20 Second Timeout

Reflecting on Gregg Popovich's Remarkable NBA Coaching Career

Gregg Popovich suffered a stroke at the San Antonio Spurs' arena on November 2, 2024, and he did not return to coach the team last season, but he also did not formally step down; today, Popovich and the Spurs announced that he is retiring from coaching to become the team's President of Basketball Operations. Interim Coach Mitch Johnson will replace Popovich on a full-time basis; officially, Johnson's 32-45 record last season counts toward Popovich's career statistics, so Popovich finished with a 1422-869 regular season record* in addition to a 170-114 playoff record, which included five NBA titles (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014). Popovich earned the NBA Coach of the Year award in 2003, 2012, and 2014; the only other three-time winners are Pat Riley and Don Nelson, while Larry Brown received the award three times in the ABA plus one time in the NBA. Popovich ranks first in career regular season wins, third in career playoff wins, and tied for third (with John Kundla and Pat Riley) in championships won, trailing only Phil Jackson (11) and Red Auerbach (nine). Popovich was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 alongside (among others) his former players Tony Parker and Pau Gasol. Popovich's first two championship teams featured Hall of Fame big men David Robinson and Tim Duncan, while his next three championship teams included Hall of Famers Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The NBA Finals MVP for Popovich's last championship, Kawhi Leonard, will be inducted in the Hall of Fame as soon as he is eligible.

Popovich played basketball for the Air Force Academy and later became Air Force's coach before coaching Pomona-Pitzer from 1979-88, taking one season off to be an assistant coach under Larry Brown at Kansas. The connection with Brown proved to be critical, because Brown later hired Popovich as his lead assistant with the San Antonio Spurs from 1988-92. After the Spurs fired the entire coaching staff, Popovich landed in Golden State as an assistant coach under Don Nelson. The Spurs changed ownership and then brought back Popovich as their general manager. Popovich replaced coach Bob Hill with himself after the Spurs started 3-15 without David Robinson in 1996. Popovich took over the day that Robinson returned to the lineup. The timing did not look great, but Popovich had so much subsequent success that the circumstances of him hiring himself are forgotten by most. Robinson suffered a season-ending injury just six games into Popovich's tenure as coach, and the Spurs finished with a 20-62 record; they used the number one overall selection in the NBA Draft to pick Tim Duncan, who became the franchise's cornerstone player, leading the team to five championships while winning three NBA Finals MVPs and two regular season MVPs.

During his prime, championship-winning years, Popovich deflected any praise directed toward him by declaring that he was just fortunate that Duncan let him coach him. That sounded like a funny, self-deprecating line, but like many jokes it contained more than a bit of truth: Duncan retired in 2016, and since that time the Spurs advanced past the first round just once; in the first post-Duncan season, Kawhi Leonard led the Spurs to a 61-21 record and a Western Conference Finals appearance. Two first round losses followed, and then the Spurs missed the playoffs each season from 2020-25. The last era of Popovich's coaching career was forgettable; the Spurs tanked to try to get the draft rights to Victor Wembanyama, finishing 22-60 only to then go 22-60 the next season with Wembanyama in the fold. The Spurs have not won more than 34 games in a season since 2019.

Gregg Popovich's FIBA coaching career was up and down--he was an assistant coach on Team USA's disastrous 2002 and 2004 squads, and Team USA failed to medal under his direction in the 2019 FIBA World Cup--and at one point Team USA lost five games in an eight game stretch while he was at the helm, but he led Team USA to an Olympic gold medal in 2021 before his protege Steve Kerr took over the reins for Team USA.

Popovich's demeanor during press conferences and in-game interviews became a much-discussed topic. I sympathized with his impatience for ridiculous questions, but I would say that in recent years he behaved boorishly in response to legitimate questions about the poor performance of his team; he was past his prime, and probably sensitive about that. 

I interviewed Popovich when the Spurs were in the midst of their most dominant years, and I did not find him as intimidating as some reporters did for the simple reason that I prepared for all of my interviews (not just my ones with Popovich); a prepared reporter is ready for any situation, and is also generally going to be treated with more respect than a reporter who spouts cliches while betraying a lack of even the most basic understanding of the topic at hand (this does not just apply to basketball); during one interview, I asked Popovich which statistic he values the most, and he told me that he focuses on defensive field goal percentage. Popovich also admitted that he coaches more by feel than by statistics: "I would depend more on what I see and feel than on overdosing on stats." In more recent years, Popovich's demeanor became more arrogant and condescending, and this was not just in response to stupid questions; like many NBA stars (and he became as big of a star as any player), he developed an unseemly sense of entitlement reflected not only in rude answers to legitimate questions but also by providing social and political commentary that has not been sought and is not grounded in deep research.

Overall, Popovich's legacy is tremendous and enduring; he won at an elite level for a long time, and he is highly respected by both his players and by his opponents. Hopefully, he will make a complete recovery from his stroke and be able to work in the front office as long as he would like to do so. 

* 8/7/25 Note: The NBA subsequently determined that only the five games that Popovich actually coached in 2024-25 should stay on his record, and that the remaining games coached by Johnson should be attached to Johnson's record. Thus, Popovich's official career regular season record is 1390-824, and he still ranks first all-time.

Labels: David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Victor Wembanyama

posted by David Friedman @ 11:55 PM

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West Leading Timberwolves Outlast Cellar Dwelling Spurs, 102-94

Minnesota defeated San Antonio 102-94 in the first game of ESPN's Wednesday night doubleheader, and the matchup can be summarized in one sentence: Winning teams find ways to win, and losing teams find ways to lose.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have the best record in the NBA, while the San Antonio Spurs have the worst record in the Western Conference and are mired in a 15 game losing streak. Although the Timberwolves have not won a playoff series since 2004, they have reached the playoffs each of the past two seasons; the Spurs have been a losing team for the past four seasons, and they spent part of that time tanking in the hope of getting the number one overall draft pick so that they could obtain Victor Wembanyama. Now they have Wembanyama and--not surprisingly--they are still a losing team. Once a team accepts losing and cultivates losing habits it is very difficult to get rid of those losing habits and that losing mentality. The numbers prove that tanking does not work, but if you understand basketball then you understand why tanking does not work: losing teams find ways to lose.

The Timberwolves shot just 36-87 (.414) from the field versus the Spurs, but they outscored the Spurs 31-23 in the fourth quarter to squeeze out the win. Mike Conley scored a team-high 18 points, Anthony Edwards added 17 points, Rudy Gobert contributed 16 points plus a game-high 20 rebounds, Naz Reid chipped in 15 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points. Since there seems to be a statistic for everything now, it would be interesting to know how often a team's leading scorers in a game have scored 14-18 points in sequence with no duplicate numbers. 

Devin Vassell (22 points on 9-16 field goal shooting) and Keldon Johnson (21 points on 8-15 field goal shooting) were prolific and efficient for San Antonio, but the other Spurs combined to score 51 points on 21-70 (.300) field goal shooting. Wembanyama had 12 points on 4-13 field goal shooting, plus 10 rebounds and one blocked shot. 

As those numbers indicate, this game was hardly an instant classic (or any kind of classic); the biggest bright spot was that the great Hubie Brown provided ESPN's color commentary. It is always a special treat when Brown calls a game. I fondly recall when he did all of the big games; now, at 90 years old, he only calls games periodically, and I believe that his most recent national telecast prior to tonight's game was New York's 126-105 win versus San Antonio on November 8.

In his remarks prior to the start of tonight's game, Brown singled out the outstanding play of Edwards and Towns, who are both not only prolific scorers but also efficient shooters and good rebounders. Edwards is averaging 26.2 ppg and 5.9 ppg with shooting splits of .464/.377/.864, while Towns is averaging 22.2 ppg and 9.0 rpg with shooting splits of .503/.418/.911. 

Regarding Wembanyama, Brown candidly noted that his scoring (19.3 ppg) is good but his field goal percentage (.437) is subpar and his three point field goal percentage (.271) is the "biggest disappointment and biggest eye opener" thus far for the highly touted rookie. Brown described him as a 7-4 player who plays like he is 6-4. That could be considered praise of Wembanyama's versatility or criticism of his lack of a refined back to the basket game in the paint. Early in the fourth quarter, Brown noted that Wembanyama had been "neutralized by size." At that point, Wembanyama had scored six points on 2-8 field goal shooting. "When he's moving without the ball, he's excellent...but tonight he's not getting any touches," Brown added. 

Minnesota sleepwalked through the first half, scoring a season low 46 points and trailing by seven at halftime before outscoring the Spurs 56-41 in the second half. Both teams shot three pointers with all of the accuracy and dexterity of a blindfolded person swinging at a pinata in the backyard while battling 40 mile per hour winds: the Timberwolves shot 12-40 (.300) from beyond the arc, while the Spurs shot 8-36 (.222). Brown had a succinct comment about the barrage of long range blanks: "Where's your game in the paint?" Teams have become such slaves to "advanced basketball statistics" that they keep shooting three pointers even on off nights and even when they have matchup advantages that they could exploit in the paint or in screen/roll actions.

So far, it appears that I underestimated the Timberwolves, as I did not pick them to be a playoff team. The Timberwolves rank first in the league in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage plus third in blocked shots with Gobert protecting the paint and enabling the perimeter defenders to take chances because they know that he can erase their mistakes. I am often skeptical of teams that did not appear to be contenders but start the season quickly, but the way that the Timberwolves are being successful seems to be sustainable: they play tenacious defense, they are methodical but efficient on offense (ranking 19th in points scored but fifth in field goal percentage), and they make fewer boneheaded plays than they did in previous seasons. I am not convinced that by the end of the season they will still have the NBA's best record, but they definitely look like a team that will not only make the playoffs but that will have a chance to win a series.

It has not been a great season--or a great past several years--for San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich, whose inflated sense of entitlement is exceeded only by his team's loss totals. When the Spurs won five championships between 1999 and 2014, Popovich repeatedly said that the players deserve all of the credit and that he appreciates them letting him coach them; at the time, that seemed like self-deprecation/false modesty, but the Spurs' record in the post-Tim Duncan/post-Kawhi Leonard era is awful, and there are no signs that things will improve any time soon. Wembanyama is a raw talent who needs to develop his body and to refine his game to be successful at the NBA level--and he also needs to be surrounded by a supporting cast that complements his skills.

Labels: Anthony Edwards, Gregg Popovich, Hubie Brown, Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Rudy Gobert, San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama

posted by David Friedman @ 11:57 PM

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Chris Paul and Gregg Popovich Embody Unwarranted Sense of Entitlement That Has Become Too Common in NBA

Listen to interviews by retired NBA players such as Julius Erving and David Robinson, and you will note that they speak of the responsibility that goes hand in hand with being wealthy, famous, and admired; they do not speak or act as if they are entitled to anything, but rather that they understand that they owe a debt to their devoted fans and that they are privileged to be able to provide their time, voice, and money to help worthy causes. Both on and off the court Erving and Robinson exhibit humility and grace, knowing that those traits did not in any way limit their ability to help their teams win championships: Erving won three championships, while Robinson won two championships.

I know that there are current NBA players who also understand the responsibility that comes along with their privileged lives, but there are too many NBA players who act like they are entitled to a lot but responsible for very little--and the same is true of too many coaches who have become obnoxious and self-absorbed as their salaries soared thanks to their salaries not being subject to salary cap restrictions.

Two Wednesday night incidents are not the most egregious examples of this problem, but they are worth noting as part of a larger trend.

Gregg Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs to a 3-12 record this season. The Spurs have not posted a winning record since 2019 and they have not won a playoff series since 2017. Based on that record, Spurs' fans have had a lot to boo about recently, but instead they show up, cheer the home team and--as is their right--boo the opposing team. However, Popovich believes that he has the right to tell paying customers--the same paying customers who pay his $16 million per year salary--when to boo and when not to boo. During the Spurs' 109-102 loss to the L.A. Clippers, Popovich grabbed the house microphone and criticized the San Antonio crowd for booing the opposing team, apparently upset that Spurs' fans were expressing their displeasure with Kawhi Leonard, the former Spur who asked out and then led Toronto to the 2019 NBA title before joining the Clippers. Quite correctly, the crowd responded by booing even louder than they had been booing before. The Spurs shot .385 from the field in that game, and scored just 14 first quarter points while trailing wire to wire.

Would Popovich prefer that the home fans boo him and his sorry team that seems to be heading for the Draft Lottery on accident after tanking their way into the Draft Lottery on purpose to increase their odds of acquiring Victor Wembanyama? Would Popovich prefer that the home fans stop showing up until he puts a winning product on the court? Would Popovich prefer that media members--who ask him softball questions either out of too much fear or too much respect--point out the large difference between his winning percentage coaching Tim Duncan versus his winning percentage sans Duncan? It is said that people in living in glass houses would be wise to not throw stones, and it should also be said that highly paid coaches who have not won anything of consequence for a long time should not draw the spotlight on themselves. 

Fans do not have the right to throw things on the court or interject themselves into the action in any way, nor should fans spew profanities or hate speech--but fans pay for the right to cheer or boo, and it is the height of delusional arrogance for any coach, let alone the coach of a losing team, to have the nerve to lecture fans the way that Popovich did. It would have served him right if all of the fans left their seats, demanded refunds for poor performance, and went home so that the Spurs played in front of no fans.

I don't mean to suggest that Popovich is a bad coach or a bad person. He has been a very successful coach, and I don't know him personally so I can't say what kind of person he is. However, Popovich's arrogant press conference demeanor over the years, and his growing penchant for providing social and political commentary that has not been sought and is not grounded in deep research indicate that his outburst directed toward Spurs' fans is not an aberration but part of an unwarranted sense of entitlement: "I'm Gregg Popovich and you're not" is the unspoken justification for Popovich's behavior. He is being paid a lot of money to win games, not to provide commentary about society or lectures on etiquette.

The other Wednesday incident involved Chris Paul, also known as "The best leader in the NBA" (who has never won a championship during his 19 season career). Paul's new team, the Golden State Warriors, fell to 7-9 after losing 108-104 to his previous team, the 9-6 Phoenix Suns. Paul was ejected from the game with 23.2 seconds remaining in the first half and his squad losing, 59-47. During a stoppage of play, Paul complained to referee Scott Foster about a previous foul call. Foster and Paul talked briefly, and then Paul said something to which Foster took offense, resulting in Foster calling a technical foul on Paul. Then, Foster did what referees are instructed to do after calling a technical foul: he walked away from Paul to deescalate--and when Paul continued to talk, Foster put up his hand in the universal "stop" gesture, indicating that he had heard enough. Paul kept yapping, and Foster hit Paul with a second technical foul, leading to automatic ejection. No microphones captured the earlier part of the conversation, but after the ejection Paul attempted to confront Foster before being restrained, and Paul clearly called Foster a "bitch." I wish Paul's teammates had not held him back so that we could find out if Paul lacks the wisdom and self control to avoid hitting a referee; he knew that if he charged at Foster then that boosts his "street cred" and he also knew that as soon as he did that he would be held back, so it would have been fascinating to see what he would have done if he had not been held back. The NBA is full of "hold me back" guys who act like they want to fight because they know that a fight is not going to happen.

After the game, Paul told media members that Foster has had a beef with him dating back to Paul's time with the L.A. Clippers several years ago, mentioning that the league office organized a meeting with Paul, Paul's father, Foster, then Clippers Coach Doc Rivers and then head of NBA officials Bob Delaney. Paul declined to explain what was discussed other than saying that the matter had something to do with his son and Foster. NBA officials are only allowed to speak to reporters in a very limited fashion, so Foster's only explanation of the ejection was that Paul received the first technical foul for "unsportsmanlike conduct" and that Paul received the second technical foul for continuing to "complain" in a way that was also deemed to be "unsportsmanlike conduct."

Paul acts like he feels entitled to say whatever he wants to say and act however he wants to act without facing any consequences. He refuses to take responsibility for his actions, and instead casts aspersions on Foster.

Foster is the easy target here. As the saying goes, the fans don't buy tickets to see the referees but to see star players. However, based on what we saw and heard there was nothing unusual about the ejection. If Paul truly believes that Foster is biased against him, then why did Paul keep talking after getting a technical foul? It must be emphasized that Foster walked away after issuing the first technical foul; this is not Jake O'Donnell versus Clyde Drexler or Hue Hollins versus Scottie Pippen/the Chicago Bulls, instances when officiating bias was an obvious pattern. O'Donnell's grudges against multiple players led to him losing his job despite grading out highly, while Hollins' bias was so obvious that his name was the first one that came to many people's minds when the story first broke about an unnamed referee (who later turned out to be Tim Donaghy) intentionally making wrong calls.

Paul has publicly created a narrative that Foster has a grudge against him without providing any proof, knowing full well that he is immune from consequences because Foster will not be permitted by the NBA to publicly respond. Why should media members or fans believe Paul? Paul has proven to be both a cheap shot artist and a whiner throughout his career, and there are many players around the league who have feuded with him, including both teammates and opponents. I am not aware of a single other player accusing Foster of bias, and Foster consistently grades out as a top referee. I watch a lot of NBA games, and while my focus is much more on the players and the coaches than the referees I have never felt that Foster is incompetent or biased. 

It has become popular to suggest that the NBA should never assign Foster to officiate a game involving Paul's team. That is nonsense. If Foster grades out well enough to officiate the NBA Finals and Paul is fortunate enough to be carried to the NBA Finals by Stephen Curry then how can the league take that assignment away from Foster? No, the answer here is simple: if there is objective evidence that Foster is nursing a grudge that prevents him from officiating Paul in an unbiased manner then the NBA should fire Foster--and if there is no evidence of that, then the NBA should fine Paul for his comments, and make it clear that if he makes additional comments questioning the integrity of the officiating then he will be suspended. That is how former Commissioner David Stern would have quashed this nonsense that current Commissioner Adam Silver has allowed to fester for several years. If Paul is correct that the NBA organized a meeting with Paul, Foster, and others then the outcome of that meeting should have been an understanding that Paul's job is to play, Foster's job is to officiate objectively, and that if this ever becomes a public issue again then the person at fault is going to be disciplined by the league. Instead, Silver is letting one of these guys--and my strong suspicion is that the culprit is Paul--make a mockery of the league.

Stern always came to press conferences armed with facts and data, and he would challenge reporters who asked questions without doing their homework. Consequently, many media members have touted Silver as a kinder, gentler Commissioner because they like Silver more than they liked Stern, but I would argue that Silver is a weaker and less effective leader than Stern was. The Commissioner's job is to lead, not become popular with media members. The NBA's record on many issues--from the Paul/Foster nonsense to Draymond Green's unchecked violence, to the league's silence about Chinese tyranny because the NBA makes billions of dollars doing business with China--leaves much to be desired during Silver's reign. 

Speaking of China, I would be much more impressed by Popovich if he grabbed a microphone and spoke out about Chinese oppression--which he has never done despite providing a lot of impromptu and unsought political/social commentary--instead of chastising his team's fans. Of course, speaking out about Chinese oppression could lead to a backlash against him, the Spurs, and the league, so Popovich--and other NBA coaches who often voice their opinions on selected issues--will never do that. 

There is a big difference between being a loud voice and being a courageous voice. NBA and WNBA players and coaches are very selective about when their voices are loud and when their voices are silent. NBA and WNBA players and coaches made a lot of public comments demanding that Russia set free WNBA player Britney Griner, who had violated that country's drug laws, but I have yet to hear a single NBA or WNBA player or coach say anything about Hamas' October 7 massacre in Israel or about Hamas holding hundreds of civilian hostages, including American citizens. If the NBA and WNBA stand firmly against what they perceived to be the wrongful detention of one American basketball player in Russia then why are the NBA and the WNBA silent about the war crime of holding hundreds of civilians hostage? If the NBA and the WNBA stand firmly against violence against minorities and women then why are the NBA and the WNBA silent about Hamas' crimes against humanity, including rape, torture, and mutilation of women? Over 100 universities have publicly united against terrorism, and over 1500 lawyers from some of the world's biggest law firms issued a public statement condemning Hamas' terrorism, demonstrating the difference between being a loud voice and being a courageous voice; condemning evil even when "woke" self-proclaimed "progressives" will be upset is courageous, while telling fans not to boo or whining about a referee is just being loud and self-entitled.

Labels: Adam Silver, Chris Paul, David Robinson, Gregg Popovich, Julius Erving

posted by David Friedman @ 2:11 AM

16 comments

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2023 Class Includes Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, and Gregg Popovich

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2023 class includes 12 inductees: NBA players Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, and Dwyane Wade; NBA coach Gregg Popovich; college coaches Gene Bess, Gary Blair, David Hixon, and Gene Keady; WNBA player Becky Hammon; contributor Jim Valvano; the 1976 U.S. Women's Olympic Team (selected by the Women's Veterans Committee). 

The four NBA players and one NBA coach honored in tonight's ceremony all achieved the bulk of their accomplishments from the early 2000s through the mid-2010s. This article will focus on their careers, and the speeches that they gave tonight.

Tony Parker was the event's first speaker. His presenters were Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Parker said of Duncan, "To me, he is the best power forward ever." He also said that Duncan "has a special power with his eyes," noting that Duncan never asked for the ball but just looked at him, and Parker knew that it was time to deliver the ball. "Manu is the most unique player I have ever played with," Parker declared, adding that Ginobili made two kinds of passes: the legendary ones, and the ones that went to the fans in the stands. Parker joked about how much Coach Popovich loved the second kind of pass.

Parker said that if you tell people your dreams and they don't laugh then your dreams aren't big enough. That is important enough to put in bold print: If you tell people your dreams and they don't laugh then your dreams aren't big enough. Who cares about the thoughts and opinions of small people who have small dreams? Such people never accomplish anything worth noting, nor do they have the power to stop anyone from accomplishing things that are worth noting.

Parker became emotional when he talked about how much his father and mother helped him, and he also mentioned his brothers, his two young sons, and his wife. Parker called Gregg Popovich his "second dad." Parker said that he always felt that his career would not be complete without leading France to the EuroBasket title, a goal that he accomplished in 2013 after previously winning two bronze medals and one silver medal in that event.

Parker joins his teammates David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili in the Hall of Fame. Robinson, Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker played together on the San Antonio Spurs' 2003 championship team, and the Duncan-Ginobili-Parker trio went on to win three more NBA titles (2005, 2007, 2014). Parker received the 2007 Finals MVP after the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in LeBron James' first NBA Finals appearance. Parker spent his first 17 NBA seasons with the Spurs before closing out his career with one year in Charlotte. He finished fifth in the 2012 regular season MVP voting while making the All-NBA Team four times and making the All-Star team six times.

Parker was not a great outside shooter, rebounder, or defensive player, but his speed in the open court and his ability to finish in the paint helped him to become a very good scorer and a solid playmaker with career regular season averages of 15.5 ppg and 5.6 apg. It could be argued that Parker did not post Hall of Fame caliber individual numbers, but the counterargument is that he sacrificed individual glory to play a key role in team success; it is useful to think of both Parker and Ginobili as the opposite of flashy scorers like Gilbert Arenas, Carmelo Anthony, and James Harden who lacked both the ability to lead a team to a title and the humility to accept being the second or third option on a championship contender.

Pau Gasol's presenter was Toni Kukoc. Gasol said that Kukoc inspired him, and that when he was a child he would have never imagined that not only would he be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame but that Kukoc would be his presenter. Gasol thanked his "friend and mentor" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was also scheduled to be his presenter but was unable to attend the ceremony. Gasol thanked both of his parents for inspiring and motivating him, and he called his younger brother Marc "a special kid." Gasol said that his jump ball versus Marc at the 2015 NBA All-Star game was a special moment. Gasol noted that the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona "changed my life," because watching the Dream Team inspired him so much. 

Gasol mentioned that people who doubted and questioned him provided powerful motivation, including a coach during his youth days who told Gasol there was nothing he could do against the player he was guarding because "He will make the pros and you won't." 

Gasol is proud of his time with the Memphis Grizzlies, noting that he and his teammates built the foundation for what the Grizzlies have become.

Gasol praised "the person who elevated my game like no other, who taught me what it took to win at the highest level, who showed me how hard you had to work and the mentality you needed to have in order to be the best--the commitment you had to make, what it meant and what it took to be a leader: Kobe." Gasol said that the first night he joined the Lakers, Kobe Bryant made a point of introducing himself at 1 a.m. in Gasol's hotel room, delivering a simple message: "He made sure that right away, firsthand, I got the message. He said, 'Welcome to the team. I'm happy you're here. Now let's go win a championship together.' I said, 'Alright I'm in, man. I'm in. Have a good night.' That was it. No crap. Straight to the chase." Gasol added, "I wouldn't be here without you, brother. I wish more than anything that you and Gigi were here today with us. I miss you and love you." Gasol thanked Bryant's widow Vanessa for attending the ceremony, and he thanked her for letting him be an uncle to Bryant's surviving children. Bryant's untimely death alongside his daughter Gianna and seven other passengers in a helicopter crash is a tragedy not only for his family, but also a loss that creates a void that ripples out and touches people across the world. 

Gasol offered a "special thank you to Phil Jackson, a truly incredible man." He said that Jackson taught him and his Laker teammates about mindfulness.

Gasol was not only an NBA star but also a highly decorated FIBA player who led Spain to much success. He declared, "Representing my country was a big deal, and such a privilege."

Gasol thanked the media for providing a platform for the game to reach millions of people. Gasol said that transitioning to his post-playing career was "a big shock," and he praised his wife for helping him through that time. Gasol closed his speech by urging everyone to do whatever they can to help others, emphasizing that by working together we can maximize our impact on society. 

Gasol's eloquence and heartfelt messages are not surprising to anyone who has heard him speak before.

As Gasol readily acknowledged in his speech, his ascent to Hall of Fame status is directly connected to the nearly seven seasons that he spent playing alongside Kobe Bryant with the L.A. Lakers. Prior to teaming up with Bryant, Gasol won the 2002 Rookie of the Year award, earned one All-Star selection and did not make the All-NBA Team in his first eight NBA seasons, and his Memphis teams went 0-3 in playoff series--swept each time--during that period. The arc of Gasol's career changed completely after Memphis traded him to the L.A. Lakers late in the 2007-08 season. 

In the final 27 games of the 2007-08 season, Gasol shot .589 from the field for the Lakers, far exceeding his previous career-high field goal percentage of .538, as well as his .501 field goal percentage during the first 39 games of the 2007-08 season when he played for Memphis. Gasol averaged more than 3.2 offensive rebounds per game in three different seasons with the Lakers, but he averaged less than 3 offensive rebounds per game in every other season of his career. It is reasonable to suggest that the improvements in Gasol's field goal percentage and offensive rebounding as a Laker resulted from the extra defensive attention drawn by Bryant. Also--as Gasol mentioned in his speech--Bryant and Coach Jackson helped him to develop a champion's mindset. The Lakers made three straight NBA Finals appearances from 2008-2010 with Bryant leading the way and Gasol serving as an excellent second option, and they won back to back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010.

Many Lakers other than Bryant seemed satisfied after winning two championships, and the team lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2011 and 2012. Bryant's long tenure as an elite player ended after he ruptured his Achilles late in the 2013 season. Without Bryant leading the way, Gasol averaged 14.0 ppg on .481 field goal shooting as the San Antonio Spurs swept the Lakers in the first round of the 2013 playoffs. Gasol played one more season with the Lakers, but the team went just 27-55 as injuries limited Bryant to six games. Gasol signed with the Chicago Bulls in 2014, and he made the All-Star team in both of his two seasons in Chicago in addition to making the All-NBA Second Team in 2015, but his statistics never again matched the numbers he posted alongside Bryant. Gasol spent a little over two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, and then played three games for Milwaukee before retiring after suffering a foot injury. 

Gasol's career regular season numbers are solid (17.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg, .507 FG%) but not spectacular. His career playoff series record is 13-4 with the Lakers, and 3-6 with all other teams. Gasol is a Hall of Famer primarily because of his two championship seasons with the Lakers, plus his decorated FIBA career that included three Olympic medals with Spain (two silvers, one bronze), a gold medal in the 2006 World Cup, and seven EuroBasket medals (including gold medals in 2009, 2011, and 2015). 

Gasol was a good low post scorer who could also face the basket, pass to open cutters, rebound, and block shots. He went from being a bit underrated during his Memphis seasons to being a bit overrated as a Laker due to the reluctance of some media members to give Bryant full credit for his significant role in mentoring players so that the team would be successful, and the insistence of those same media members on providing nonsensical critiques of Bryant's shot selection. 

Gregg Popovich's presenters were David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. Popovich said that he tried to think of a word to describe this moment, and the one that fits best is "unimaginable." Popovich insisted that he was not displaying false humility and that he genuinely wondered, "What the hell am I doing here? How did this happen?" Popovich became choked up, and said that he is a "Division III guy." Popovich said that he thought about his journey to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and he concluded that there are two reasons: one is a long list of people who he thanked, and the second reason was very brief.

Popovich thanked Hank Egan, who he called a "very underrated coach." Egan coached Popovich at the Air Force Academy.

Popovich praised Dean Smith and Larry Brown as basketball "purists" who would stop practice if a player was just slightly off while doing a rocker step. Popovich said that Don Nelson was a mentor who was the opposite of Smith and Brown because he specialized in doing unorthodox things. Popovich also noted Nelson's knack for figuring out how to exploit matchups.

Popovich made some "special thank yous," starting with Jerry Colangelo for "fulfilling a lifetime dream" by hiring him to coach Team USA, and including Sean Ford, Tim Dooley, and Mike Krzyzewski for their help when Popovich coached Team USA.

Next, Popovich thanked all of his players and assistant coaches. He thanked three people who have been with him during his entire San Antonio journey: R.C. Buford, who Popovich said "should be standing right here," Will Sevening, who Popovich called "trainer of the century," and Tom James, the Spurs' p.r. director. He concluded by thanking his wife of 42 years (Erin, who passed away in 2018), his son Micky, his daughter Jill, and "the stars of the show": his grandchildren. 

The second reason involved one word: "Duh!" Popovich then shook the hands of each of his Hall of Fame presenters. The crowd reacted as if that were the end of his speech, but Popovich insisted that he was not quite done yet. Popovich described the special qualities of each of his four Hall of Fame presenters. David Robinson reluctantly accepted Popovich's cursing as long as Popovich promised to never use the lord's name in vain. Parker accepted Popovich's harsh coaching methods that, Popovich joked, would land him in jail if he used them today. Popovich appreciated that Duncan would nod his head and acknowledge what Popovich said, which made Popovich feel important. Popovich said that Ginobili's wild, uninhibited playing style taught him that sometimes the best thing that a coach can do is shut up and let his players be themselves.

Popovich minimized the importance of Xs and Os, repeatedly stating that personal relationships are what matter most: "What exists is seeing those guys and their kids." Popovich concluded, "Those relationships stay with you forever."

Popovich has coached the San Antonio Spurs to five championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014) while winning the Coach of the Year award three times (2003, 2012, 2014) and compiling the most regular season coaching wins (1366) in NBA history. He ranks third in NBA playoff coaching wins (170), trailing only Phil Jackson (229) and Pat Riley (171). Only Jackson (11) and Red Auerbach (9) have won more NBA titles as a coach than Popovich, who is tied with Riley and John Kundla. Under Popovich's direction, the Spurs won at least 50 games in 18 straight seasons. Popovich is respected for both his tactical acumen and his ability to connect with players ranging from Hall of Famers to reserves who see little playing time. He can say that strategy does not matter and wins don't matter, but the reality is that he devoted his life to becoming a great basketball strategist who won a lot of basketball games.

Dirk Nowitzki's presenters were Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. Nowitzki said that his career was made possible by several qualities and values. He listed each important quality/value, and mentioned people who represented those qualities/values. The first quality he cited is "creativity," and Nowitzki thanked his first NBA coach Don Nelson for being "an incredible basketball mind." Another quality is "leadership." Nowitzki thanked Nash for being a "great role model," "the best teammate I ever had," and "a friend for life." Nowitzki thanked Kidd for instilling the value of "competitiveness" in him and his teammates, calling Kidd a "wonderful, wonderful all-around player" with whom he forged a "bond for life." Nowitzki said that another important quality is "respect," and he mentioned that he did not always like his Hall of Fame classmates but he always respected them. He stated that he has the "utmost respect" for Popovich, who sent a handwritten note to him after Dallas won the 2011 NBA title.

Nowitzki declared that "loyalty" is the quality "more important to me than any other," and he said that Mark Cuban embodies that quality. Nowitzki thanked Donnie Nelson for "taking risks" by recommending that the Mavericks draft him when he was a teenager. He thanked Coach Rick Carlisle for teaching him how to be detail-oriented. Nowitzki thanked Coach Avery Johnson for helping him to become more than a jump shooter. Johnson represents the value of "intensity." 

Nowitzki's teammate Michael Finley represents "professionalism." Nowitzki said, "No one can whistle a symphony" and he praised the "team spirit" in the Dallas organization. "Innovation" is represented by Holger Geschwinder, Nowitzki's personal coach and mentor who "always thought outside the box." The next quality Nowitzki mentioned is "protection," represented by his sister. Nowitzki learned "humbleness" from his parents, and he spoke a special message to them in German. "Passion" is a quality that he learned from his wife, Jess. 

Nowitzki learned "curiosity" from his three children Malaika, Max, and Morris, who he encouraged to find role models who will help them the way his role models helped him. He said that it is important to approach life as a learner and not as a person who thinks that he knows everything. Nowitzki concluded, "When you're green you grow, when you're ripe you rot."

Dwyane Wade was the final inductee. His presenter was Allen Iverson. Wade expressed his appreciation to all of the other inductees, and joked that it was "therapy" for him and Nowitzki, alluding to their battles in the 2006 and 2011 NBA Finals. Wade's first basketball memory is from when he was five years old, and he said that every time he held a basketball something came alive in him. He thanked his father for taking him to various parks to play against grown men. Wade said "the best thing about that time is what the game taught me" about how basketball connects people and also fuels your love of competition. Wade called basketball a "vessel" that changed his life and the life of his family.

Wade described in detail how he practiced Michael Jordan's famous move from the 1991 NBA Finals--immortalized by Marv Albert's famous call, "A spectacular move by Michael Jordan"--over and over while attempting to add some of Jordan's style to his game. 

Wade declared, "My beliefs have always been stronger than anyone's doubts," echoing sentiments expressed by Parker and Gasol. Wade described Iverson as a hero who is not perfect but "relatable and real." Wade said that Iverson demonstrated that "coming from nothing is not a limitation but a motivation." Wade added that he wore number three and an arm sleeve throughout his career as tributes to Iverson.

Wade thanked his coaching mentors for teaching him the value of "we versus me," stating that those lessons enabled him to win NBA championships while playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal and LeBron James. Wade called his family his "lifeline," and he ended his speech by asking his father to join him on stage so that they could enter "basketball heaven" together. There was not a dry eye in the house after that moment.

The careers of Nowitzki and Wade intersected in two NBA Finals, as Wade noted in his speech. In 2006, Wade won the Finals MVP versus Nowitzki's Dallas Mavericks as the Miami Heat overcame a 2-0 deficit to win the series, 4-2. Wade averaged 34.7 ppg while shooting .468 from the field in the 2006 Finals and Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 22.8 ppg despite shooting just .390 from the field. This was the first of Wade's three NBA titles, and the last of O'Neal's four NBA titles as O'Neal won his first (and only) championship after being dealt to Miami by the L.A. Lakers. In 2011, Nowitzki won the Finals MVP while leading the Mavericks to a 4-1 triumph over the Heat in the first season after LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Wade to form a "super team."

Wade had a good rookie season in 2003-04 (16.2 ppg, 4.5 apg, 4.0 rpg), but he emerged as an All-Star in his second season and he made the All-Star team for the next 11 years. Wade made the All-NBA Team eight times, including a pair of First Team selections (2009, 2010), and he also made the All-Defensive Second Team three times. He finished in the top five in MVP voting twice, peaking at third in 2009 when he averaged a career-high 30.2 ppg to win his only scoring title. 

Wade had already established himself as a future Hall of Famer before James and Bosh joined the Heat. After the Heat's disastrous performance in the 2011 NBA Finals, Wade convinced LeBron James that in order to win a championship James had to accept the responsibility of being the best player on the team. Wade played a secondary but vital role for Miami's 2012 and 2013 championship teams. The Heat reached the Finals all four seasons that James, Wade, and Bosh played together. 

Wade never developed a reliable outside shot, and at a listed height of 6-4 he was a bit undersized for a shooting guard in a sport where height and size matter a lot, so he relied heavily on his tremendous speed, agility, and leaping ability; consequently, Wade's game declined as his athletic skills eroded, and after averaging at least 21.2 ppg in each season from 2005-2013 he averaged more than 20 ppg just once in his final six seasons. Wade's teams went 3-2 in the NBA Finals and 22-10 overall in playoff series, including 14-2 while playing alongside James. Wade averaged 22.0 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 4.7 rpg during his regular season career. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are clearly the two greatest shooting guards in NBA history, followed by Jerry West (unless one classifies West as a point guard), but an argument could be made that Wade is the top shooting guard in the next, non-Pantheon tier.

Nowitzki established himself beyond any doubt as a legend by leading the Mavericks to a championship versus a Heat team that went on to win the next two NBA titles. Nowitzki was not the first big man who could shoot from the outside--let's not forget about Bob McAdoo and Larry Bird, to name just two MVPs who stood at least 6-9 and had a great shooting touch--but as the league transitioned from inside-out play to outside-in play Nowitzki embodied the concept of the "stretch four," a player with power forward size and skills who could stretch opposing defenses by making three pointers.

Even though Nowitzki was a great shooter, it would be a mistake to ignore the other aspects of his game, most notably his rebounding prowess. He averaged at least 8.4 rpg for nine straight regular seasons, and he averaged 10.0 rpg in 145 playoff games. Spanning the 2001 and 2002 playoffs, Nowitzki had four straight postseason games with at least 30 points and at least 15 rebounds, something that had only been accomplished two other times since 1970 (both by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). In 2003, Nowitzki had at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in back to back game sevens, joining Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Elvin Hayes, Wilt Chamberlain and Bob Pettit as the only players to accomplish that feat.

Nowitzki won the 2007 regular season MVP, and he finished in the top five in MVP balloting in 2005 and 2006 while making the All-NBA Team 12 times, including four First Team selections (2005-07, 2009). The 14-time All-Star became just the seventh player to join the elite 30,000 point club, an exclusive group that still has just eight members.

Although Mark Cuban often brags about how smart and data driven he and his Mavericks are, the reality is that for most of Nowitzki's career the franchise did not do a great job of providing him with a superior supporting cast--and when he finally had one in 2011, the Mavericks promptly dismantled it, foreshadowing how the Mavericks dismantled the 2022 team that Luka Doncic led to the Western Conference Finals. As a result, Nowitzki's career playoff series record is just 13-14. Of course, the most notable of those 14 defeats happened after the 2007 regular season during which the Mavericks posted a league-best 67-15 record: the Golden State Warriors defeated the Mavericks 4-2 in the greatest playoff upset in NBA history, a series during which Nowitzki did not shine (to put it mildly) while his former coach Don Nelson coached circles around Avery Johnson, a good coach who made the foolish decision to slow the tempo down versus the Warriors instead of playing to the strengths that enabled his team to dominate during the regular season. Nowitzki erased any memories of the 2006 Finals collapse and the 2007 first round loss with his epic performance in the 2011 NBA Finals.

Wade and Nowitzki met twice at the summit in the NBA Finals, and they both retired after the 2019 season; NBA Commissioner Adam Silver honored both of them as special selections to that season's All-Star Game.  

After 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Jim Valvano was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1992, he gave his famous ESPYs  speech during which he said that every day a person should laugh, think, and be moved to tears. If you do those three things, he declared, then you have had a full day. Every time I watch the Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony, I have a full day.

Articles About Recent Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies:

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2022 Class Includes NBA Players Lou Hudson, Tim Hardaway, and Manu Ginobili (Class of 2022)  

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes 15 New Members and Honors Bill Russell a Second Time (Class of 2021)

Kobe Bryant Headlines the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony (Class of 2020) 

The Basketball Hall of Fame Welcomes A Diverse Class of 12 Inductees (Class of 2019)

Thoughts and Observations About the 2018 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony (Class of 2018)

Labels: Basketball Hall of Fame, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, Gregg Popovich, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker

posted by David Friedman @ 11:44 PM

16 comments

NBA Gives Ja Morant A Path Away From Oblivion

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suspended Memphis Grizzlies All-Star Ja Morant 25 games without pay for "conduct detrimental to the league." The NBA issued an official statement about why Commissioner Silver suspended Morant; here is the pertinent portion of that official statement:

Morant posed with a firearm in a car during a live-streamed video on May 13, less than two months after he was suspended eight games without pay for the live streaming of a video on March 4 in which he displayed a firearm while in an intoxicated state at a Denver area nightclub.

The league office found that, on May 13, Morant intentionally and prominently displayed a gun while in a car with several other individuals as they were leaving a social gathering in Memphis. Morant wielded the firearm while knowing that he was being recorded and that the recording was being live streamed on Instagram Live, despite having made commitments to the NBA and public statements that he would not repeat the conduct for which he was previously disciplined.

Regardless of whether or not Morant's conduct broke any laws, it is incorrect to suggest that Morant's Constitutional or legal rights are violated by this suspension. Morant's suspension is not a Second Amendment issue because the NBA is not challenging Morant's right to legally own a firearm; the NBA, like most corporate organizations, has its own internal rules and codes of conduct, and it has the legal right to enforce those rules and codes. The NBA has every right to make it clear to Morant that he must choose between two paths: he can be a highly paid NBA superstar who abides by the NBA's employment rules and guidelines, or he can be a guy who rides around in a car wielding a handgun in live social media videos. 

Far from punishing Morant, Commissioner Silver is providing Morant a path away from oblivion: if Morant proceeds down his current path, he will be out of the league and he will have thrown away hundreds of millions of dollars--but Morant now has an opportunity to seek counseling, make smarter and more mature decisions, and return to a path filled with riches, praise, and likely basketball immortality. 

Morant's suspension is far from the longest or most severe suspension in NBA history. Not including several players who received lifetime bans after repeatedly violating the league's anti-drug policies, here is a list of just a few of the players who have received longer suspensions from the NBA:

1) O.J. Mayo was suspended 164 games (two full seasons) in 2016 for violating the league's performance enhancing drug protocol.

2) Ron Artest was suspended 86 games in 2004 for his role in the infamous "Malice at the Palace."

3) Latrell Sprewell was suspended 68 games in 1997 for choking his then-coach, P.J. Carlesimo.

4) Gilbert Arenas was suspended 50 games in 2010 for bringing guns into the locker room during a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton (who was suspended 38 games for the same incident).

5) Stephen Jackson was suspended 30 games in 2004 for his role in the "Malice at the Palace."

The Arenas/Crittenton incident is perhaps most relevant to Morant's situation. By age 30, Gilbert Arenas--a three-time All-Star and three-time member of the All-NBA Team--was playing for the Shanghai Sharks. Arenas, who never seemed to understand the gravity of what he did, should consider himself lucky to be alive; he thought everything was a joke, but Crittenton was recently released from prison after serving 10 years for homicide, so if Arenas had pushed his luck a little further with Crittenton then Arenas may no longer be with us to offer weird NBA takes on his podcast. 

Hopefully, Morant will use his time off without pay to change his thought process and improve his behavior. It would be a shame if he threw away his promising career the same way that Arenas squandered his talent, and it would be a tragedy if Morant ended up like Crittenton.

NBA coaches Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich have been silent about Morant's public embrace of gun culture, and Morant's alleged involvement in multiple incidents during which he engaged in violence or threatened to engage in violence. I mention Kerr and Popovich by name because both men have not hesitated to loudly and repeatedly state their opinions about national gun laws and about politicians who they accuse of not taking gun violence seriously enough. Do Kerr and Popovich approve of Morant's conduct? Do they think that the suspension is long enough, too long, or not long enough? Once you open your mouth and assert that you have an opinion worth hearing on national policy issues, you accept the responsibility of speaking out about those issues moving forward. I am not naive enough to think that Kerr and Popovich will say anything about Morant other than "This is a league issue and I trust Adam Silver" or "I will not comment about discipline involving a player from another team," but those are cowardly responses. If you feel strongly about gun violence, gun laws, and the behavior of certain citizens, then let us know how you feel when a member of your corporate organization steps out of line. 

One would think that anyone who protests about systemic racism and lack of economic opportunities for various ethnic groups would be at the forefront of encouraging Morant to not squander the chance to obtain generational wealth that could be used not only to benefit himself and his family but also underserved communities, many of which are filled with young people who idolize Morant. In that regard, the critical response of the NBA Players Association to the 25 game suspension is as unsurprising as it is disappointing. The NBA Players Association presents itself as an organization that promotes social justice, but in fact it is an organization that primarily conducts public relations campaigns on behalf of players while remaining silent, at best, when players conduct themselves inappropriately; we saw this when Kyrie Irving exposed himself as an unrepentant antisemite.

Like the Commissioner, several coaches, and other members of the NBA community (including media members who work for companies with huge NBA contracts), the Players Association (and individual players) often makes statements about social justice and public safety. Does Morant's behavior fulfill their expectations? If a fan showed up at an NBA game or event behaving around NBA players as Morant behaved in public, would the Players Association defend the fan's Second Amendment rights and emphasize that the fan did nothing illegal? Or would the Players Association demand that the league and the police protect the players? Again, once you open your mouth about public policy issues, you accept the responsibility of speaking out about those issues moving forward.

It could be argued that the NBAPA is a union whose main task is to support its members no matter what, but if the NBAPA does not have a higher calling then it should be honest about that instead of purporting to be an organization filled with social justice warriors: an organization that is silent about antisemitism and complicit with Morant's reckless behavior is hardly an organization that is taking the lead to improve society.

One last point to consider is that some people suggest that Morant is being led astray by his friends and associates--but the reality is that Morant has been front and center leading the way in each incident involving him, so at some point we have to consider the possibility that Morant is the one leading the way as opposed to someone who is being led astray. Regardless of whether Morant is the leader or the follower, this may be his last chance to correct his course; hopefully, Morant will follow the path away from oblivion that Commissioner Silver has provided.

Labels: Adam Silver, Gregg Popovich, Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies, NBA, Steve Kerr

posted by David Friedman @ 10:36 AM

4 comments

Press Conference Follies

Imagine that the San Antonio Spurs, who are 31-44 this season, just lost a game by 18 points. This is the Spurs' third straight losing season, and they have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2017. Coach Gregg Popovich is being interviewed at the post-game press conference, and a local reporter who regularly covers the team asks him, "What changes going forward?" 

What kind of answer would you expect from Popovich?

Suppose that Popovich replied, "Nothing man, nothing."

Then, our hypothetical reporter asked, "Why is that?" 

Suppose that Popovich calmly replied, "Because it doesn't. What does it change? We've still got games to play. Other teams still have got games to play. We still have got to play teams that are above us in the Play-In. Don't really change much. What do you think should change?"

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "Winning."

How would you expect Popovich to answer that retort? Suppose that Popovich rolled his eyes, and calmly said, "OK, that's obvious. And what do you think should change?" 

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "Winning. Winning games, playing hard. You asked a question, I gave you an answer."

Suppose that Popovich then got up to leave the press conference, and on his way out he said, "That's cool. Do you have the answer for winning?"

Then, our hypothetical reporter said, "I am not out there playing." The reporter then admitted that he did not have the answer for winning, and Popovich stated that he is just one member of the team, so he does not have the answer, either. Popovich then hugged the reporter and left the press conference.

Neither man raised his voice, or acted in a threatening manner. If you wrote the headline for an article describing the above interaction, would you describe it as "heated" or as an "altercation"? 

The exchange described above happened last night, word for word--but the person being asked the questions was Russell Westbrook, not Gregg Popovich. 

Unlike Popovich, Westbrook does not verbally attack reporters--but Westbrook does ask reporters to answer questions: that is Westbrook's way of showing that the question he was just asked was not particularly smart or insightful. The reporter interviewing Westbrook was Broderick Turner, and it is interesting how quickly Turner became defensive after Westbrook turned the spotlight on him. Turner proved that he asked a question that was so vague that any answer--or no answer--would have been appropriate. That was Westbrook's point, which is why he said, "That's obvious."

Was Turner asking Westbrook's opinion about roster composition, about coaching, about matchups, about effort level? We don't know, because Turner does not know. That is why all he could do after Westbrook asked him the same question was lamely answer, "Winning." Imagine if Westbrook had answered Turner's question by saying, "Winning." 

It is fascinating to watch media members in action, to watch how they respond to being challenged, and then to watch how their fellow media members rush in to bash Westbrook while defending their own. Skip "Clueless" said that he would not have been able to contain himself if Westbrook had answered him that way. What would he have done? Would he have slapped Westbrook in the face? Would he have called Westbrook a "clever" name like "Westbrick"? I generally refrain from name-calling, but I make an exception for "Clueless" and for "Screamin' A" Smith, because those guys get paid a lot of money for making fun of other people's names so they more than deserve a dose of their own medicine. At least Westbrook is an all-time great at his chosen profession; "Clueless" and "Screamin' A" are buffoons.

Turner's question is far from the worst or dumbest one that I have heard in an NBA press conference, because I have had the misfortune of hearing many stupid questions, but Turner's question was lazy. What kind of article was he planning to write, based on the question he asked? It sounds like he just wanted some filler material. If he really wanted to know specifically what Westbrook thinks about the Lakers, then he would have asked a specific question. Instead, Turner asked a variation of the ubiquitous "Talk about" question; lazy reporters often say, "Talk about...," which of course is not even a question. "Talk about tonight's game" is what passes for journalism today, as is "What changes going forward?"

I don't know Turner, and from what I've seen of his work he is far from the NBA's worst beat reporter, but this notion that Westbrook somehow violated protocol or attacked Turner is ridiculous. Turner asked a lazy question, Westbrook turned the question around on Turner, and at the end the two men hugged it out. It takes a fevered--or devious--imagination to twist this into an excuse to attack Westbrook.

If you watch Westbrook's press conferences live and do not base your opinions on how other people describe his press conferences, you will see that Westbrook is proud, but he is also respectful when he is treated respectfully, and he refuses to throw his teammates or coaches under the bus. If a reporter asks Westbrook a lazy or stupid question, Westbrook does not play along and give a boring, cliche-filled answer; Westbrook challenges the reporter. Reporters do not like being challenged, but that does not mean that Westbrook is wrong to challenge them. 

The notion that Westbrook cannot handle being in a major media market is ridiculous; he is handling it just fine, in the same way that he has always handled it. What Westbrook cannot handle is the way that General Manager/Coach/Team Captain/P.R. Director/Self-Proclaimed Greatest Player of All-Time LeBron James is throwing everyone else under the bus while he limps his way toward Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time regular season scoring record. The other thing that Westbrook cannot handle is that most media members are committed to protecting James at all costs, which means that Westbrook has become the convenient scapegoat for the Lakers' disastrous season.

Labels: Broderick Turner, Gregg Popovich, L.A. Lakers, Russell Westbrook, San Antonio Spurs, Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith

posted by David Friedman @ 9:59 PM

0 comments

NBA Selects 15 Greatest Coaches as Part of 75th Anniversary Celebration

The NBA's 75th Anniversary Team included all 50 players selected in 1996 to the NBA's 50 Greatest Players List, so it is surprising that the just-released list of 15 Greatest NBA coaches does not include all 10 of the coaches selected in 1996 to the NBA's 10 Greatest Coaches List. Here are the 10 coaches from the 1996 list (in alphabetical order):

Red Auerbach

Chuck Daly

Bill Fitch

Red Holzman

Phil Jackson

John Kundla

Don Nelson

Jack Ramsay

Pat Riley

Lenny Wilkens

A 43 member panel of current and former NBA coaches selected the just-released list of 15 Greatest Coaches. Here is that list (in alphabetical order):

Red Auerbach

Larry Brown 

Chuck Daly 

Red Holzman

Phil Jackson 

K.C. Jones

Steve Kerr 

Don Nelson

Gregg Popovich

Jack Ramsay

Pat Riley

Doc Rivers

Jerry Sloan

Erik Spoelstra

Lenny Wilkens

Thus, Larry Brown,  K.C. Jones, Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, Doc Rivers, Jerry Sloan, and Erik Spoelstra are new members of the list, while Bill Fitch and John Kundla missed the cut this time after appearing on the 1996 list. 

If the NBA is taking the position that players should not be removed from All-Time Greatest Lists, then why remove coaches? Not only is this inconsistent in a general sense, but the exclusion of Kundla and Fitch is bizarre. Kundla led the Lakers to five championships, tied with Popovich and Riley for third in the all-time rankings behind only Jackson's 11 and Auerbach's nine. Taking out Kundla is a slap in the face not only to his great teams and great players, but to that entire era. Regarding Fitch, he ranks 11th all-time in regular season wins, he led the Celtics to the 1981 title, he coached the Rockets to the 1986 Finals, and he improved each team that he coached, from the expansion Cavaliers to the Celtics to the Rockets to the Nets to the Clippers. Fitch was legitimately ranked as a top 10 coach in 1996, and it is difficult to understand how he is not a top 15 coach now.

Larry Brown is considered one of the greatest basketball tacticians and teachers ever. He had not won an NBA title or reached the NBA Finals in 1996, but since that time he led his teams to three NBA Finals and he guided the Pistons to the 2004 championship. He clearly belongs on the list, and I have no problem with him being given one of the five new slots.

K.C. Jones may be one of the most underrated coaches of all-time. He won two titles (1984, 1986), and he ranks sixth all-time in regular season winning percentage. It makes sense to give him one of the five new slots.

Steve Kerr ranks sixth all-time with three titles (2015, 2017-18). He owns the best playoff winning percentage of all-time (.733), and he ranks third in regular season winning percentage (.694). He belongs on the list.

Gregg Popovich ranks third on the career regular season wins list, but he is just six wins away from passing Nelson and taking the number one spot. Popovich's regular season winning percentage has dropped to .659 (12th all-time) and will continue to drop because his current team is lousy, but--as mentioned above--he is tied for third all-time with five championships won (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014). He belongs on the list.

Doc Rivers ranks 10th in career wins but 37th in career winning percentage. Like Fitch, Rivers proved that he could take over bad teams and help them improve, a skill set that is valuable but also damages one's career winning percentage. Rivers led the Celtics to the 2008 title and the 2010 Finals. Rivers is an exceptional coach, and I have stood up for him many times when he received unjust criticism, including a lot of nonsense that Bill Simmons wrote about Rivers (part of a broader trend of arrogant media members assuming that they know a lot more about NBA coaching than they do). Rivers' 1993 book Those Who Love The Game is packed with insights and is a great read for anyone who wants to understand more about the NBA from the perspective of a savvy player (Rivers was still an active player when he co-wrote the book). However, Rivers also holds the coaching record for blowing 3-1 playoff series leads (three). Again, he is a very good coach and he has received unjust criticism in the past, but I would not rank him as one of the NBA's 15 greatest coaches. For sure, he is not a better coach than Kundla or Fitch. 

Jerry Sloan and Nelson are the only coaches on either list who did not win a championship as a coach. Sloan led the Utah Jazz to two NBA Finals appearances (1997, 1998). Sloan ranks fourth in career regular season wins and 23rd in career regular season winning percentage. Sloan was a very good coach, but how can he be ranked ahead of five-time champion Kundla or one-time champion Fitch? 

Erik Spoelstra ranks 24th in career regular season wins and 31st in career regular season winning percentage. He has led the Heat to two championships (2012-13) and five NBA Finals appearances (2011-14, 2020). Spoelstra has already established himself without question as a Hall of Fame coach, but is he really one of the 15 greatest NBA coaches of all-time? 

There are several coaches who did not make either list who I would take over Rivers, Sloan, and Spoelstra. Alex Hannum won two NBA titles (1958, 1967) plus one ABA title (1969). He coached the only two teams to beat Bill Russell's Celtics in a playoff series. Bill Sharman's Lakers broke the regular season wins record set by Hannum's 76ers, and then they won the 1972 title. Tommy Heinsohn won two championships (1974, 1976) in a nine year coaching career, including a seven game triumph in 1974 against peak Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when Abdul-Jabbar was playing alongside Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Bobby Dandridge with the Milwaukee Bucks. Billy Cunningham led the 76ers to the 1983 championship with the greatest playoff record in NBA history up to that time (12-1; the 2001 Lakers went 15-1 in an expanded playoff format, and the 2017 Warriors went 16-1 after the playoff format was expanded again). Cunningham's 76ers had the best regular season record in the NBA for a six year span, and he ranks second in career regular season winning percentage (.698, just behind Jackson's .704). Cunningham ranks ninth in career playoff winning percentage.

Think of it this way: Who do you have to mention if you tell the story of the NBA decade by decade through the lens of coaching? John Kundla was the dominant coach in NBA history prior to Red Auerbach. Then Auerbach's Celtics dominated the late 1950s/early 1960s. Those Bill Russell-led Celtics--coached first by Auerbach and then by player-coach Russell--only lost two playoff series, both times to teams coached by Alex Hannum. Bill Sharman led the Lakers to their first title since moving to L.A. from Minneapolis. Red Holzman and Tommy Heinsohn were the only NBA coaches to win two titles in the 1970s. Lenny Wilkens led the Sonics to two Finals and one championship en route to setting the career regular season wins record (since broken, but he still ranks second).

Pat Riley, K.C. Jones, Chuck Daly, Bill Fitch, and Billy Cunningham were the championship coaches in the 1980s, which might have been the greatest decade in NBA history, featuring the Lakers, Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, and the amazing talents of the young Michael Jordan. Phil Jackson was obviously the coach of the 1990s and the 2000s, leading dynasties in Chicago and then L.A. Popovich won five titles in a 15 year period. Larry Brown sustained excellence for decades, and won a title versus a Phil Jackson-coached team. Steve Kerr helmed the NBA's most recent dynasty, winning three titles in a four year span.

That adds up to 16 coaches. I am not sure how the league settled on 15 coaches for the 75th Anniversary Team, but if the NBA can have 76 players on its 75th Anniversary Team then it can have 16 coaches. With all due respect to the coaches who I left off--each of whom I greatly respect--I feel good about that list of 16; some teams and some eras are more defined by coaches than others, and the coaches I listed are the seminal coaches in NBA history. Perhaps the most difficult cut for me is Spoelstra, but we have seen LeBron James win four titles with three different coaches, so I am more comfortable picturing the Heat winning with a different coach than I am picturing some of these other teams winning with a different coach; I am pretty sure that Riley could have left the front office and coached those teams to titles had that been necessary. I think that Spoelstra is a great, Hall of Fame coach, and he is possibly even a top 20 coach, but he falls just outside of my top 16.

Earlier I said that I am puzzled by the NBA removing coaches from the 1996 list, but if we are keeping the new list to 15 (or 16) and removing coaches then Nelson and Ramsay--not Kundla and Fitch--have to go. Nelson was an innovator and he is the all-time regular season wins leader (until Popovich passes him soon) but he ranks 54th in career regular season winning percentage and he never reached the NBA Finals despite coaching a lot of very talented teams. Ramsay won one title in a 21 year coaching career, never reached another Finals, and had a losing playoff record; he was a great TV/radio commentator and a respected tactician, but in my estimation he is not one of the top 15 or 16 NBA coaches of all-time.

Labels: All-Time NBA Team, Gregg Popovich, John Kundla, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, Steve Kerr

posted by David Friedman @ 1:15 AM

10 comments

Team USA's Rout of Iran Should be Expected, Not Celebrated

In the longstanding media tradition of overreaction, Team USA's 120-66 win over Iran in the 2020 Olympics (being held in 2021) has been touted in some quarters as proof that Team USA made great adjustments--media members love to talk about adjustments, because it makes them sound like sophisticated basketball analysts--and that order has been restored to the basketball universe. 

Before jumping to conclusions, let's consider the facts. In the most recent FIBA rankings, Team USA is ranked first, while Iran is ranked 23rd and France--which defeated Team USA 83-76--is ranked seventh. Team USA's next opponent, the Czech Republic, is ranked 12th. Iran is in no form or fashion a medal contender. Team USA lost to a fringe medal contender, and faces a bigger challenge next game than Iran is capable of mounting. 

Team USA versus Iran is a massive mismatch. Hamed Haddaddi, who tied for Iran's team lead with 14 points, is a 36 year old former NBA player who averaged 4.1 ppg in his best NBA season (2012-13). The other Iranian who scored 14 points, Mohammad Jamshidijfarabadi, apparently last played professionally in the Philippines in 2016. If Team USA Coach Gregg Popovich needed to make adjustments to beat a team led by--with all due respect--a washed up ex-NBA reserve and a player who has not even played in a lower level professional league in five years then that does not speak well of Team USA's pre-Olympics preparation. 

This particular game had nothing to do with coaching, because the tremendous talent disparity was far too much for Iran to overcome. Iran shot 25-67 from the field (.373) while committing 23 turnovers. Team USA shot 42-76 from the field (.553) while committing just six turnovers. Team USA's athleticism and pressure defense overwhelmed Iran, and led to numerous uncontested or lightly contested scoring opportunities for Team USA. Damian Lillard scored 21 points, and five other Team USA players reached double figures as every player on the team scored at least four points. 

In contrast, coaching mattered in the game against France, and the results were not pretty for Team USA. Coaching may matter to at least some extent versus the Czech Republic, and it will certainly be very important in the medal round. 

So much emphasis is placed on Team USA's shooting and specifically Team USA's three point shooting that it is worth mentioning that Team USA could have missed 37 three point shots and still beaten Iran by three points! Team USA shot 19-39 from three point range versus Iran, but had those numbers been 2-39 then Team USA would have still won 69-66. That says a lot not only about the talent gap between the teams but also about the relative importance of three point shooting for Team USA. As I have explained for well over a decade, Team USA's keys for success in FIBA play are guarding the three point shot effectively without giving up easy points in the paint, forcing turnovers, and scoring a lot of fast break points so that they do not have to rely too much on their half court offense.

It would be great if Team USA's win over Iran is a preview of coming attractions and the first step toward winning a gold medal, but anyone who understands FIBA basketball realizes that this game is not a valid measuring stick for how well Team USA will do against the medal contenders.

Labels: Damian Lillard, Gregg Popovich, Hamed Haddadi, Iran, Team USA

posted by David Friedman @ 9:21 PM

4 comments

Assessing Team USA After the 83-76 Loss to France

Gregg Popovich is a lock to be inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, but it is fair to say that his FIBA exploits will not figure prominently in his Hall of Fame display. Team USA has lost five of the last eight FIBA games that he has coached since 2019, including France's 83-76 win over Team USA in Team USA's first game in the 2020 Olympics (being held in 2021). This defeat snapped Team USA's 25 game Olympics winning streak, dating back to 2004 when Popovich was a Team USA assistant coach for Larry Brown. 

It is fair to say that France's Coach Vincent Collet outcoached Popovich, who had the much more talented roster yet could not figure out a way to stop France down the stretch. This is just Team USA's sixth loss in Olympic competition, and it might have been the worst from a coaching standpoint, as Popovich's crew blew a 74-67 lead with less than four minutes remaining.

Evan Fournier poured in a game-high 28 points versus a Team USA squad featuring--among others--All-Stars Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum, Khris Middleton, and Devin Booker. Before the contest, I wondered why NBC had relegated Team USA's games to Peacock streaming, but maybe NBC suspected that the U.S. squad--which should never, ever, ever again be called any kind of "Dream Team"--may become known as the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players." 

Rudy Gobert had 14 points, nine rebounds, and no blocked shots, but those numbers do not reflect the impact that he had on winning. He was very disruptive at both ends of the court, converting high percentage shots in the paint while also deterring Team USA players from venturing into the lane; Gobert did not block any shots at least in part because Team USA players were very reluctant to shoot when he was nearby. It should be noted that the official scorer possibly missed at least one Gobert block around the 3:19 mark of the second quarter on a Damian Lillard drive.

Jrue Holiday led Team USA with 18 points, but he shot just 5-13 from the field. Kevin Durant, who is closing in on the Team USA career scoring record held by Carmelo Anthony, had just 10 points on 4-12 field goal shooting. Lillard scored 11 points on 3-10 field goal shooting. Logo shots and one on one forays are not quite so easy when the opposing team is permitted to play defense, which is too often not the case in the modern NBA.

I am the last person to overreact to one game, or to assert something absurd such as a player's legacy or a coach's legacy should be defined by one game, particularly a game that is not an elimination game. However, Team USA's loss is embarrassing for a talented squad led by a highly respected coach. No matter what reasons and/or excuses are provided, Team USA should not lose to France. It is perhaps understandable for international teams that have several NBA players and more internal cohesion--based on playing together for a longer time--than Team USA to play competitively against Team USA, but when Team USA sends anything close to our A Team victory should be the only expectation. Popovich's indignant responses to legitimate media questions about this surprising loss and his coaching decisions are pathetic; if Popovich is truly not surprised that he lost to France coaching this roster then perhaps he is the wrong person for this job.

There is a tendency to seek simple, one dimensional answers/explanations, but the reality is that several factors contributed to this loss, and most of these factors are the same factors that led to previous Team USA losses in FIBA play. There are many commentators who insist that the most important thing for Team USA in FIBA play is to build a roster stacked with shooters, but the reality is that the most important thing for Team USA in FIBA play is to have guards who can pressure opposing ballhandlers, forcing turnovers to fuel the fast break attack. The best Team USA squads since the one and only real Dream Team in 1992 are the squads that had Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd in the backcourt. I interviewed Steve Kerr--then the Suns General Manager--in 2007, not long after he spoke with then Suns Coach Mike D'Antoni about D'Antoni's experience as a Team USA assistant coach and Kerr told me that D'Antoni raved about Bryant's defensive impact: 

Prior to each game in last summer's FIBA Americas tournament, Bryant asked the coaching staff, "Who do you want me to take out?" In other words, Bryant wanted to know who was the toughest perimeter threat on each team so that he could study his tendencies on film and then completely neutralize him on the court. I said to Kerr, "That sounds like a sniper zeroing in on a target" and Kerr replied, "Yeah--and he was serious." Kerr went on to say that Bryant's "focus" and "bravado" added an essential missing element to the squad and elevated everyone else's play. Kerr noted that the previous Team USA squad had performed reasonably well other than the infamous loss to Greece but that it lacked a certain "swagger," as he termed it, and that Team USA did not have a "player who everyone feared." Kerr literally shook his head in wonderment as he described Bryant's impact on Team USA.

Bryant was the difference maker for Team USA in the 2008 Olympics, and Kidd retired with a perfect record in FIBA play. There is a reason that Team USA's 2004 squad with young perimeter players LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, and Stephon Marbury did not win gold, but the 2008 and 2012 squads won gold after adding Bryant and Kidd. When Team USA loses in FIBA play, poor perimeter defense is usually a main culprit, resulting in wide open three pointers and/or easy cuts to the hoop. It is not essential for Team USA to make a lot of three pointers--Team USA can win with pressure defense, fast break points, and points in the paint--but it is essential that Team USA make opposing guards uncomfortable and ineffective. 

Team USA would not have lost to France with prime Kobe Bryant guarding Evan Fournier. Period. 

Another factor is that Team USA always has to make adjustments to the differences between the NBA game and the FIBA game. FIBA games are only 40 minutes long instead of 48 minutes long, the FIBA three point line is closer to the hoop, goaltending is permitted under FIBA rules after the ball hits the rim, there are fewer timeouts in FIBA, in FIBA timeouts can only be called by the coach, in FIBA a player is disqualified after five fouls (instead of six in the NBA), and in FIBA a technical foul also counts as a personal foul.

Labels: Damian Lillard, Evan Fournier, France, Gregg Popovich, Jrue Holiday, Kevin Durant, Rudy Gobert, Team USA, Vincent Collet

posted by David Friedman @ 3:19 AM

2 comments

NBA Cares About Profits

"NBA Cares" is a clever marketing slogan, but some people are just now figuring out what all of us should have always understood: the NBA is a multi-billion dollar business that "cares" first and foremost about profits. Any public stance that the NBA and/or its players or coaches have taken on a social or political issue has rarely involved sacrifice of money or freedom for a larger principle (see below for one notable exception, involving Enes Kanter).

In 1967, when Muhammad Ali refused to participate in the military draft, he sacrificed his heavyweight world championship title, a significant amount of money and the prime years of his boxing career. Whether or not you agreed then or agree now with the stance that he took, there is no denying that Ali placed his beliefs and his principles above profit. In marked contrast, the NBA with its slogans, and its individual players sporting t-shirts and spouting comments, have rarely displayed the kind of courage that Ali did.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has a fiduciary responsibility to his bosses--the owners of the league's 30 franchises--to maximize the NBA's profitability. That is Silver's primary job, and the owners can fire him if he does that job poorly, or if they determine that someone else could do a better job. Understand that, and you understand why Silver is doing everything in his power to appease a totalitarian Chinese regime that does not approve of Daryl Morey's tweet regarding Hong Kong.

On October 4, 2019, Darryl Morey, the Houston Rockets' General Manager, tweeted "Fight for Freedom, Stand with Hong Kong." After a major backlash from China's Communist government--including economic reprisals against the NBA--Morey deleted his Hong Kong tweet. Hong Kong dealt with many anti-government demonstrations this past summer regarding a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China, whose judicial system's fairness is questionable, to say the least. China's long, awful history of oppression and government-sanctioned violence is well-documented--including the ongoing persecution of Uighur Muslims--so it is understandable why Hong Kong 's citizens would prefer to maintain as much autonomy as possible.

On Sirius XM Radio's NBA channel, former NBA player Brendan Haywood summarized the NBA's policy considerations succinctly and accurately. Haywood said that the NBA is primarily focused on profits, which explains why the NBA took a pro-LGBT position regarding the All-Star Game in North Carolina, and also explains why the NBA will continue to bow to Chinese pressure regarding Morey's tweet: the LGBT community and the Chinese government both represent constituencies that are significant income sources for the league. Haywood concluded that if the LGBT community did not have purchasing and lobbying power, and if China did not provide a significant portion of the league's Basketball Related Income (BRI) then the NBA would have had different policies in both situations.

The NBA's policies are not based on "caring" or being "woke" or any other high-sounding principles. The NBA's policies are based on generating income and increasing profits--period.

One could argue whether or not that is the way the NBA should run its business, but there is no disputing how the NBA is running its business, and therefore the NBA should stop publicly emphasizing how socially conscious the league is. The NBA should admit that it does not want to lose billions of dollars of revenue from the Chinese market, and therefore the league is willing to turn a blind eye to the Chinese government's oppressive policies, even though some of those policies adversely affect the very same groups and people who the NBA purportedly "cares" about in other circumstances.

Regarding NBA coaches like Steve Kerr and Gregg Popovich who have been very outspoken about selected topics but are following the company line regarding China, we understand that China is paying a significant portion of their salaries and thus they may find it imprudent to offend their master, but it is disingenuous for them to act like they take high-minded, thoughtful positions on social and political issues if they are unwilling to speak out about China. Think back to any previous public policy pronouncement made by Kerr or Popovich; have they ever risked or sacrificed their money or freedom to uphold a principled belief the way that Muhammad Ali did?

Kerr's specific statement that he does not feel well informed enough about China to comment does not pass muster; Kerr, Popovich and other world famous NBA figures have made numerous personal appearances in China, and those appearances lend comfort and support to that country's regime. When you do that, and when China is paying part of your salary, you have an obligation to be informed. Further, Kerr's comment that all countries, including the United States, have issues to address is, to put it mildly, an ignorant comparison/moral equivalency. China is a dictatorship whose citizens do not have the most basic rights: no right to vote, no right to due process, no right to free speech. Chinese citizens can be arrested or even killed without consequence.

In the United States, citizens have the right to elect government officials, the right to due process and the right to publicly speak out--including the right to criticize government officials, a right that Kerr and Popovich regularly exercise. The American Experiment--the American Dream--of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious community living together in peace and freedom is not perfect, but it is unprecedented in human history and it is a beacon of hope for many people around the world; that is why people tend to flee China and countries like China, and why people flock to America. If you cannot understand the differences between the challenges of holding together a fragile, free and open multicultural society versus the systematic evils committed by a totalitarian regime then you are a fool. If you understand those differences but decline to speak truth to power because it might cost you money, then you are something far worse than a fool. I respect Kerr and Popovich as coaches, as leaders, and as generally intelligent individuals, and that is why I expect a lot more from them on this issue than they have provided thus far.

This is not meant to suggest that players should "shut up and dribble" or that coaches should "shut up and coach." The point is that there is a vast difference between speaking out publicly only when it benefits you financially--or, at the very least, is unlikely to cause you any financial harm--as opposed to speaking out publicly in a way that could potentially cause you financial harm. Many years ago, Michael Jordan was heavily criticized for allegedly saying, "Republicans buy sneakers, too" to justify not endorsing a Democrat, but at least Jordan was honest and not hypocritical: he did not want to make any political statements that might cost him money.

LeBron James' recent comments criticizing Morey's tweet are the height of hypocrisy; however you think or feel about Jordan, he was honest: he was not trying to be Muhammad Ali or Curt Flood or Oscar Robertson. James strives to be perceived as "woke," but chides Morey for a tweet because "so many people could have been harmed, not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually." Translation: "Shut up and be a GM, Mr. Morey, because you are potentially costing me a lot of Chinese money."

James added, "I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand and he spoke," and James later tweeted about Morey, "Could have waited a week to send it." So, was Morey truly not "educated" or should he have just "waited a week" to save the NBA's money?  How would James respond if someone suggested that he is not "educated" about the issues that he addresses publicly, or that James should wait before commenting because his comments might affect others on his team or in the league? Has James ever considered how anyone but himself is affected by his statements and actions? Let's take a poll of his teammates from last season--or his Cleveland teammates circa 2010--on that point.

In contrast to James, Enes Kanter has publicly spoken out against the repressive policies of Turkey, Kanter's native land. Responding to James' reaction to Morey, Kanter tweeted the consequences of his public statements about Turkey:

"-Haven't seen or talked to my family 5 years
-Jailed my dad
-My siblings can't find jobs
-Revoked my passport
-International arrest warrant
-My family can't leave the country
-Got Death Threats everyday
-Got attacked, harassed
-Tried to kidnap me in Indonesia

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE"

Kanter has made many sacrifices as a result of his public stance. If he wants to call himself "woke," he has earned that right (but most, if not all, people who are truly "woke" would never describe themselves that way). Most of the other members of the NBA community are more interested in counting dollars than making sense.
 
In today's globally interconnected economy, it is probably difficult it not impossible for most of us to have no economic connection to China or Chinese products (It could also be debated whether it is better to boycott, or to engage with the hope of changing policies over time; a detailed discussion of that topic is beyond the scope of this article, but as a starting point to that conversation I would suggest boycotting authoritarian regimes, while working with countries that have free elections and free speech even if we disagree with some policy decisions made by those countries). However, the NBA has chosen to actively participate in China's economy to a significant extent, and to reap billions of dollars in income from that participation. The NBA could decide to participate to a much lesser extent, or to make any participation at all contingent on policy changes that enhance personal freedom for China's citizens. The NBA has chosen otherwise, and it is weak for Kerr, Popovich or anyone else to ignore that choice or to plead ignorance about it. To put it in the vernacular phrasing, regarding China, I would suggest, "If you don't know, ask somebody"--and ask somebody outside of the NBA cocoon, somebody who understands the issues. To borrow a phrase, this is more than a game--this is a life and death situation for the Chinese people.

It would be unfortunate if Daryl Morey loses his job as a result of his tweet, but Haywood made a good point about this as well: the Constitutional right to free speech means that the U.S. government cannot prevent you from voicing your opinion, but it does not protect you from being fired by your private employer. It is interesting that, for all of Morey's self-professed analytical acumen, he could not figure out that tweaking the totalitarian source of billions of NBA dollars would not go over well with the league. However if Morey is fired, it should not be because of his tweet, but because he is a flawed talent evaluator who ranks James Harden ahead of Michael Jordan as a scorer and because the advantages that he self-promotes as a "stat guru" have failed to translate into a single NBA Finals appearance after more than a decade of wheeling and dealing.

Labels: Adam Silver, Brendan Haywood, China, Daryl Morey, Enes Kanter, Gregg Popovich, Hong Kong, LeBron James, NBA, Steve Kerr

posted by David Friedman @ 6:25 PM

10 comments