NBA: Magic Johnson opens the season, crowned MOP

On the first day of the Spurs training camp, Joey drove his second-hand SUV to the ATT Arena.

Although the Spurs are a notoriously poor team in the league, the ATT Center, the home court of the Holy City, is the most well-equipped arena among the 30 teams in the United States (note, the most complete, not the most luxurious), with more than 6,000 parking spaces for players and team staff. As soon as

Joey parked his car, he ran into the team's two rookies last year, Joseph and Kawhi Leonard.

"Hey Joey, rookie!"

Joseph looked very cheerful and took the initiative to bump fists with Joey.

Seeing that Joey looked a bit"socially anxious", he suddenly teased:

"Hey bro, you look like the guy behind me wearing headphones, you both look a bit hard to talk to, hahaha……"

"Oh, by the way, I heard that your physical test data this year is very similar to Kawhi's rookie physical test last year? Both of you have super long wingspans, and your shoulders... Oh my God, Kawhi, look, this is simply the second you!"

Joseph's tone of seeing a ghost made Joey turn his gaze to the silent boy behind the former - indeed, they really look alike!

Even Joey himself couldn't help but nod in agreement.

The two are not only similar in body shape, but also a little shy in character. Seeing Joey looking at him, Leonard, with a dull expression, just nodded.

Joey was stunned and nodded in response.

Just like that, led by the"hospitable" Joseph, the three of them walked towards the elevator entrance of the underground parking lot.

Coincidentally, they met the team's assistant coach, Budenholzer, who was also the head coach of the Bucks' championship in later generations.

"Nice to meet you Joey, welcome aboard!"

""Hello, Mr. Holzer."

The latter was a middle-aged white man with a kind face. He took the initiative to pat Joey on the shoulder to show his friendliness, and the latter nodded in response.

When they arrived at the locker room together, Popovich, Duncan, Parker and other big players of the team were already sitting inside ready for the meeting.

Under Budenholzer's introduction, Joey greeted these big players one by one (except Popovich, who he had already met)

"Hey freshman from Kentucky, you look like a castrated quail,……"

Manu Ginobili, whose words are more coquettish than his hairstyle, sat down next to Joey who was changing clothes, ready to"train" this rookie.

Hearing this, most of the Spurs players in the locker room couldn't help laughing, including De Colo and Baynes, who were also new this year.

The former was a second-round pick in 2009, a typical European white shooting guard with excellent passing and soft shooting touch, 1.96 meters tall, small weight, and poor confrontation ability.

The latter was an undrafted player in 2009, an Australian big man, who has been playing in overseas leagues in recent years. During the offseason this year, the Spurs management contacted him and hoped that Baynes could represent the Spurs in the summer league, so in Las Vegas this year, he fought side by side with Joey in twelve games, averaging 14.3 points and 10 rebounds per game. He is a tough guy with a strong court style...

Everyone looked at Joey next to Manu, expecting what kind of answer he would give, but the latter just glanced at Manu:

"Your Mediterranean hairstyle is really nice, where did you get it done?"

The atmosphere in the locker room suddenly dropped to freezing point. After a few seconds of silence, Manu was the first to break the defense:

"Kid, do you know who you are talking to now?"

Manu's face flushed - his hair has become thinner in recent years, which is a concern for him. Today, it was revealed by the new rookie on the team. He was so angry that his scalp was numb and he felt that his hair was about to come out.

"Hahaha Manu, look at your monkey-like funny appearance, it's so funny! Where did you get your Mediterranean hairstyle, kid... you are really a master of British jokes!"

Tony Parker, the French sports car who has the best relationship with Manu in the team, laughed.

His smile was not a big deal, and the locker room was instantly filled with laughter, including the old man Popovich who always had a stern face. He rarely smiled when he was working. He looked at Joey with more satisfaction - this kid is really like his game videos, looking ordinary, low-key and simple, but in fact, his"bad intentions" and"small actions" are no less than any old basketball ruffian who has been in the NBA for many years!

"alright……"

Popovich stepped out to clean up the mess. Budenholzer knew it was time to work, so he picked up the tactical board and handed it to him.

"First of all, we introduced several new players this year.……"

Popovich pointed at Joey and the other two Spurs players in the locker room and took out their"closets" - they were called closets, but they were actually"hills" filled with candy and popcorn by these weird uncles with bad taste.

Joey and the other two were dumbfounded.

Popovich also showed a bad smile. Obviously, he knew that Manu and the other old guys were doing this, but he didn't stop them.

After a simple welcome ceremony, Popovich reported the 15-man roster for the team's preseason this year.

It's called a 15-man roster, but in fact, the number of rotations in a game is only between 9 and 12. Popovich is famous for"not playing by the rules", so this 15-man roster for the season is basically a piece of waste paper.

After the training camp started, Budenholzer brought Joey and the other two their own Spurs jerseys.

The old man gathered the players on the training ground, took out the tactical board and instructed:

"In addition to basic tactical coordination and basic training in the past few days, the team assistant coach will divide you into two or three groups according to the strength of each of you, and conduct full-court confrontational training. The losing side follows the old rules and has to do twenty shuttle runs throughout the court!"

"This year's training camp is not as tight as last year (NBA lockout in 2011), guys, we have plenty of time to get the lineup in shape, and I don't want any injuries to happen!"

"Anders Egg?"

"Yay sir!!!"

The Spurs players obviously understood what their head coach meant. Training to maintain form and tactical understanding was secondary, and the main thing was to protect their competitive form.

In fact, this only happened to teams like the Spurs, which were more aging. Otherwise, like other teams, such as the young Thunder and the Big Three of the Heat... Which team aiming for the championship would not work hard from the beginning of the season to the end of the season?

Popovich got a response, and then took the tactical board and talked about the basic tactics and key points to be used in training for a while.

Everyone got into the state quickly. The Spurs, a team that was more like an"army", rarely indulged themselves too much in the offseason, and at the beginning of the season, they were unable to participate in the team's daily training due to physical exhaustion or such inexplicable injuries.

They all listened very carefully, especially the three newcomers, Joey and Baynes, who were unconsciously substituted in. The subsequent training was organized by Budenholzer.

After several rounds of devilish physical training, except for the two guards Manu and Neil who were a little tired, the other Spurs teammates, including the three new rookies, only took a short breath.