Open Thread: That time Tim Duncan offered to buy Pop a car if he missed a free throw

Timmy was never the best FT shooter, and one time it almost cost him.

Gregg Popovich has always been known for his hardnosed style of coaching, but there is also his humorous side, and sometimes both can come out at the same time. At the same time, if Tim Duncan had one weakness to his game, it was that he was never a great free-throw shooter. His career average was just under 70 percent, and his numbers could ebb wildly from season-to-season, with his career high being 81.7 percent in 2012-13, and his low was 59% in 2003-04. (I recall correctly, he became a target for Hack-a-Tim that season.)

Now combine those two aspects of Timmy and Pop together, and you have a game from the 2009-10 season (when he shot 72.5 percent from the line), and it must not have been going great, because Pop can be heard telling his team during a timeout that the next person who misses a free throw will buy him a new car.

While the video doesn’t show a response, Tim reportedly replied, “What color would you like it in?” The team’s biggest star being able to absorb and play along with Pop’s anger was always a big positive for the team, as it showed other players that he can be coached and yelled at, so could they. The good news is it looks like Victor Wembanyama will be the same way, as he is just as open to being coached and yelled at as his predecessor was — although one advantage he has is it appears he will be a much better free throw shooter than Tim ever was, so he may not have to buy Pop a car any time soon.

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