On Monday, Spurs forward and NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidate Keldon Johnson posted an article in The Players’ Tribune about the evolution of his role during his time with San Antonio Spurs. It should come as no surprise to fans that honesty is at the core of his personality. Keldon does not mince words. He’s direct, thoughtful, and genuine.
He admits to the ego hit he took when Gregg Popovich originally suggested he move to the bench. He shares about the struggles. And then he clearly saw that
he needed to change.
‘In that moment, I had to take a hard look in the mirror. And man, I just got embarrassed. I hated that feeling — the feeling that I had let my vets down, and especially let my younger teammates down.’
Johnson retraces his steps from his humble, small town upbringing (“we don’t have a stoplight at all”) to his move to San Antonio.
As a new member of the Spurs, he soaked up the knowledge afforded to him.
“Dejounte was young, too, but he knew the ropes better than me, and he made sure that I did everything the right way. I can’t thank him enough to this day for how much he’s helped my career. Same thing with DeMar DeRozan. Those guys really embraced me and took me under their wing as a young guy, and showed me how it was done. I feel like I had such a great group of vets, whether it was LaMarcus Aldridge, Patty Mills, Rudy Gay — all those guys went out their way to make sure I was solid. I feel like they knew how good I could be before I even knew how good I could be. They didn’t let me skip any steps, which was huge for my career early on.”
From his beginning and throughout his career, he’s been surrounded by great influences.
“So the foundation was always there. But seeing the guys that come through the facility, whether it’s Tim, Manu, Boris Diaw, Tony Parker……… On the one hand, that’s a huge part of what makes this club what it is.”
Keldon gives credit where credit is due. In a recent postgame presser, KJ named nearly every member of the Spurs medical staff in appreciation of his accomplishment of playing in all 82 games.
It’s not the only time he’s taken an opportunity to credit th3e organization. He often utilizes interviews to share the spotlight with those behind the scenes.
It’s one of the Spursiest aspects of Johnson’s personality. He’s learned from the culture. He participated in the Spurs culture.
And now Johnson is an ambassador of that culture. And as he says so simply yet eloquently,
“Every season, I’ve just tried to be better than the year before.”
This is a must read for any Spurs fan…check that, any basketball fan. Every team needs a player like Keldon Johnson. But the rest can’t have him. He’s a Spur through and through. He’s the heart and soul.
And for the first time in his career, which includes an Olympic gold medal, Keldon Johnson is heading into the playoffs.
Enjoy the entire piece HERE.
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