By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-03-14 14:19:05
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。
夏洛特黄蜂队主教练查尔斯·李(Charles Lee)在2025年2月7日星期五在北卡罗来纳州夏洛特举行的NBA篮球比赛下半场对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队的比赛中布置战术。(美联社照片/Nell Redmond)
查尔斯·李(Charles Lee)大约20年前以落选新秀的身份在马刺队有过短暂的效力。
但正如喜剧演员兼演员拉里·大卫(Larry David)，以其出演的《抑制热情》而闻名，所说的那样，这段经历“非常好，非常好”。
李于周五以夏洛特黄蜂队第一年主教练的身份重返圣安东尼奥。他第一次作为NBA的一员来到阿拉莫城是在2006年夏天，此前他结束了在巴克内尔大学四年大学生涯，作为一名身高6英尺4英寸，体重220磅的后卫，他在32场比赛中场均得到13.2分，6.0个篮板，2.8次助攻和2.2次抢断。
“从大学毕业后，我与马刺队签了一份非保障合同，” 李说。
在被评为2006年爱国者联盟年度最佳球员，并帮助野牛队连续两次获得爱国者联盟冠军并连续两次进入NCAA锦标赛第二轮之后，马刺队选择冒险签下他并不奇怪。
李知道自己进入球队的机会渺茫，但他很高兴能与马刺队在一起，就在一年前，他们还在七场比赛中击败了底特律活塞队，赢得了他们的五次总冠军中的第三次。
“我与球队一起参加了夏季联赛，并真正与邓肯、吉诺比利和帕克一起打球，并与那些家伙一起参加了海外训练营，” 李说。“然后我见到了布登霍尔泽教练和波波教练以及所有那些人。”
这里的邓肯、吉诺比利和帕克指的是未来的名人堂成员蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)，马努·吉诺比利(Manu Ginobili)和托尼·帕克(Tony Parker)。而布登霍尔泽和波波指的是现任菲尼克斯太阳队主教练迈克·布登霍尔泽(Mike Budenholzer)和马刺队名人堂教练格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)。
李说，能接触到所有这些天才，即使时间很短，也对他产生了“巨大影响”。
“我记忆最深刻的是那种环境，以及每天上班意味着什么，要有正确的心态和正确的方法，以及大楼里的团结和一致性是如此强烈，” 李说。“我记得一旦我被裁掉，就记住他们所做的一切都是正确的方式，他们取得成功不是靠运气或偶然。而是因为他们每天都有这样的过程。”
在马刺队放他走后，李在以色列、比利时和德国的职业联赛效力过，之后退役，在华尔街的美林证券工作。2012年6月，巴克内尔大学聘请他担任男子篮球队助理教练，他重返篮球界。
两年后，布登霍尔泽聘请李担任他在亚特兰大老鹰队的助理教练。当布登霍尔泽在2018年离开老鹰队成为密尔沃基雄鹿队主教练时，李也跟着去了。在密尔沃基，他是雄鹿队2021年夺冠球队的一员。
在与布登霍尔泽在亚特兰大和密尔沃基合作了近十年后，李于2023年6月转而担任波士顿凯尔特人队的助理教练。2024年5月，黄蜂队宣布他们已聘请李取代在2023-24赛季结束后辞职的史蒂夫·克利福德。
在夏洛特聘请李之前，他已经做了几年的主教练候选人，包括在2021年，他曾是华盛顿奇才队职位的最终候选人。
即使经过多次拒绝，他仍然乐观地认为自己总有一天会达到顶峰。他告诉《纽约时报》，每次被拒绝后，他都会问自己这个问题：“我需要做些什么才能成长，以便有一天我可以成为这些组织之一的主教练？”
“只有30个这样的位置，而且一直听到‘不’有点难受，” 《纽约时报》援引李的话说。“但在自我反省之后，你接受反馈，现在我的责任就是继续努力在他们认为我可以有所提高的领域成长。”
当他最终加盟黄蜂队时，他回忆起自己在NBA的早期经历，马刺队在3月14日输给了黄蜂队，那是本赛季两队之间的第一次交锋。
“我将永远记住并感激有机会体验马刺文化，” 李说。
点击查看原文：Lee says brief stint with Spurs had 'huge impact' on him
Lee says brief stint with Spurs had ‘huge impact’ on him
Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee calls a play during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Charles Lee had a cup of coffee with the Spurs as an undrafted rookie nearly 20 years ago.
But as cup of coffees go, this one was “pretty, pretty, pretty good,” as Larry David, the comedian and actor known for “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” would say.
Lee returned to San Antonio on Friday as a first-year head coach with the Charlotte Hornets. His first visit to the Alamo City as part of the NBA came in summer 2006 after he capped his four-year college career as a 6-foot-4, 220-pound guard at Bucknell by averaging 13.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.2 steals over 32 games.
“After I graduated from college, I signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Spurs,” Lee said.
That the Spurs took a flyer on him was no surprise after he was named 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year and helped guide the Bison to two straight Patriot League Championships and consecutive appearances in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lee knew he was a long shot to make the team, but he was thrilled to be with the Spurs just a year after they had defeated the Detroit Pistons in seven games to win the third of their five championships.
“I got to play Summer League with the team and to actually play with Duncan and Ginobili and Parker and go to training camp with those guys overseas,” Lee said. “And then I got to meet coach Bud and coach Pop and all those guys.”
That’s Duncan, Ginobili and Parker as in future Hall of Famers’ Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. And Bud and Pop as in current Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer and Spurs Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich.
Lee said being around all that talent, albeit for a brief time, had a “huge impact” on him.
“The thing I remember most is just that environment and what it meant every day to come into work and have the right mindset and the right approach, and that the togetherness and the alignment in the building was so strong,” Lee said. “I remember once I got cut, just remembering they do everything the right way, and it’s not by luck or by chance that they’re having success. It’s because of the daily process they have.”
After the Spurs let him go, Lee had stops playing professionally in Israel, Belgium and Germany before retiring as a player to work on Wall Street for Merrill Lynch. He made his way back to basketball in June 2012 when Bucknell hired him as an assistant men’s coach.
Two years later, Budenholzer hired Lee as an assistant on his staff with the Atlanta Hawks. When Budenholzer parted ways with the Hawks to become coach of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018, Lee went with him. In Milwaukee, he was part of the Bucks’ championship team in 2021.
After nearly a decade with Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee, Lee moved on to take an assistant’s job with the Boston Celtics in June 2023. In May 2024, the Hornets announced they had hired Lee to replace Steve Clifford, who stepped down at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Charlotte hiring Lee came after he had been a head coaching candidate for several years, including in 2021 when he was a finalist for the Washington Wizards job.
Even after several rejections, he remained optimistic he would one day reach the top. He told the New York Times that after each rejection he would ask himself this question: “What am I going to have to do to grow so that one day I can be in the seat of being a head coach for one of these organizations?”
“There are only 30 of them and it was kind of tough to keep hearing no," the New York Times quoted Lee as saying. "But after self-reflection, you take the feedback, and now it’s just my responsibility to keep trying to grow in those areas that they think that I can show some improvement in.”
When he finally landed with the Hornets, he remembered his early days in the NBA with the Spurs, who lost to the Hornets on March 14 in the first meeting this season between the clubs.
“I will just always remember and be grateful for the opportunity to experience Spurs culture,” Lee said.\
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News