After playing collegiately at Texas, a school with ties aplenty to the Spurs, there likely isn’t much the club doesn’t already know about point guard Cory Joseph, the player the Spurs made the 29th selection of the 2011 draft.
Nevertheless, about the Canadian national team Joseph joined recently must have brought smiles to the faces of Gregg Popovich and the rest of the Spurs coaches.
Levon Kendall, a veteran forward on the Canadian team, gushed about Joseph’s humility and team-first attitude after being added to the team a few weeks into its training regimen.
“I’ve been most impressed with his attitude, not having a sense of entitlement,” Kendall, the most veteran member of the Canadian team, told the Sun. “He understands guys have been here. He’s got to prove himself before he gets that respect. He has to earn it to a certain extent so that’s what I’ve been most surprised about. It’s nice to see that.”
If the NBA lockout ever ends and the Spurs have a training camp, that attitude will serve Joseph well there, too.
Joseph, who played only one season for the Longhorns, celebrated his 20th birthday on Saturday, the final day of the Canadian team’s training camp. The team was to depart Sunday for Brazil to begin playing a series of warmup games before the FIBA Americas tournament opens in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on Aug. 30.