2017 SAN ANTONIO SPURSPOST SEASON MEDIA GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS 2017 SPURS PLAYOFF GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS MEDIA INFORMATION......................................................................................... 2 SPURS PLAYOFF ROSTER........... ..........................................................................3 PLAYER BIOS...................................................................................................... 5 SPURS STAFF BIOS..............................................................................................36 TEAM STATS........................................................................................................45 SPURS TEAM NOTES............................................................................................67 2016-17 TRANSACTIONS......................................................................................77 SPURS PLAYOFF HISTORY......................................................................... ............85 WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF OPPONENTS .................................................. 103 LEAGUE STATS................................................................ .................................. 133 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAYOFF MEDIA INFORMATION Welcome to the 2017 NBA Playoffs. The Spurs communications department is here to assist you and will accommodate your needs as best as we can. The following are a few guidelines which we hope will assist you in your coverage this postseason. CREDENTIALS Home - Regular season credentials will be honored for Spurs playoff games (first three rounds only). Single-game credential requests should be made by the sports editor or director no later than 24 hours prior to each playoff game or series. All requests should be admitted to Jordan Howenstine via email at [email protected]. All single-game credential requests should be confirmed with the Spurs media services department prior to arriving at the AT&T Center. Please be advised there is limited media seating, and at times it may not be possible to accommodate every request. We encourage all media to make their requests as soon as possible. Road - All local media planning on covering the Spurs on the road during the first three rounds of the playoffs should make arrangements with Kris Davis via email at [email protected]. Please include the names of all traveling personnel and the name, address and telephone number of the hotel they will be staying at in the visiting city. Media members will need to make hotel arrangements on their own throughout the postseason. A complete San Antonio list will be provided to the Spurs opponent and credentials will be delivered to your hotel prior to the first game of each round. International Requests - All international requests are handled by the NBA International PR Department. Any international media mem- ber interests in covering a Spurs game must first submit a request in writing to the NBA. Requests may be directed to: Mark Fischel at 212- 407-8304 or [email protected]. MEDIA ENTRANCE, WILL CALL & PARKING The media entrance at the AT&T Center is located at the Northwest corner (rear) of the building for Spurs home games. From the media parking lot, proceed along the right side of the arena towards Freeman Coliseum and the entrance will be on your left. All approved creden- tials can be picked up at the media entrance beginning three hours prior to game time. There is a limited number of media parking spaces provided to the media on a first come, first serve basis. The media parking lot is located off of AT &T Center Parkway (Gate D Entrance). If you need to request parking please make arrangements with Jordan Howenstine at [email protected]. MEDIA AVAILABILITY All interview requests should be directed to Tom James. In accordance with NBA policy, both Spurs and visiting locker rooms will be open to members of the media for a 30-minute period prior to game time and 15 minutes following a conclusion of the game. Players and coaches are available for interviews at this time. Only working members of the media with valid credentials will be allowed into the locker rooms. PRACTICES All team practices are closed to the media with the exception of the last 30 minutes which will be open to the media. Players and staff will be available during this timeframe. Please check @SpursPR on Twitter or contact a member of the Spurs basketball communications depart- ment to confirm start of practice times and the site of practice. If you are calling after normal business hours, Tom James will leave practice times on his voicemail. MEDIA WORKROOM The media workroom and media hospitality room are located on the event level in the southeast corner of the AT&T Center, and are accessible only with a valid credential. The rooms open three hours prior to game time. Game notes, media guides, running sheets and other relevant information will be available in the media workroom prior to the game. In addition, play-by-play sheets, halftime and final box scores and postgame quotes will be placed in the media workroom following the game. A free wireless connection is available throughout the AT&T Center under ‘attwifi.’ To access the unlocked network, open your web browser to agree to the Terms of Service to get connected. PHOTOGRAPHERS The photographers workroom will be set up on the event level in the southwest corner of the AT&T Center. The workroom will be equipped with free Ethernet connections and electrical outlets. We ask that all photographers use the Ethernet connections due to the large amounts of data being sent out. The photography areas of the AT&T Center are located along the baselines on both ends of the court. Photographers are asked to keep off the sideline areas in front of or behind the team benches and in front of press row. In addition, please observe NBA rules for player escape routes – an open area approximately five feet on both sides of the basket. Only television and photographers doing postgame interviews will have access to the locker rooms. Photographers are asked to use rubber lens shades for their cameras. BASKETBALL COMMUNICATIONS STAFF (@SpursPR on Twitter) TOM JAMES KRIS DAVIS JORDAN HOWENSTINE SHELBY WILLINGHAM Senior Dir. of Communications Basketball Communications Mngr. Basketball Communications Coor. Communications Asst. (210) 444-5730 – Office (210) 444-5731 – Office (210) 444-5733 – Office (210) 444-5732 – Office [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2 2017 SPURS PLAYOFF GUIDE SPURS 2017 PLAYOFF ROSTER SPURSNUMERICALROSTER NO PLAYER POS. HT. WT. DOB FROM YEARS 1 Kyle Anderson G/F 6-9 230 9/20/93 UCLA 2 2 Kawhi Leonard F 6-7 230 6/29/91 San Diego State 5 3 Dewayne Dedmon C 7-0 245 08/12/89 USC 3 5 Dejounte Murray G 6-5 170 09/19/96 Washington R 8 Patty Mills G 6-0 185 8/11/88 St. Mary’s 7 9 Tony Parker G 6-2 185 5/17/82 France 15 10 David Lee F/C 6-9 245 04/29/83 Florida 11 11 Bryn Forbes G 6-3 190 07/23/93 Michigan State R 12 LaMarcus Aldridge F 6-11 260 7/19/85 Texas 10 14 Danny Green G/F 6-6 215 6/22/87 North Carolina 7 16 Pau Gasol F/C 7-0 250 07/06/80 Spain 15 17 Jonathon Simmons F 6-6 195 9/14/89 Houston 1 20 Manu Ginobili G 6-6 205 7/28/77 Argentina 14 30 Joel Anthony F/C 6-9 245 8/9/82 UNLV 9 42 Davis Bertans F 6-10 225 11/12/92 Latvia R SPURS COACHING STAFF HEAD COACH: Gregg Popovich (Air Force Academy) ASSISTANT COACHES: Ettore Messina (Italy) Chip Engelland (Duke) Ime Udoka (Portland State) Becky Hammon (Colorado State) James Borrego (San Diego) Will Hardy (Williams College) DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL SERVICES: Phil Coles (Australia) HEAD ATHLETIC TRAINER: Will Sevening (Wisconsin-La Crosse) ASSISTANT TRAINER: Paul West (Linfield College) ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE COOR.: Anthony Falsone (Stephen F. Austin) PROUNCATION GUIDE KAWHI LEONARD (kah-WHY) DEJOUNTE MURRAY (di-JHOHN-tay) BRYN FORBES (brinn) BASKETBALL COMMUNICATIONS STAFF (@SpursPR on Twitter) PAU GASOL (POW ga-SALL) TOM JAMES KRIS DAVIS JORDAN HOWENSTINE SHELBY WILLINGHAM DAVIS BERTANS (DAH-vis BER-tahns) Senior Dir. of Communications Basketball Communications Mngr. Basketball Communications Coor. Communications Asst. (210) 444-5730 – Office (210) 444-5731 – Office (210) 444-5733 – Office (210) 444-5732 – Office [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 3 SPURS ROSTER THE SILVER AND BLACK LaMARCUS KYLE JOEL DAVIS 1216ALDRIDGE 1 ANDERSON 30ANTHONY 42BERTANS DEWAYNE BRYN PAU MANU 3 DEDMON 11 FORBES 16 GASOL 20 GINOBILI DANNY DAVID KAWHI PATTY 14 GREEN 10 LEE 2 LEONARD 8 MILLS DEJOUNTE TONY JONATHON 5 MURRAY 9 PARKER 17 SIMMONS 4 2017 SPURS PLAYOFF GUIDE PLAYER AND STAFF BIOS 5 LaMARCUS ADRIDGE ALDRIDGE BIO HOW ACQUIRED: Signed by the Spurs on 7/9/15 2016-17: Started in each of his 72 appearances, averaging 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.22 blocks in 32.4 minutes … shot .477 from the field, .411 from three-point range and .812 from the free throw line … scored in double figures 67 times, including 20 games with 20-plus points … logged a team-best 18 double-doubles … recorded the most total blocks on the team with 88 on the season … led the team in rebounds 22 times and in scoring 13 times … scored his 15,000th career point on 3/23 vs. Memphis … notched a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds along with 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal on 3/4 vs. Minnesota … tallied a double-double of 21 points (10-19 FG) and 15 rebounds along with 3 blocks on 3/3 at New Orleans … posted his fourth consecutive double-double and 12th of the season when he registered 15 points and 10 rebounds on 2/12 at New York … tallied a double-double with 15 points (5-10 FG, 5-6 FT) and 10 rebounds on 2/8 at Philadelphia … recorded a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds on 2/6 at Memphis … logged a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds on 1/27 at New Orleans … led the team in scoring and rebounding as he recorded 21 points (6-14 FG, 9-11 FT), 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal on 1/24 at Toronto … notched a double-double of 16 points (7-14 FG, 2-4 FT) and a game-high 12 rebounds along with 6 assists on 1/21 at Cleveland … logged 29 points (12-20 FG, 5-6 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks on 1/17 vs.