[SAEN] 德罗赞回忆波波维奇的教诲:人生的意义远大于篮球

By Nick Moyle, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-09-17 11:41:36

由生成式人工智能翻译,译文内容可能不准确或不完整,以原文为准。

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2024 年 1 月 13 日,在圣安东尼奥举行的 NBA 比赛前,芝加哥公牛队前锋德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar DeRozan)(11 号)与圣安东尼奥马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)谈笑风生。(美联社照片/Eric Gay)

大约四五年前的一天,当时德玛尔·德罗赞(DeMar DeRozan)还在马刺队效力,他来到球队训练馆,准备参加一场例行的录像分析会。当视频开始播放,展示我们世界中一些阴暗角落里令人心碎的恐怖景象时,德罗赞和他的队友们明白,格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)那天想要传授的,是另一种截然不同的课程。

“我记得有一次,我们以为要看篮球比赛录像,但他给我们看了一整段第三世界国家孩子的视频,”德罗赞最近在 NBA 球星保罗·乔治(Paul George)的“播客 P”节目中说道。“大概 12 岁的孩子,在接受军队训练,拿着 AK-47 步枪,诸如此类。他没有提前告诉我们,只是给我们看了。(视频)结束后,他只说了一句类似‘你们都在 NBA’这样的话。”

德罗赞继续说道,这是波波维奇调整他们心态的方式。

“他总是把事情放到更大的背景中去看待,”曾在 2018-21 年间为马刺队效力了三个赛季的德罗赞说道。“我们总是抱怨这抱怨那,但想象一下,如果你有一个孩子在那里,而你的孩子在 14 岁、13 岁、12 岁的时候就接受军队训练。这是真实的。我们是多么幸运。

“所以,当你觉得(生活)艰难的时候,要对自己宽容一些,因为与其他许多国家和许多其他家庭正在经历的事情相比,这真的不算什么。像这样的事情总是让我明白,在某些时候要如何善待自己。”

即使在 2021 年 8 月重建中的马刺队通过一项先签后换的协议将德罗赞交易到芝加哥之后,他和波波维奇仍然保持着密切的关系。事实上,这位 NBA 历史上胜场最多的教练还特意为德罗赞最新出版的回忆录《超越喧嚣:我追寻平静的故事》(Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm)撰写了前言。

今年 7 月,波波维奇和马刺队还帮助促成了德罗赞在仲夏转会到萨克拉门托国王队的交易。圣安东尼奥得到了国王队前锋哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)和一个 2031 年的首轮互换权,而这位 35 岁的六届全明星球员也得以离开每况愈下的公牛队,加入一支距离他的家乡加州康普顿不远的季后赛球队。

“是的,(这个举动)不仅展现了波波维奇的为人,也展现了整个马刺队的气质,”德罗赞最近告诉《The Athletic》的萨姆·阿米克(Sam Amick)。“关于那个地方的一切——我甚至很难用语言来详细描述。他们对待我就像我是蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)一样。这就是我将永远对波波维奇和整个球队怀有的尊重、爱和钦佩。有很多事情他们本不必为我做,也有很多事情我甚至没有开口要求。你必须给予他们所有的赞誉,因为他们绝对是特别的人。”

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2023 年 12 月 21 日,伊利诺伊州芝加哥,在联合中心球馆举行的比赛开始前,圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇拥抱芝加哥公牛队的德玛尔·德罗赞(11 号)。用户须知:用户明确承认并同意,下载或使用此照片,即表示用户同意 Getty Images 许可协议的条款和条件。

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2022 年 1 月 28 日星期五,圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇在比赛结束后与芝加哥公牛队前锋德玛尔·德罗赞(11 号)打招呼。

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2020 年 1 月 29 日星期三,在圣安东尼奥举行的 NBA 篮球比赛中,圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇(左)在下半场与前锋德玛尔·德罗赞(10 号)交谈。(美联社照片/Eric Gay)

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如果他们在周三进行常规赛的最后一场比赛,那么教练格雷格·波波维奇和德玛尔·德罗赞在马刺队的未来将会成为热门话题。

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2018 年 11 月 30 日,在圣安东尼奥 AT&T 中心球馆举行的对阵休斯顿火箭队的比赛中,马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇在场边与球员拉马库斯·阿尔德里奇(LaMarcus Aldridge)(左)和德玛尔·德罗赞交谈。

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马刺队和教练格雷格·波波维奇有理由谨慎对待与德玛尔·德罗赞的大合同续约。

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在周六晚上对阵丹佛掘金队的第七场比赛的第三节,马刺队教练格雷格·波波维奇在指导德玛尔·德罗赞。随着马刺队赛季的结束,波波维奇的合同也到期了。

点击查看原文:DeRozan recalls how Pop's lessons were always bigger than basketball

DeRozan recalls how Pop’s lessons were always bigger than basketball

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Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) laughs with San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich before an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

One day around four or five years ago, back when he was still with the Spurs, DeMar DeRozan arrived at the team facility for what was supposed to be a routine film session. When the video started rolling, displaying gut-wrenching horrors from bleaker parts of our world, DeRozan and his teammates understood Gregg Popovich had a different sort of lesson in mind that day.

“I remember one time we came in thinking we’re about to watch film on basketball, and he showed us a whole video of kids in a third-world country,” DeRozan recently told fellow NBA star Paul George on his “Podcast P” show. "Like 12 years old, training to be in the army, AK-47s, all that. He didn’t give us a heads up, he just showed us. (The video) goes off and he just says something like, ‘Y’all in the NBA.’ "

It was, DeRozan continued, Popovich’s way of adjusting their frame of mind.

“He always put things in perspective,” said DeRozan, who spent three seasons with the Spurs from 2018-21. "We’re bitching and complaining about whatever it is we may be complaining about, but imagine if you had a kid over there and your kid was training for the army at 14, 13, 12 years old. It’s real. Like, we are very privileged.

“So with that, give yourself grace when you think (life) is hard because it ain’t that hard in comparison to what a lot of these other countries may be going through and a lot of these other families may be going through. So just things like that always put a lot of moments in perspective on how to give yourself grace in certain times.”

DeRozan and Popovich have maintained a close relationship even after the rebuilding Spurs dealt him to Chicago in August 2021 as part of a sign-and-trade agreement. In fact, the winningest coach in NBA history took the time to write the foreword for DeRozan’s revealing new memoir “Above the Noise: My Story of Chasing Calm.”

Popovich and the Spurs also helped facilitate DeRozan’s mid-summer trade to Sacramento in July. San Antonio landed Kings forward Harrison Barnes and a 2031 pick swap, while the 35-year-old six-time All-Star got to escape the flagging Bulls and join a playoff contender not far from his hometown of Compton, California.

“Yeah, (that gesture) just shows the character of not just Pop, but the whole Spurs organization,” DeRozan recently told The Athletic’s Sam Amick. “Everything about that place — it’s hard to even find words to put it into detail. They treated me like I was Tim Duncan. And that’s just the amount of respect, love and admiration I’m gonna forever have toward Pop and that whole organization. There’s a lot of things they didn’t have to do for me, and there’s a lot of things I didn’t even ask for. You’ve got to give them all the credit, because they’re definitely special people.”

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs hugs DeMar DeRozan #11 of the Chicago Bulls prior to the game at the United Center on December 21, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich greets Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan #11 at the end of their game on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022

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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, left, talks with forward DeMar DeRozan (10) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz in San Antonio, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

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Had they been playing their regular-season finale Wednesday, the futures of coach Gregg Popovich and DeMar DeRozan with the Spurs would be hot topics.

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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich head coach talks with players LaMarcus Aldridge, left, and DeMar DeRozan on the bench during a game against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 30, 2018 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

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The Spurs and coach Gregg Popovich have reason to approach a large contract extension for DeMar DeRozan with caution.

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Spurs coach Gregg Popovich counsels DeMar DeRozan during the third quarter of Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Pop’s contract expired when the Spurs’ season ended.

By Nick Moyle, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News