Editor’s Note: This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s new desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Peak aims to connect readers to ideas they can implement in their own personal and professional lives. Follow Peak here.
The first thing Gregg Popovich ever told me was: “You’ve got to get in shape.”
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This was in August 2000. I had just joined Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs after I’d had a great summer league. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know much about Pop before I got to San Antonio. I just had a preconceived idea about who he was.
Stern. Relentless. A hard ass.
I thought I was in very good shape, so in my head, I was like, “What?! You guys just signed me!”
But his words stuck with me. I held onto them. In practice, I wanted to work harder, I wanted to work extra. On days off, I’d be in the gym. I thought I knew what hard work was — what it meant to be in shape and strive — but he took me to another level I didn’t know I had.
I felt like I had a second chance that season. I’d been out of the NBA for a couple of years when the Spurs brought me in. So I was absorbing everything.
One game, we played the Lakers, and Shaq was killing us. He was just having his way. Eventually, Pop called out David Robinson in front of everyone.
David was like, “Pop, what are you getting on me for? The guy’s 300 pounds!”
The whole locker room laughed, man, but it showed me something about Pop. This guy was the same with everyone.
I learned the most from just watching him, day after day. One example: That year, we were playing Chicago. They were terrible, and there we were, the mighty Spurs, right?
I don’t know if we were bored or something, but we lost to the Bulls. Avery Johnson got in the locker room and was pissed: “We lost to the damn Bulls!” Everyone had their heads down.
I knew we had practice the next day, and I was thinking in my head, “Oh my God. Practice is going to be ridiculous.” I thought Pop was going to chew everybody out.
But it was the exact opposite. Practice was non-contact. We just went over all our offensive sets, every last one of them. Just the basics of everything. Details. We didn’t execute that day we played the Bulls, and the next day he made sure we knew every single set so we’d execute the next time.
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We ended up with the best record in the NBA that season.
I had expected one thing, but he did something else. I was like, “OK. The way you approach things is not only what people might think.” Stuff like that sticks with me to this day.
I coach high school basketball now, and if we lose a bad game, I might get on them a little. But my approach is not to dog someone or make them feel worse than what they are. Just get to the matter at hand.
It’s not even things he told me directly that most impacted me, but his actions and the way he talked to us. The way I saw him interact with people. The way I saw everyone striving for excellence. That’s Pop’s mindset. And when I saw that, it transferred into the rest of my life.
After I was done playing, I started to ponder what I was going to do with my life. Finally, I realized I wanted to better myself. I wanted to work with kids so I can help them. So I went back to school to get my masters in special education.
When I was in the middle of it, I was wondering what I had gotten myself into. But I didn’t quit. I just kept going, day after day, paper after paper. And when I accomplished it, I felt a lot of…joy.
Then the years passed and I started to wonder about my life again. I couldn’t believe it, but I went back and earned another masters, this time in educational leadership. Because I just wanted to better myself.
Everything I do now, I try to be the best I can be at it. Not comparing myself to anybody else. Just the best I can be.
I don’t think I would have accomplished all of that if I hadn’t spent that year with Pop.
Shawnelle Scott played for Popovich during the 2000-2001 season. He is now a basketball coach and educator in New York.
— As told to Jayson Jenks
(Photo Paul Buck / AFP via Getty Images)
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