Open Thread: Spurs have positive affirmation posted during their Las Vegas Summer League stint

Start your week with something positive

As we count down the days until Spurs basketball is on our schedule (the first preseason game it four weeks from today), I am still finding inspiration from PATFO and the San Antonio Spurs organization.

San Antonio Express-News writer Tom Orsborn, while in Las Vegas this past summer, posted this photo while the Silver & Black were engaged in Summer League.

“The measure of who we are is how we react to something that doesn’t go our way.”

This is refreshing. In a league full of young talent who have experienced monumental accomplishment, a reminder that success at the highest level does not come easy is an essential part of the journey.

Full disclosure, I tend to subscribe to the Sean Elliott level of curmudgeonry describing how modern players often cannot hold a candle to the predecessors. Don’t get me wrong, the safety measures put in place to protect players is responsible, but it does water down the game to a certain level.

I have always contended that Stephen Curry would never have made it through a seven game series against the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons, but he is not the only daffodil in the modern NBA. Few players could have extensive careers back when hard fouls were the norm.

But it goes beyond that.

The majority of players today came up as part of the participation trophy generation. Loss was sugar coated as to not hurt the feelings of children. The players who made it through to this level had to develop grit paired to their talent. Tough love had to be explicitly aimed at them to prepare them for the next level.

A few years ago my daughter was classmates with a kid whose dad played for the Spurs. His mother spoke often of the hours and dedication that goes into preparing a young man for the rigors of the sport. Even then, a career is not guaranteed, not even after a successful collegiate run.

The guys in Las Vegas were aimed at making rosters, looking for a home as players get signed and futures become determined.

How any given player handles himself when things are not going his way says a lot about that individual.

And the Spurs culture has always centered around grabbing as many of the guys who had that essential mix of talent, teachability, and “over himself”ness necessary to bring them into the fold.

Their heroes aren’t Jordan and Kobe as much as they are Durant and Curry. A totally different generation altogether. Only two members of this year’s Spurs were born before Tim Duncan was even drafted.

What do you think of this year’s squad?

Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.

Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.