Ex-Warrior Lee a crucial Spurs cog
They remember him around Oracle Arena as the world’s most patient man. David Lee was little more than an afterthought during the Warriors’ postseason run to the championship two years ago, a onetime All-Star serving mostly as a very animated cheerleader.
He was a team guy all the way, bound to change uniforms in the offseason, and his career hardly flourished in Boston (waived by the Celtics in midseason) or Dallas. It seemed like a road to oblivion, except ...
Shocker: David Lee was San Antonio’s starting center Thursday night when the Spurs wrapped up their series against Memphis in six games. Lee against Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph in the trenches, 26 minutes of playing time, with a pleasant outcome.
Lee was a mainstay in the Spurs’ rotation all season, getting 30-plus minutes on occasion, and he has fit perfectly into a system that rewards court sense, hustle and ball movement. Coach Gregg Popovich has managed to minimize Lee’s defensive shortcomings, and there wasn’t a skeptic in the building when Lee’s passing, scoring and offensive rebounding keyed the stretch run of the Spurs’ 103-96 win.
Lee got the start and played more than 33 minutes in Game 4 when Dewayne Dedmon was sidelined by illness, and Popovich stayed with Lee in Game 5, even with Dedmon recovered. “He looks more and more comfortable with that (starting) group,” said Popovich. “You know his effort level is always going to be there, no matter what. That energy is super.”
What next? Does Lee line up against Clint Capela as the Spurs launch a Western Conference semifinal series against Houston? Anything seems possible now. At this rate, he might even see the Warriors again. “The mantra of our team is to always be ready,” Lee told reporters. “I feel like I’ve made a contribution. I hope to continue to do that.”
The contortionist
There’s a separate MVP discussion in play, well removed from James HardenRussell Westbrook. It’s about the total game: LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, who has taken control of the Spurs’ offense and simply can’t be stopped. “Best player in the league,” Popovich said. “He’s the best two-way player, and he does it all with such class.” ... What a show from Memphis guard Mike Conley in defeat. Just when you figure, “He has to be at least third team allNBA,” you consider the competition — Harden, Westbrook, Stephen Curry, John Wall, Isaiah Thomas, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker — and realize what he’s up against ... It’s an ongoing mystery why Curry doesn’t get the calls from referees inspecting his fearless drives to the hoop, but one thing comes to mind: Curry actually likes falling down, even when he hasn’t been hit. He loves watching the flight of his contested threepointers from the angle of a man peering underneath the kitchen table. If he winds up flat on his back, all the better ... Class move from Warriors interim head coach Mike Brown during Wednesday’s shootaround: Before addressing questions, Brown wished good luck to the sharp and respected Ethan Strauss, who had just lost his job covering the team for ESPN. In what some have called the darkest day in the history of sports journalism, the network ruthlessly cast aside some major talent — Jayson Stark, Marc Stein, Johnette Howard, Jane McManus, Andy Katz, Ed Werder, Ashley Fox, the list goes on — through 100plus layoffs. It was deeply disturbing, not to mention absurd and not properly explained. If you see a bunch of well-dressed people sorting through the slime of garbage cans, those are the ESPN executives trying to locate their priorities ... From longtime NBA writer (extensively with the L.A. Times) Mark Heisler in the Orange County Register: “These days the Lakers don’t even do no-brainers, like inviting Jerry West back in a consultant’s role like the one he has with the Warriors. A Lakers insider told me it’s not happening — even though the Lakers are aware West would love to be asked back.”
Jim Barnett has the perfect plan for his farewell to the Warriors’ telecasts: “I’d like to do this two more years, until the move” to San Francisco, he told the Portland Tribune. “I’ll be 75. It gets more difficult as you get older. That would be the right time for them and me to step down and get a new guy.” ... Carmen Policy was Greg Papa’s guest on FM 95.7 this week, and offered a prediction: If the Raiders find Oakland to be an untenable locale this season, they will share Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers in 2018. Reasoning: The NFL would be strongly behind it ... Insanely dumb idea of the week: Major League Baseball and the umpires are expected to discuss a plan in which the crew chiefs wear microphones and, after the inevitably long delay in getting a replay ruling from New York, explain the decision to the spectators and TV viewers. First of all, there’s nothing to explain. Secondly, you’re adding more time to the exasperating wait. And it’s a farce that the umpires are even involved, looking terribly important as they come together and don their headphones. Someday there will be no meetings, no challenges, no wasted time, just an instant call to the replay center and judgment within a minute. For now, the umpires are the show. Coming next: A few song-anddance routines. Perhaps something from “My Fair Lady.”