By Shawnelle Scott, 2025-05-04
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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格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)第一次对我说的话是：“你得好好锻炼。”
那是2000年8月。在打了一个出色的夏季联赛后，我刚刚加入波波维奇和圣安东尼奥马刺队。说实话，在去圣安东尼奥之前，我对波波了解不多。我只是对他有一个先入为主的印象。
严厉。无情。强硬的混蛋。
我当时觉得我已经身材很好了，所以在我的脑海里，我想：“什么？！你们刚签了我！”
但他的话却一直萦绕在我的脑海中。我一直记着它们。在训练中，我想更努力地工作，我想额外努力。在休息日，我会去健身房。我以为我知道努力工作是什么——保持体形和奋斗意味着什么——但他把我带到了我不知道的另一个层次。
那个赛季，我感觉自己有了第二次机会。当马刺队签下我的时候，我已经离开NBA好几年了。所以我一直在吸收一切。
有一场比赛，我们对阵湖人队，沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)正在摧毁我们。他完全随心所欲。最终，波波在所有人面前点名了大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)。
大卫说：“波波，你为什么对我发火？那家伙可是300磅！”
整个更衣室都笑了，伙计，但它向我展示了波波的一些东西。这家伙对每个人都是一样的。
我学到的最多的就是日复一日地观察他。举个例子：那一年，我们对阵芝加哥。他们很糟糕，而我们，是强大的马刺队，对吧？
我不知道我们是不是觉得无聊还是什么，但我们输给了公牛队。艾弗里·约翰逊(Avery Johnson)走进更衣室，很生气：“我们输给了该死的公牛队！”每个人都低着头。
我知道我们第二天要训练，我心里想：“哦，我的天。训练肯定会很可怕。”我以为波波会把每个人都狠狠地训斥一顿。
但事实恰恰相反。训练是非对抗性的。我们只是复习了我们所有的进攻战术，每一个。只是所有事情的基础。细节。我们在对阵公牛队的那天没有执行好，第二天他确保我们知道每一个战术，这样我们下次就能执行好。
那个赛季我们最终获得了NBA最好的战绩。
我期待的是一件事，但他做了另一件事。我想：“好吧。你处理事情的方式不仅仅是人们可能想的那样。”诸如此类的事情一直伴随着我，直到今天。
我现在执教高中篮球队，如果我们输了一场糟糕的比赛，我可能会稍微责怪他们一下。但我的方法不是诋毁某人，或让他们感觉比现在更糟。只是抓住问题的关键。
对我影响最大的甚至不是他直接告诉我的事情，而是他的行为以及他与我们交谈的方式。我看到他与人互动的方式。我看到每个人都在追求卓越的方式。这就是波波的心态。当我看到这一点时，它转移到了我生活的其他方面。
在我结束球员生涯后，我开始思考我的人生要做什么。最终，我意识到我想让自己变得更好。我想和孩子们一起工作，这样我就可以帮助他们。所以我回到学校攻读特殊教育硕士学位。
当我在学习的过程中，我一直在想我把自己带到了什么地步。但我没有放弃。我只是日复一日，一篇论文接着一篇论文地写。当我完成它时，我感到非常……喜悦。
然后几年过去了，我又开始思考我的人生。我简直不敢相信，但我回去又获得了另一个硕士学位，这次是教育领导力。因为我只是想让自己变得更好。
我现在所做的一切，我都努力做到最好。不把自己和别人比较。只是做到我能做到的最好。
我想如果我没有和波波一起度过那一年，我就不会完成所有这些事情。
肖内尔·斯科特(Shawnelle Scott)在2000-2001赛季为波波维奇效力。他现在是纽约的一名篮球教练和教育家。
——对杰森·詹克斯口述
(图片：保罗·巴克 / 法新社通过盖蒂图片社)
点击查看原文：I played for Gregg Popovich for one season. This is how he impacted my life
I played for Gregg Popovich for one season. This is how he impacted my life
Editor’s Note: This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here.
The first thing Gregg Popovich ever told me was: “You’ve got to get in shape.”
This was in August 2000. I had just joined Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs after I’d had a great summer league. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know much about Pop before I got to San Antonio. I just had a preconceived idea about who he was.
Stern. Relentless. A hard ass.
I thought I was in very good shape, so in my head, I was like, “What?! You guys just signed me!”
But his words stuck with me. I held onto them. In practice, I wanted to work harder, I wanted to work extra. On days off, I’d be in the gym. I thought I knew what hard work was — what it meant to be in shape and strive — but he took me to another level I didn’t know I had.
I felt like I had a second chance that season. I’d been out of the NBA for a couple of years when the Spurs brought me in. So I was absorbing everything.
One game, we played the Lakers, and Shaq was killing us. He was just having his way. Eventually, Pop called out David Robinson in front of everyone.
David was like, “Pop, what are you getting on me for? The guy’s 300 pounds!”
The whole locker room laughed, man, but it showed me something about Pop. This guy was the same with everyone.
I learned the most from just watching him, day after day. One example: That year, we were playing Chicago. They were terrible, and there we were, the mighty Spurs, right?
I don’t know if we were bored or something, but we lost to the Bulls. Avery Johnson got in the locker room and was pissed: “We lost to the damn Bulls!” Everyone had their heads down.
I knew we had practice the next day, and I was thinking in my head, “Oh my God. Practice is going to be ridiculous.” I thought Pop was going to chew everybody out.
But it was the exact opposite. Practice was non-contact. We just went over all our offensive sets, every last one of them. Just the basics of everything. Details. We didn’t execute that day we played the Bulls, and the next day he made sure we knew every single set so we’d execute the next time.
We ended up with the best record in the NBA that season.
I had expected one thing, but he did something else. I was like, “OK. The way you approach things is not only what people might think.” Stuff like that sticks with me to this day.
I coach high school basketball now, and if we lose a bad game, I might get on them a little. But my approach is not to dog someone or make them feel worse than what they are. Just get to the matter at hand.
It’s not even things he told me directly that most impacted me, but his actions and the way he talked to us. The way I saw him interact with people. The way I saw everyone striving for excellence. That’s Pop’s mindset. And when I saw that, it transferred into the rest of my life.
After I was done playing, I started to ponder what I was going to do with my life. Finally, I realized I wanted to better myself. I wanted to work with kids so I can help them. So I went back to school to get my masters in special education.
When I was in the middle of it, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. But I didn’t quit. I just kept going, day after day, paper after paper. And when I accomplished it, I felt a lot of…joy.
Then the years passed and I started to wonder about my life again. I couldn’t believe it, but I went back and earned another masters, this time in educational leadership. Because I just wanted to better myself.
Everything I do now, I try to be the best I can be at it. Not comparing myself to anybody else. Just the best I can be.
I don’t think I would have accomplished all of that if I hadn’t spent that year with Pop.
Shawnelle Scott played for Popovich during the 2000-2001 season. He is now a basketball coach and educator in New York.
— As told to Jayson Jenks
(Photo Paul Buck / AFP via Getty Images)
By Shawnelle Scott, via https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6331687/2025/05/04/gregg-popovich-coach-impact-shawnelle-scott-nba/