On Sunday, after dinner, I called my mother, in Indiana. This time she was the one with a question about the NBA. She had seen that Denver beat Chicago, a hundred and thirty-three to a hundred and twenty-eight, in pre-season, and that Nikola Jokic spent the last quarter on the bench talking to the young players. She wanted to know why a three-time MVP wears himself out for a game that doesn’t count.
I told her what I had read on BasketNews. Twenty-two points, eleven rebounds, ten assists, in twenty-six minutes. Then, on the bench, he guided his teammates through the possessions and pointed out tactical details. One more coach. When someone asked him why, he said he loves to win and he loves basketball. And that details matter every day, especially when the young guys are playing, and that he enjoys watching them learn.
Let me tell you: in 2000, in Charleroi, my first season, there was an old man from the club who sat at the end of the bench during our friendlies. He hadn’t played in years. He told me to get back into position, to box-out, on every possession. I thought it was too much for a game in September. Twenty-six years later, I do the same on Sunday at nine o’clock with my U10s. They didn’t ask me for it either.
My mother asked me whether Denver’s young players had played defence. I said I didn’t know, that the article was about details. She said defence is a detail nobody watches, except the one sitting at the end of the bench.
Then she said: he’s doing what you do on Sundays, except they filmed him. I said nothing. She said: see?
It’s true, we checked: BasketNews.
