By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-09-19 07:44:05
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。
德罗赞在圣安东尼奥马刺队只效力了三个赛季，但在此期间，他与教练建立了至今仍很密切的关系。
德罗赞在圣安东尼奥的时光算不上特别成功。马刺队虽然保持着一定的竞争力，一直努力争取附加赛资格，但大多数时候都未能如愿进入季后赛。这并非德罗赞的错，因为他始终保持着职业精神，打出了符合其职业生涯水准的表现。但无论是球员本人还是球队，可能都认为那几年并不值得留恋。
然而，在场外，一段难以磨灭的感情正在形成。当德罗赞遭受丧父之痛时，波波维奇尽其所能为他提供帮助，德罗赞对此铭记于心。在最近接受 ESPN 播客节目《布莱恩·温德霍斯特和篮球集体》采访时，他讲述了这位教练对他的支持：
有很多次，在某些比赛前，波波教练会来问我一些事情，然后在比赛结束后他会告诉我：“回家吧，回家吧。我们两天后有投篮训练，你不用来了。准备好比赛就行。” 在圣安东尼奥的很多场比赛中，我都没有参加比赛之间的训练。我当时在照顾我的父亲。他允许我这样做，没有任何干扰，没有任何阻碍。他告诉我：“你不用担心媒体。” 这是最酷的事情，因为波波教练允许我这样做，没有任何问题，所以在那个时候，我和父亲度过了很多我珍惜的时光。
德罗赞正在为他的回忆录《喧嚣之上》进行宣传，他接受的整个采访都值得一听，因为他坦诚地讲述了自己与抑郁症作斗争的经历，但关于波波维奇的那一部分尤其感人。这位球星还提到，他对于请波波维奇为他的书写序言感到紧张，并且人们不应该指望这位前教练在退休后还会出现在公众视野中。
这已经不是德罗赞第一次谈到波波维奇在他经历丧父之痛时给予他的支持了。早在今年 6 月，德罗赞在做客《25/10 秀》节目时就对波波维奇赞不绝口，称他是“元老中的元老”和“我见过的最真实的人”，然后讲述了他人生中最糟糕的一个夜晚发生的感人轶事：
我父亲去世的时候，我正在圣安东尼奥打球。我们当时滞留在夏洛特，我打电话给总经理说：“兄弟，我今晚要飞回家，我要设法弄到一架飞机离开这里，我必须回家。我父亲刚刚去世了。” 我打电话给总经理是因为我不想让任何人知道，我不想这件事被媒体大肆报道。结果不到 90 秒，我就听到敲门声。是波波教练。波波教练和我坐在一个房间里，陪我哭了大约两个小时。他说：“你不走，我也不走。” 这就体现了他是一个什么样的人。
看到像德罗赞这样的运动员如此坦诚地谈论自己的困境，这令人耳目一新。在某种程度上，这也让球迷们得以一窥球衣背后、战术板之外的真实的人性，而球迷们往往看不到球员或教练作为普通人的人性一面。德罗赞是一位六届全明星球员和三届最佳阵容球员，他仍然可以在他的新球队萨克拉门托国王队掀起一些波澜，但他为心理健康所做的工作可能是他最大的成就。
作为这项工作带来的积极影响，马刺队的球迷们听到了更多故事，这些故事证实了他们几十年来一直拥戴的这位传奇教练不仅是一位优秀的战术家，更是一位品格高尚的人。
点击查看原文：DeMar DeRozan and Gregg Popovich have a bond that is bigger than basketball
DeMar DeRozan and Gregg Popovich have a bond that is bigger than basketball
DeRozan was only in San Antonio for three seasons, but in that time formed a close relationship with his coach that endures to this day.
The DeMar DeRozan era in San Antonio wasn’t particularly successful. The Spurs remained somewhat relevant, chasing play-in spots, but mostly came up short of making the playoffs. It wasn’t DeRozan’s fault, as he was always a professional and played up to his career standards, but both the player and the team probably consider those years forgettable.
Off the court, however, an indelible bond was being formed. As DeMar DeRozan suffered the loss of his father, Gregg Popovich did all he could to make things easy for his star and DeRozan hasn’t forgotten about it. In a recent interview on ESPN’s podcast Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective, he told a story of how supportive his then-coach was:
There were many times where, it was certain games, when Pop would come and ask me something and he’d tell me after the game “Just go home. Just go home. We have shootaround in two days. You don’t have to be at shootaround. Just be ready for the game. There were so many games I had in San Antonio where in between games I wasn’t there. I was tending to my dad. And he allowed me to do that with no distractions, with no nothing. Telling me “You don’t have to worry about the media.” And it was the coolest thing because there were so many moments I cherish with my dad during that time that Pop allowed me to do it with no issue at all.
The whole interview with DeRozan, who is on a press tour for his memoir “Above the noise,” is worth a listen, as he’s candid about his battle with depression, but the section about Pop is heartwarming. The star wing also mentions he was nervous about asking Pop to write the foreword for his book and that people shouldn’t expect to see his former coach in the public eye once he retires.
It’s not the first time DeRozan talks about Pop being supportive during his trying times dealing with his father’s passing. Back in June, during an appearance on the 25/10 Show DeRozan gushed about Pop, who he called “the OG of OGs” and “the realest individual I’ve ever been around” before telling a touching anecdote about one of the worst nights of his life:
My pops had passed when I was playing in San Antonio. We were stuck in Charlotte and I called the GM like “yo, bro, I’m about to fly home tonight, I’m about to try to get a plane outta here, I gotta get home. My pops just passed.” So I call the GM. I didn’t want anybody to know, I didn’t want it to be all in the media. Literally 90 seconds later I hear a knock on the door. It’s Pop. Pop sat in a room with me and cried with me for about two hours. He was like “I’m not leaving until you leave.” And that just showed the person he was.
It’s refreshing to see an athlete be as open about his struggles as DeRozan is, in part because it allows the fans, who often don’t see players or coaches as human, to get a peak at the real people wearing the jerseys and calling the plays. DeRozan is a six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA player who could still make some noise with his new team, the Kings, but his work talking about mental health is probably his biggest achievement.
As a positive byproduct of that work, Spurs fans get more stories that corroborate that the legendary coach they have enjoyed for decades is not just a good strategist but also a good person.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock