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Spurs sharp-shooter Danny Green is from Long Island, so in the offseason it’s not odd to see him at various places around New York city, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Green made an appearance on Wednesday at Manhattan’s NBA 5th Avenue Store, which also hosted former G-League players Chasson Randle and Joe Harris on Monday.
(Image: Courtesy of the NBA)
According to statistics being spouted from the store’s surround sound PA system, 44 % of NBA players have D-League/G-League experience and 100 of the players in last season’s NBA playoffs got that next level polishing there.
Green is a G League product. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavs in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after winning a National Championship at the University of North Carolina.
(YouTube/carolinagirl69642)
Green even played in Slovenia until his game was ripe for the pickings and he caught on with the Spurs in 2011, eventually finding his niche as the super clutch, trey-draining, defensive stopper on the 2014 championship Spurs team and being blessed with the $40 million contract he currently enjoys.
(YouTube/NBA)
The Shadow League got a chance to speak with the NBA champion about his G League experience, playing with Tim Duncan and for Gregg Popovich – two legends of their respective crafts – and how a team-oriented, perennial playoff machine like the Spurs will handle the proliferation of Super Teams forming throughout the league.
How did your G-League experience prepare you for life in the NBA and help you stick with the Spurs once you got a real opportunity?
“I think It was a very big part of me becoming the type of player that Pop wanted me to be. He thought I was a good player. He thought I was talented, but he didn’t think I had an edge. I think the D-League is that experience that gives a lot of guys the edge, especially myself. You kind of play with more of a chip on your shoulder to prove people wrong, especially the critics. Looking back, that experience was a lot of fun and helped me grow as a player and mature. I became more aggressive and expanded my game a little more. It gave me an edge.”
Did staying four years in college initially hurt you as an NBA prospect?
“I don’t think so. I actually think it helps some guys if they stay an extra year or two. For me, I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t a highly rated prospect coming out of high school. Regardless of what year I left it would probably have been the same outcome for me. It was good for me to get a degree and finish school. I always wanted to graduate from college so I made sure I did that. I tested the waters in my junior year to see what it would be like and I went back to school and ended on a pretty good note, so I was lucky enough to win a National Title before I left.”
Tell us something about Tim Duncan that we might not know?
“I always tell people he’s probably the greatest teammate I ever played with. He encouraged us as if we were the greatest power forward of all time, when he really was. He was a great passer and defender and underrated in those aspects of the game.
Not many things people don’t know about him. If you research him it tells you all of his hobbies and what he likes to do. He’s big into boxing and now he’s doing kickboxing and all types of martial arts stuff. He’s very much into cars. He had a car shop in San Antonio. In San Antonio everyone owns weapons and guns so people go to the gun range. He was big on that. We’d be doing paintball and stuff like that. He’s into a million things and in San Antonio you are able to do all of those things. ”
(Image: Courtesy of the NBA)
Tell us an anecdote or something about coach Gregg Popovich.
“He’s a real laid back guy. He’s a softie at heart. He’s like a grandpa and he’s like that towards all of us. On the court he’s intense, but off of it he’s always cracking jokes. He’s really funny. He’s a stand-up comedian. It’s hard not to laugh around Pop. You have to have a sense of humor to play for the guy, but you definitely have to know when to get ready for business.
His biggest jokes surround us getting hurt. Any time we get hurt, he has a joke like, ‘What are we paying you for? Are we paying you to lay on a table?’ He’ll especially crack jokes on the younger players. When he sees them on the table getting massages and stuff like that, Pop says, ‘You guys are soft these days. Everybody wants massages.’
He also messes with guys by acting like he doesn’t know anybody’s name when they come to training camp. He’ll say, ‘What’s your name again?’ Me being from Carolina, any drill or whatever it was I was doing… he’d sarcastically ask me, ‘What did (UNC coach) Roy (Williams) teach you?..I know he taught you better than that.”
What’s your reaction to the trend towards Super Teams forming and how the Spurs will attack this new phenomenon?
“Certain teams have gravitated towards that. I’m not a big fan of it, but people are trying to beat the champions Golden State, and they have a ‘Super Team’ as you call it, so people feel like the only way to beat them is to do the same thing. If I had to guess, R.C. (Buford) and Pop can find other ways to do it and find some pieces that can play team basketball and play good defense to stop the Super Teams. Obviously you need to have talent, but I don’t think we need a Super Team. Just a good team. Some good players who can fall in line and have good chemistry. That’s the biggest thing.
-by J.R. Gamble
This article originally posted at The Shadow League
Spurs sharp-shooter Danny Green is from Long Island, so in the offseason it’s not odd to see him at various places around New York city, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Green made an appearance on Wednesday at Manhattan’s NBA 5th Avenue Store, which also hosted former G-League players Chasson Randle and Joe Harris on Monday.
(Image: Courtesy of the NBA)
According to statistics being spouted from the store’s surround sound PA system, 44 % of NBA players have D-League/G-League experience and 100 of the players in last season’s NBA playoffs got that next level polishing there.
Green is a G League product. He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavs in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft after winning a National Championship at the University of North Carolina.
(YouTube/carolinagirl69642)
Green even played in Slovenia until his game was ripe for the pickings and he caught on with the Spurs in 2011, eventually finding his niche as the super clutch, trey-draining, defensive stopper on the 2014 championship Spurs team and being blessed with the $40 million contract he currently enjoys.
(YouTube/NBA)
The Shadow League got a chance to speak with the NBA champion about his G League experience, playing with Tim Duncan and for Gregg Popovich – two legends of their respective crafts – and how a team-oriented, perennial playoff machine like the Spurs will handle the proliferation of Super Teams forming throughout the league.
How did your G-League experience prepare you for life in the NBA and help you stick with the Spurs once you got a real opportunity?
“I think It was a very big part of me becoming the type of player that Pop wanted me to be. He thought I was a good player. He thought I was talented, but he didn’t think I had an edge. I think the D-League is that experience that gives a lot of guys the edge, especially myself. You kind of play with more of a chip on your shoulder to prove people wrong, especially the critics. Looking back, that experience was a lot of fun and helped me grow as a player and mature. I became more aggressive and expanded my game a little more. It gave me an edge.”
Did staying four years in college initially hurt you as an NBA prospect?
“I don’t think so. I actually think it helps some guys if they stay an extra year or two. For me, I didn’t have much of a choice. I wasn’t a highly rated prospect coming out of high school. Regardless of what year I left it would probably have been the same outcome for me. It was good for me to get a degree and finish school. I always wanted to graduate from college so I made sure I did that. I tested the waters in my junior year to see what it would be like and I went back to school and ended on a pretty good note, so I was lucky enough to win a National Title before I left.”
Tell us something about Tim Duncan that we might not know?
“I always tell people he’s probably the greatest teammate I ever played with. He encouraged us as if we were the greatest power forward of all time, when he really was. He was a great passer and defender and underrated in those aspects of the game.
Not many things people don’t know about him. If you research him it tells you all of his hobbies and what he likes to do. He’s big into boxing and now he’s doing kickboxing and all types of martial arts stuff. He’s very much into cars. He had a car shop in San Antonio. In San Antonio everyone owns weapons and guns so people go to the gun range. He was big on that. We’d be doing paintball and stuff like that. He’s into a million things and in San Antonio you are able to do all of those things. ”
(Image: Courtesy of the NBA)
Tell us an anecdote or something about coach Gregg Popovich.
“He’s a real laid back guy. He’s a softie at heart. He’s like a grandpa and he’s like that towards all of us. On the court he’s intense, but off of it he’s always cracking jokes. He’s really funny. He’s a stand-up comedian. It’s hard not to laugh around Pop. You have to have a sense of humor to play for the guy, but you definitely have to know when to get ready for business.
His biggest jokes surround us getting hurt. Any time we get hurt, he has a joke like, ‘What are we paying you for? Are we paying you to lay on a table?’ He’ll especially crack jokes on the younger players. When he sees them on the table getting massages and stuff like that, Pop says, ‘You guys are soft these days. Everybody wants massages.’
He also messes with guys by acting like he doesn’t know anybody’s name when they come to training camp. He’ll say, ‘What’s your name again?’ Me being from Carolina, any drill or whatever it was I was doing… he’d sarcastically ask me, ‘What did (UNC coach) Roy (Williams) teach you?..I know he taught you better than that.”
What’s your reaction to the trend towards Super Teams forming and how the Spurs will attack this new phenomenon?
“Certain teams have gravitated towards that. I’m not a big fan of it, but people are trying to beat the champions Golden State, and they have a ‘Super Team’ as you call it, so people feel like the only way to beat them is to do the same thing. If I had to guess, R.C. (Buford) and Pop can find other ways to do it and find some pieces that can play team basketball and play good defense to stop the Super Teams. Obviously you need to have talent, but I don’t think we need a Super Team. Just a good team. Some good players who can fall in line and have good chemistry. That’s the biggest thing.
-by J.R. Gamble
This article originally posted at The Shadow League
After spending three-and-a-half days at Tony Robbins’ Unleash the Power Within seminar in Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, I am energized by the desire to release the untapped potential within myself and the enthusiasm I felt from my fellow attendees.
“Clarity is Power,” said Robbins, as he worked the crowd of more than 14,000 people from 72 different countries. He told us that positive thinking is not enough to get motivated, and it is then that I realized my attitude toward motivational speakers and/or life coaches has forever changed. Robbins, and his disciple Joseph McClendon III, teach us that there is nothing wrong with our lives—it’s our emotions and meaning that matter.
(Tony Robbins. Image: Flickr/Randy Stewart)
“We don’t live how we want, we live how we think we should,” he said, “there’s a common force that’s driving and shaping all our emotions and actions. It determines the quality of our lives, and ultimately our destinies.”
Gathering the Courage to Do the Infamous ‘Firewalk’
By the end of day one, I felt ready to face my fears, and the anticipation of learning how to conquer them over the course of this seminar had my heart racing. But first, the firewalk. Walking across a bed of hot coals was just as much of a challenge as it was a vehicle to overcome my fears. Although some UPW participants said they didn’t remember the walk, I remembered it vividly, along with the instructions that were drilled into my head (although I did forget to repeat the mantra, cool moss).
(Image: Darcel Church)
I was determined—why would I sign up for this seminar if I wasn’t going to take full advantage of everything it had to offer? As I chanted, “yes” over and over again and clenched my fists, I walked across the coals with my head held high and the feeling that the only thing holding me back from doing anything I want, is me. The feeling was invigorating, and once I [wiped off my feet and] celebrated I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The weight of feeling like I am an underachiever, and not taking advantage of the gifts I was given. One of the most important things I learned that weekend was not to fight fear or ignore it. If you keep fighting fear, it will get stronger, and you will get tired, and there will be no progress.
Obtaining a New Mindset Among Entrepreneurs and Influencers
Joseph McClendon III had us adjusting our body language, shaking our asses, and vowing to flush out our system and live a healthier life. After repeating the words, “I Freaking Rock!” over and over again, everyone in the room believed they were amazing. I was inspired by the incredible UPW team and speakers such as Dave Asprey, the Bulletproof coffee entrepreneur; The Iceman, Wim Hof, a Dutch daredevil; and cardiac surgeon Dr. Steven Gundry, who all consider themselves ordinary people, but have done extraordinary things. For more than 50 hours, I laughed, danced, cried, and sang with people I had never met before. I witnessed more than 14,000 people, cheering each other on without discrimination, or negative energy.
(Image: Darcel Church)
It has been more than a week, since the event ended, and my fellow “Unleash The Power” attendees are still hyped by their experiences, and have remained in a peak state. I am in awe of all those who post about their progress and how dedicated they are to staying connected with one another. Each day, I can feel my fears dissipating as I get stronger and stronger. I am unleashing the power within.