LaMarcus Aldridge was sitting at the end of the bench an hour before gametime Sunday when his new coach approached him.
“He came and found me,” said Aldridge, as if it ought to have been the other way around.
In the hours to come, another revelation — after all of the championships and disappointments and games spent investing in their timeless excellence — would emerge. It turns out that discomfort is a good thing. It leads to creativity, renewal and a new kind of pressure for the league’s longest-succeeding coach, Gregg Popovich, and his deeper-than-ever team of stars.
Aldridge overcame a 2-for-7 opening half as he broke out for a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds in San Antonio’s 95-87 win over Boston. After averaging 10.5 points and shooting 39.1% in the first two games, the Spurs called plays for Aldridge in the third and fourth quarters, counting on his face-up and turnaround jumpers to stiff-arm the nagging comebacks of the Celtics. The performance was an opening step for a longstanding title contender that must subtly reinvent itself over the months ahead.
“He can tell I haven’t been comfortable,” said Aldridge of his surprise chat with Popovich, who at one point stood and pivoted like a swinging kitchen door in hope of demonstrating ways for his new All-Star power forward to find his way. He was urging Aldridge to focus on establishing his skills within the new confines of the Spurs’ offense.
“He was trying to put the bug in my ear for some things I can do to get myself going,” Aldridge told NBA.com. “He sees the big picture. He sees that we can win with this group.”
So much has been made of the risks that have been taken on so boldly by Aldridge and his fellow power forward David West, who at 35 walked away from $11 million in order to sign with San Antonio. But the responsibility for making a success of this new system goes both ways. Now that these two established stars have put their faith in the Spurs, it is up to Popovich to see that their faith is rewarded in June.
Anyone who watched Popovich appearing to be overwhelmed by the honor of coaching USA Basketball (following the 2016 Olympics) knows that he will not be taking the commitments of Aldridge and West for granted. He is moved by commitment and responsibility. As much as he must accommodate Aldridge and West, Popovich must also continue to do right by 38 year old Manu Ginobili (who appears to be viewing this as his last year), 39 year old Tim Duncan (who looks and plays as if he is in no hurry to retire) and 33 year old Tony Parker, now launching his 15th season. The roster has never been more talented and yet Aldridge won’t be assimilated naturally. The pressure of customizing a new style must be a source of renewal for this group that has been deploying the same design to win for so long at so high a level.
They have invested the preseason and these opening games in altering their system and their spacing in order to make way for Aldridge. For close to two decades the Spurs have turned humility into a science of ball movement, and yet even for them it can’t be easy to change what has worked so efficiently.
“It’s language, terminology — it’s high-level stuff, but at the same time it’s basketball,” said West. “Guys have been very open and engaging in terms of helping with the learning curve.”
This win was the 541st for Duncan, Ginobili and Parker: They became the NBA’s winningest trio by breaking the record established by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish of the Celtics in 1992. True to themselves, they celebrated this latest achievement by refusing to acknowledge it. Each left the locker room without commenting on an achievement that is based on the past, perhaps because they are focused solely on the future outcome of this transformative season.
This latest win was neither perfunctory nor memorable. Popovich complained with sincerity that his Spurs weren’t sharp as the scoring-challenged Celtics defended their way back into the game. And yet there was a formula developing as the new generation of 30-year old Aldridge (18 second-half points on 11 shots) and 24-year old Kawhi Leonard (19 points overall) carried the day. West filled in for nine minutes over the last two quarters and Ginobili provided the typical 13 points and eight rebounds, while Duncan (seven points, nine rebounds and five assists) and Parker (six points) were there if needed — which will certainly be the case months from now.
“They’re not as crisp as they will be in three months, four months, but they’re still awfully good,” said Stevens. “As they’re figuring it out, those guys make shots at the end to win.”
For Popovich, at 66, it’s as if his career is exploring another era. What a wonderful thing it must be, after all that he has accomplished, to not have so much as a spare moment for living in the past. When others his age are retiring, he’s suddenly obsessed with figuring it out all over again.
Ian Thomsen has covered the NBA since 2000. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.
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