Thirteen years ago, a promising young man came to Florida, sipping sweet red wine, enjoying a sumptuous dinner, and when he looked up, he could see his face on the billboard. There, Tiger Tiger Woods also took the initiative to greet him. "Welcome to Orlando." He said to Duncan. Woods swung his hand, and the ball disappeared into the air in an instant, eventually landing near the mouth of the hole. "It's a ball thrown down by God." The man standing next to Duncan commented. Duncan wasn't a man of easy excitement, but even he thought it was cool, and hitting like this made the journey even more dreamy. It was the summer of 2000, and spurs future Hall of Famers began a free agent tour, and he was on a trip to another city. At the time, Duncan had seriously considered joining the Orlando Magic. He's only 24 years old, and his eyes are even bigger than when he was misjudged, and At the moment Orlando is desperately pursuing him and Grant Hill to change the face of the team. Back in Texas, a rough-faced, sociologist-like man was helpless. Mara coach Popovich may not admit that he was already deeply involved with the child. This is not only because Duncan can easily complete various tasks, but also because they are the opposite of the extreme - Popovich is a master wine tasting, and Duncan is more accustomed to drinking sodas; Duncan likes to play games, and Popovich can hardly turn on a computer. Instead of revealing his whereabouts on television, Duncan returned to his hometown in San Antonio, and questions came to mind: What are you doing? Why are you still distressed by such a happy environment? Duncan and Popovich have been working together for sixteen years and are a great story in the history of sport. They worked together, depended on each other, worked together to win the championship, and settled in the third worst television broadcast location in the league. It's not a story full of rhetoric and bizarre exaggerations, the two men's daily training is so simple: Popovich sits somewhere in the center of the court, other people in the arena dribble and shoot, and then Duncan comes and sits down. They looked around the arena together, and usually there was no dialogue between them. They've been working together for years, and bystanders have a variety of different interpretations. "They're probably all thinking about something." New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty. Williams said he had been a teammate with Duncan during the rookie season. "Bobo is old, Tim is old, and they all have to rest." Former Spurs guard Brent Barry quipped, but he answered the question seriously: "You have two pairs of eyes staring at you when you complete the task at hand. The first is the coach and your brother. Tim watched everything and quietly assessed what you were doing, so there was really nothing to say. This spring, Popovich brought up his old story again: If Duncan chooses to retire, he will also retire. In the history of the NBA, not even in the NFL, no player and coach have been together for so long. New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady, who along with Bill Belicko, built one of rugby's greatest dynasties, and when Duncan and Popovich were all together, he was the sophomore substitute at the University of Michigan. Phil Jackson had spent eight years with Michael Jordan, but only half of Popovich and Duncan. No more than the coaches have won more playoff wins (191), more regular season wins (792) and a higher win rate (71.3%). "I think it depends on the personalities of both of them." Phil Jackson spoke of Duncan and Popovich's enduring. Their relationship is described as anything, including friendship, paternity, and marriage, but neither of them is interested in discussing the topic, and they are both privacy-conscious people, which makes it especially difficult for him to dig up news in San Antonio. The local radio station has been so overwhelmed lately that they have placed a picture of the mascot on the front page of the website, which seems to be more revealing than Popovich. Before the finals began, Popovich was asked how he felt when he first met Duncan. "He's tall," Popovich said and walked away. Maybe if they're more open, they'll uncover secrets they don't want to be known, like what's the chemistry that makes it so easy for the whole team.
It is often said that Duncan was too friendly and too good, that he was so accommodating to others that anyone could be his coach. He has slender arms, beautiful board shots and a gritty heart hidden under a strong body. All that emanates from him is purity and truth, so that even though he knows that he is better than anyone else, he is not seduced by his superpowers. Duncan was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but his initiation coach was a chemistry teacher. He may never have noticed that there wasn't even coach and scouting attention before his NCAA trip. Only four schools chased Duncan-Wake Forest, Delaware State, Hartft, and the cold Providence. When Duncan visited Hartft and Providence, snow fell on both. "Let's put it this way, other schools aren't very enthusiastic about recruiting him." Former Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said, "So Tim naturally chose Wake Forest. Odom also mentioned that the biggest impact on Duncan was not the coach, but his family. Duncan grew up with two older sisters, his father had built their house himself, and his mother, Ioni, was perhaps Duncan's most enthusiastic supporter. "Excellent, excellent, and then excellent, you can never slacken off." She had taught Duncan that. But before Duncan's 14th birthday, Ioni passed away. In college, when many people suggested that he go straight to the draft in the lower grades, he went through four years and got his degree because he promised his mother. In Wake Forest's final home game, the school retired Duncan's jersey. After the game, the fans gathered in a circle, Odom gave a speech, and then Duncan's father, Williams, asked if he could say a few words. He thanked Wake Forest for being so kind and kind to his son, and then he repeated some of the words that Duncan's mother had taught her children in the past. "And that moment." Odom said, "Duncan stretched out his long arm and hugged him from behind his father, not letting him say anything more. Duncan's needs are often simple. Before the 1997 draft, he wasn't obsessed with the idea of making a lot of money or coming to a big city, on the contrary, he just wanted to play in a warm climate. At the time, the Boston Celtics had a 36 percent chance of picking him up, though, according to Odom, Duncan wasn't very excited about it. Everything was terrible for the Spurs at the time, and Popovich was still a rookie coach, who led the team to only 17 wins and 47 losses due to a foot injury and back injury to the team's star David Robinson. But the beautiful sound of table tennis has been lingering over San Antonio that summer, the Spurs got the top pick, they can get Duncan, David Robinson will also return from injury next season, they can have two seven-foot superstars at once, becoming the object of envy of the entire NBA. But Popovich still wanted to investigate, so he flew to St. Croix to spend a few days with Duncan before the draft, wanting to get a feel for the environment in which Duncan lived. Even if the visit goes awry, it doesn't matter, because the Spurs will choose Duncan no matter what, which is what Spurs manager R.C Buford said. Popovich is ready to go, he's good at shaping relationships, he wants to understand what his players look like off the pitch. Popovich is good at handling relationships, he wants to know that his players are outside the stadium, so he swims with Duncan and talks long, and they gradually realize that the two are so close. "They have a burning passion to win championships." Duncan's former agent, Phoenix Suns manager Ron Barbie, said, "It's not very special, what makes them really different is that they don't get distracted, they don't talk much. They're all outspoken, outspoken people, and not influenced by the NBA being a business. ”
Popovich can coach anyone and any team, and their team is selfless, quiet, persistent – well, they're a bit boring compared to the rest of the league. His players will always have his support and always look forward to his guidance, even if they have left San Antonio. Next season, a sixth of NBA's head coaches have worked with popovich or played for him. Everyone enthusiastically called him "Pop," and they all insisted that Bobo wasn't as stubborn and rude as he was before the media. He could scold a player at noon and then at six o'clock in the evening he would call him and invite him to dinner at a new restaurant in town. Bobo has always insisted on paying the bill, never caring how many zeros there are in the salary of the players he eats with. A few years ago, the Spurs had a strength and fitness coach, and since this guy had been in the internship stage and didn't have much money, when he left the team, he was pleasantly surprised to receive a farewell gift--- Nissan sedan, which was Popovich's kindness. "If Bobo knew I was talking about this, he might have killed me." Mike Brown was a spurs assistant coach at the time, and he witnessed it, "And he did countless of these things. Popovich's low-key style stems from the habits of his youth. When the team flew to Washington to play away, Popovich would make a trip to the Pentagon, where he attended the U.S. Military Academy as a young man, specializing in Soviet studies, intelligence gathering and training arrangements. When he graduated, he carefully considered his past CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) job. But aside from training, Popovich didn't have enough time and patience to deal with things he didn't think were important. He's very affectionate and he values friendship, and he likes anyone who competes. When someone doesn't help, that's when Popovich starts to growl. The intense roar may only take 10 seconds, but it feels like 10 hours. Popovich doesn't discriminate between anyone. Mike Brown once saw Popovich scold one player in front of the fans, in front of all the cameras, in front of the whole team, and that was Duncan. "He called a pause, grabbed a chair and came to Tim." Brown said, "I was thinking, 'Okay, this is my first year on the job, I don't want to change jobs, just do it honestly.'" Your first reaction is that if you criticize the team's first star in front of everyone, there must be a problem between the manager and the best player in the stadium. But it's not, and it makes the rest of the team understand that if you're the third or seventh best player on the team, then you'd better accept that because the best players do. Duncan accepted all this because he trusted Popovich and understood Popovich, and he knew that the roar was always accompanied by young players, which eased the pressure on them. Duncan often told former teammate Bruce Bowen that Popovich was in control. "He doesn't favor anyone." Bruce commented.
Probably the first player to always feel bad about Popovich was Monty Williams. When Williams came to the Spurs in 1997, he was young and rebellious, often unaware of why Popovich was always yelling at him. The veteran tried to explain that it meant popovich liked him, but Williams didn't think so. After leaving the Spurs, Williams played for three more teams before suffering a knee injury before being told by doctors that her career was over. A moment before hearing the news, Williams called two people: his wife and Popovich -- and he didn't know why he forced himself to call Popovich. Popovich called him on the phone to watch the Spurs train, and then he took notes for three months. In 2005, Popovich made Williams the team's interim assistant coach, and that year, the Spurs won their third championship. While the whole team was celebrating, Williams stood to the side, silently watching everything. Someone grabbed him from behind and gave him a hug, it was Popovich. "You got a championship." Popovich said. Throughout the series, Williams watched Popovich and saw how fearless he was after losing game six, and when the Spurs lost, he stayed up all night thinking about how to beat the Detroit Pistons in game seven. At the end of the season, Popovich and Williams had a long face-to-face conversation, "What do you want to do next, whether to try to get into management or become a coach." Popovich asked. Williams looked at Popovich and said, "Popo, I want to be like you." Popovich nodded and walked away. "I think the kind of care he shows is a little different." Danny Ferry, general manager of the Atlanta Hawks, said that Ferry had played under Popovich before and "he cared about the world around him, and he cared deeply about everyone around him."
Every season, Popovich thanked Duncan for letting him coach for another season. They've done a lot of philanthropy together, and earlier this year, Popovich and Duncan helped sell a Spurs-built truck to raise money for San Antonio's Food Bank. Recently running a car customization service in San Antonio, Duncan actually designed an off-road vehicle that was eventually won over by a single mom driving a 90s broken minivan. When it comes to charity work, Popovich has been very low-key. "He wouldn't say when he would be where he would be because he didn't want the camera to follow." Eric Cooper is the CEO of Food Bank, and they get a lot of help from Duncan and Popovich, "If I want to get an award or something like that for Bob, he's going to beat me up." Duncan and Popovich will also attend some fundraising events and take some photos on the spot. Duncan may sneer at Popovich's attire, but more often than not, they all keep quiet and are ready to go back to work. In fact, Duncan is still an efficient player, and the fact that he can still run is simply amazing. He's 37 now, and before the 2012-13 season, he looked like he was on his way to a trough, but in the offseason, he lost 15 pounds, which eased the pressure on his knees and gave him a new lease on life. This season, Duncan averaged 17.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game in the regular season, while in the Finals he averaged a staggering 18.9 points and 12.1 rebounds per game, including the incredible "30+17" in the sixth game, knowing that two years ago, he averaged only 13.4 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. Popovich certainly helped – in some away games he would arrange duncan to a truce, often because he was "too old" for the nonsense. Years ago, almost at the end of His life, Popovich told his agent that he began to worry that Duncan would one day not be able to play because Duncan loved the sport and never used the NBA as a springboard for his second career. Duncan tends to get a lot of contracts, but he immediately rejects 98 percent of the business endorsements, while the remaining 2 percent seems reasonable, and then when he tells Popovich about it, Duncan always gets the advice: Don't waste time on these things. This is often the way these things end. "They inspire each other to be the best of themselves and are constantly competing. Former NBA coach P.J. Calesimo said, "You would even say it was a perfect relationship." I don't think there's any perfect relationship, but you'd be hard-pressed to find something better than them. Yes, not perfect. On the night the Spurs lost Game 7 of the Finals, Duncan sat on the bench in chagrin due to two offense misses, and Popovich came over and patted Duncan's knee, and the conversation between the two was minimal but still recorded by ABC television cameras. "I'm not angry," Popovich seemed to say to Duncan. Over the past sixteen years, Duncan and Popovich have played countless playoffs and away games, and in the process, they have experienced life and death. Popovich, 64, knows Duncan very well, arguably since he became an adult, but what the future holds, no one knows, and maybe Duncan's body has told him to play enough basketball. If that were the case, Duncan would focus on his car, and Popovich would concentrate on his wine. When Duncan was unstable, he would visit Popovich late at night and tell him everything. People say that no matter what happens to basketball, their relationship will never end because the family will always be together. "When you're talking to Popovich, basketball tends to be only 20 percent of the conversation, especially in the offseason. I mean, Bobo and I are friends, and you can imagine how good his relationship with Duncan was. "Even if they don't play basketball, their relationship won't go away." I think they will always be friends until they leave this world. ”