Tag: San Antonio

Q&A with…Bill Walton

Besides his tragically short career, hoops legend Bill Walton was defined by his unbridled enthusiasm for life and the game he loves, leading him to utter in the history of sports broadcasting.

Now that he’s got a second lease on life, the Hall of Famer and former MVP is back to his typical joyous self.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Walton said Monday during his visit to San Antonio, where he participated in an educational seminar on the prevention and treatment of back pain and spine conditions. “I get to play in the game of life one more time. A miracle has happened.”

Walton is referring to the nine-hour procedure in early 2009 to insert four four-inch bolts, two titanium rods and a stabilizing cage into his collapsed spine, an injury that left him in such .

While his broadcast career might be over, Walton said his new passion is helping others receive treatment for their own back issues.

On an unrelated note, Bill had a typically Waltonian quote for Jeff McDonald’s upcoming feature piece on the Tim Duncan/Gregg Popovich partnership. A brief preview: “It’s a special relationship that is a model for what the world can be.” Should run this weekend so keep your eyes peeled.

Back to Bill…

How bad was your injury?

I spent three years on the ground. I was in unrelenting, excruciating pain that can only be described as being submerged in a vat of acid with an electric current running through it that I couldn’t get out of. I was just a pitiful ball of flesh writhing on the floor, begging for the pain to stop. My life was over.

How did it compare to some of your other injuries?

I spent a lifetime with bone and joint pain. There’s nothing like nerve pain. It never goes away and nothing can fix it. It destroys your life, it destroys the lives of everyone around you. It takes away the hope and the dream that tomorrow is going to be better. If you don’t have that, you don’t have much. You don’t have anything.

How do you feel today?

I am busier than ever, happier than ever. I haven’t been this healthy since high school. No pain, no medication. I had no idea what life was like without back pain. It’s a miracle what’s happened to me. So with the privilege and good fortune of health comes responsibility, duty and obligation to help other people have their dreams comes true.

How do you do that?

I spend a tremendous amount of my time working for the , an organization that provides support and advocacy for people whose lives have fallen apart because of their spine issues. And it’s just absolutely remarkable what is possible in the world today.

When you spend three years on the floor, you have a lot of time to think about what you are going to do if you ever get better. And so that’s why I go around the country. Health is the foundation of everything. Without it, nothing is attainable.

It’s an unbelievably emotional moment when I’m on the phone with people I don’t know, that they can do it. They can get through it. People are terrified about spine surgery. My spine surgery was fantastic. I’m all better. I don’t have any pain. A miracle has happened. So when I talk to people on the phone, they’ll often just break down and say, you’re the first person I’ve talked to who knows what it’s like.

When you have that unbelievable searing, scorching pain, running through your whole body, you never forget that. People who haven’t felt it have no idea. No idea. Now that I’m all better, the darkness is incomprehensible. But when you’re in that space, and your life is over, it’s very clear.

It’s every day and it’s all day. People need help. Nobody needed more help than I did, and I can’t tell you how many people called me to tell me I could make it. I didn’t believe it, but here I am today in San Antonio with the better way back. When you can move and are pain free and can think and dream, there are no limits.

Now that I’m back in the game of life, I’m ringing the chimes of freedom.

dmccarney@express-news.net

Twitter: @danmccarneySAEN

With only one roster spot left, who will be the next Spur?

There are four players vying for the final roster spot for the 2012-13 Spurs Roster and each are making the case with their play.  Here is a quick rundown of who is on the cusp.

Eddie Curry – An 11 year veteran that spent four seasons with the Bulls, four with the Knicks and most recently played last season with the Miami Heat.  Curry has had weight issues and spent the summer slimming down and working on his game.  The Spurs do have a need of another big man.

“I feel I’m in a good situation,” Curry told the San Antonio Express-News. “I worked hard this summer. Every game it’s just about showing everybody what I can do. I’m trying to focus on defense and rebounding, trying to play in the system and soak up as much as I can. I think I’m going to make it. Until they tell me I’m not, I feel like I’m part of this team.”

Derrick Brown – After receiving several invitations to camp with NBA teams, Brown chose the Spurs even though there was really only one roster spot to be had.  The three-year veteran, selected as the 40th overall draft pick in 2009 by the Charlotte Bobcats  played with them until 2011. He then signed on with the Knicks in March of 2011 but returned to the Bobcats in December of 2011 up until the end of the 2012 season.  The Bobcats made him an unrestricted free agent and  he signed on with the Spurs. Steven Jackson, a former teammate with the Bobcats had high praise for the journeyman who is averaging seven points in 15.7 minutes a game.

“He actually gave (one-time All-Star) Gerald Wallace a run for his money every day in practice,” Jackson said. “I think that’s what opened a lot of people’s eyes that he belongs in this league.”

Josh Powell – Veteran forward who’s NBA career began with the Dallas Mavericks in 2005.  Powell,  originally slotted to be the forward groomed to take over for  Dirk Nowitzki, was traded to the Pacers along with Darrell Armstrong and Rawlee Marshall in exchange for Anthony Johnson.  Powell, along with current Spur Stephen Jackson and two other players were dealt to the Golden State Warriors.  He next played for the Clipppers then the Lakers where he got considerable playing time for an injured Andrew Bynum.  After winning two Rings with the Lakers, Powell next signed on with the Hawks for the 2010/11 season.  The push for Powell and Curry was something Manu Ginobili recently spoke about.

“There are 13 returning guys, so there aren’t many that can surprise you. But, of course, having Josh Powell and Eddy Curry on the roster is a big thing,” Ginobili said. “They’re both great players, talented bigs that (aren’t) easy to find in the league anymore. So, it’s good to have them around and give them a chance.”

Wesley Witherspoon -Rookie guard/forward combo out of Memphis has made the most of his rookie camp recently scoring 17-points in a start against the Houston Rockets. He has had to shed the  title of being ‘soft’ as in not doing everything he can to improve himself and with the Rockets game, he may have just done that.

 

 

 

Popovich keeps tried, true practice pattern

By Mike Monroe

After a day off that followed a game in which nobody played as many as 22 minutes, the Spurs knew what to expect from Monday’s practice session: One of the longest days of the preseason, a practice stretching well past three hours.

Veterans of past camps under coach Gregg Popovich weren’t surprised.

“Actually, the first three days was the same,” said All-NBA point guard Tony Parker, now in his 12th Spurs camp. “Especially coming off a day off, we knew Pop was going to be intense and it was going to be a long practice.

“I don’t mind. You can’t complain with Pop. He does a great job resting guys. All the stuff we do makes sense. He’s not that hard if you want to go far and get back to where we were last year. You can’t skip steps.”

Even after Monday’s three-hour practice, most of the team’s big men could be seen working with San Antonio boxing icon James Leija in the weight training room, firing punch combinations that Leija caught with padded gloves.

Tim Duncan, in particular, looked as if he had the makings of a potential pro fighter.

Conspicuously absent from the boxing workouts: Matt Bonner, who spent his post-practice time getting up dozens of 3-point shots.

“No boxing for me,” Bonner said. “I grew up on the streets of Concord, New Hampshire. I’m quick with the fists. Quick with the one-two.”

Second and third opinions: Though rookie Nando De Colo’s floor game and slick passing prompted veteran teammate Stephen Jackson to declare that he was “another Manu Ginobili,” Parker and fellow French Olympian Boris Diaw were slightly more realistic about the young guard from Arras, France.

“In a sense, he is,” Parker said, “because he’ll do some crazy pass or go for crazy steals. But he’s got a long way to be like Manu. So we can say he’s like a poor Manu right now. But he definitely has the skills and that kind of flashy (style). I remember in a timeout Pop was joking, ‘I have one Manu. I don’t need two.’

“You’ll give him a heart attack with two Manus on the team.”

Diaw hadn’t heard about Jackson’s comparison and couldn’t quite believe he had made it.

“Jack said that?” Diaw said. “In some ways, the way (Nando) plays in the passing game. But Manu’s unique.”

Back to work: Backup center Tiago Splitter, who sat out Saturday’s preseason game against Italian team Montepaschi Siena with back spasms, was a full participant in Monday’s workout.

mikemonroe@express-news.net
Twitter: @Monroe_SA