San Antonio Spurs新氣象 - 互相討厭的Pop和Paul

在San Antonio Spurs 的媒體日，有記者對Chris Paul 複述主教練Gregg Popovich 的說話：「我討厭Chris 很多年了。」 ("I've despised Chris for many years.")

Paul 毫不拖沓，笑着回答：「是，那種關係是雙向的。」

Popovich 的那句說話其實充滿「Pop式幽默」，較完整話語如下：

「我討厭Chris 很多年了。跟他對賽總是相當困難，因為他不只是一個絕頂競賽者，他還是是一個聰明、聰明、聰明的球員。他的智商實在高得破表。和他對賽總是艱難的，因為他比我們這些教練想得更超前。… 你會討厭與他比賽，但你同時會對他有非常的尊重。跟他共處同一個球場上甚至可說是種榮幸，得以看到他在場上幹他的能事。」

(“I’ve despised Chris for many years. … It was always difficult to play against him because he’s, not just a consummate competitor, but he is a clever, clever, clever player. His IQ is off the charts. And, it was always difficult because he’s thinking ahead of all of us coaches. And does that in a winning way.

So he's one of those guys you just… You learn to hate to play against him but at the same time you respect the hell out of him. And you're almost honored to be on the same court, so you can watch him do his things.

So to have him work in our family is pretty special. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to think about having the opportunity to watch him on a day-to-day basis. Coz it's always been from afar.")

Pop 也說Paul 對球隊年輕球員的發展非常重要：

「他將會是我們年輕球員的優秀導師。這班年輕人其實不曾有過這待遇。我實在無法量化這個(指導的)重要性。」

而在Paul 那個回應之後，他其實也還有補充：「顯然，我從遠處敬仰Pop相當多年了。不只是因為他的籃球智慧，也是因為他的為人及作為競賽者的風範，他一切的。」

Paul 亦有表達他加入Spurs 的興奮感受：「我根本從沒想過我會有機會為Pop 打球。但我對於這年輕而具非凡天賦的球隊感到非常興奮。」

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來源：NBA、San Antonio Spurs、Josh Paredes、Kens 5 、Getty Images