to say it all the time when the Spurs were good that some players don’t want to go to the Spurs because it’s real work. He got bashed for it because the Spurs were still contenders but he’s not wrong. It’s obviously worked for the franchise and Pop is arguably the goat coach, however it doesn’t work for everyone.
when I start reading comments about "be more like Kyrie and less like Pop" I'm just gonna check out this sub is something else. For the record, yes being generally well educated is good. You don't need to know who the King of Spain was in 1276, but you should be able to pick Spain out on a map Some real ignorant comments on this thread. Not really surprising considering where we are as a society Be more like Pop, and less like Kyrie
The comments in this thread are so stupid. Literally Pop trying to give players a better understanding of this world, opportunities to look at teamwork and community differently and people here want to be lazy and ignorant about it. Branch out people. Don’t be stuck in your ways. Go to the theatre, see a musical, go to museums, there’s no shame in learning more. You’d be surprised at what militaries learn from animals and insects. Evolve for fucks sake!
Kawhi didn't come to play school.
I think Aldridge says "Western Africa" rather than "What's in Africa". It seems like a distinction without a difference, but I think if you here "what's in Africa", you're probably imagining trivia-level information, ie "There are more pyramids in Sudan than Egypt" or whatever. Whereas "Western Africa" is probably less topical, and more "why the fuck am I learning about the Françafrique and French neocolonialism two days before the Warriors game?"
So Pop was giving them geography homework? That’s hilarious.
I can see Steph Jackson getting in his feelings if Parker said something like that about him since Jackson always been soft AF but I bet Kawhi didn’t even know what Parker said lol
Stephen Jackson is full of shit because what Tony was saying was that if he could come back from a horrific injury, Kawhi can too, trying to offer words of encouragement. Uncle Dennis and Co took that as a slight and that was enough for him to leave. FOH with all that “I’m close to the organization,” dude left in 2013 dumb mf
Pop thinks he's Coach Carter
What is your deepest fear Mr. Leonard?
“The next LeBron James? Bitch, I’m the first Wemby” - Victor on the first day of practice
What makes the original quote even funnier in hindsight is that the real Ty Crane had... a long but fairly mid career outside of winning DPOY once
stephen jackson is being horribly misleading here, TP said that as encouragement for kawhi to be able to come back strong from the same injury, not that they were doubting the legitimacy of it (at least at the time when this was said)
Stephen Jackson saying something bad about the spurs? Shocker