'Poetic': Spurs Legends Gregg Popovich, Tony Parker Enter Hall of Fame Together
SAN ANTONIO - It seems almost fitting or poetic that Gregg Popovich and Tony Parker are going into the National Basketball Hall of Fame together.
Pop has never, ever been harder on a player on his team than Parker. Certainly not in his San Antonio Spurs coaching career. The 19-year-old foreigner came in raw but crazy talented and the only way that Popovich was going to allow this kid to run an offense with Tim Duncan was to break him. Like a wild stallion.
Harsh criticism, constant correction and dog cussing were a part of Parker's everyday Spurs life that first year. But also, tough love and even adulation when warranted. Pop wasn't trying to run TP out of the league and crush his confidence but he was trying to get the young man to see the big picture.
To understand that the "abuse" was about building toughness. Parker, thankfully for the Spurs, took the old school indoctrination exactly as intended. The result was a hardened, nerves of steel demeanor mixed with all that talent. Parker of course would go on to win MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals. He was the coxswain of the "Beautiful Game".
Today, that young boy becomes a Hall of Famer. Right alongside the mean old man who helped make him what he is today.
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