On October 26, Beijing time, the Spurs played away against the Miami Heat, and in the absence of the three main players in the team, relying on the outbreak of Aldridge and Rudy Gay, the Spurs finally won the game.

After the game, a news from ESPN reporter Mark J. Spears instantly shocked many people, and the San Antonio Spurs sent veteran Tony Parker to the Austin Spurs, a subordinate development league team, for rehabilitation. Parker has already completed a training session with the team and will be working with the team again on Friday.

Although, in the NBA, injuries often occur when the team travels to play on the road and the injured players stay home to train with the Development League team, it is still a bit surprising for a veteran like Tony Parker, who holds the All-Star and Finals Most Valuable Player title, to be willing to lower his profile and accept the "devolution" arrangement, and to do so high-profile.

This also illustrates once again that the Spurs team has a good team culture of "team first, meritocracy".

If there is one word to sum up the Spurs spirit, many people will choose "sacrifice". Parker's agreement to decentralize this time fully illustrates the definition of the word "sacrifice".

Parker was injured in last year's playoffs. He fell to the ground after a layup and was carried off the court by a teammate. Post-race examination revealed a torn tendon in Parker's left quadriceps muscle, which was immediately surgically repaired, and a lengthy rehabilitation process began ever since.

Popovich revealed in an interview earlier this week that Parker will soon be able to start 5-on-5 practice. It's just that people didn't expect that Parker's next step would be to go to the Development Alliance.

Parker has played for the Spurs since he entered the league in 2001 as the No. 28 pick in the first round. In the blink of an eye, 16 years have passed, and most of the players who entered the league at the same time as him have faded out of people's sight, only a few people such as Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Joe Johnson are still active in the professional arena, but they are all "living fossils", leaders in the locker room, and objects of respect and admiration. But such a veteran was actually sent down?!

Is Parker's status and merit not enough? Apparently not! The French attacking point guard has been an integral part of the Spurs' offensive tactics for the past 16 years, helping the team reach the playoffs every year along with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, and he has been a six-time All-Star, a four-time champion, and even won the Finals Most Valuable Player award in 2007!

It can be said that in terms of seniority, Parker today is reasonable to ask for almost any request from the team, and if he insists on not developing the league, the team will never force it. But the tacit understanding formed by years of cooperation has given everyone enough to understand each other: Parker is willing to cooperate with all the team's arrangements, and the old man is also very aware of this - as long as it is beneficial to the team, anything can be done. And this kind of thing can only happen with the Spurs.

Sacrifice is easier said than done, and at the Spurs, this has become a culture, and Parker today is definitely not a special case. As early as Tim Duncan's rookie season, Big Brother David Robinson had a high wind and bright festival as a first-line superstar in the league, and since then, this team has been passed down and has always continued this valuable spiritual quality and become a unique scenery in the league.

In the summer of 2015, David West jumped out of his final year with the Pacers, worth $12.2 million, and opted to sign with the Spurs with a veteran base salary of $1.4 million a year to chase his championship dream. In the same year, while high-quality swingmen in the free agent market such as Chris Middleton and Wesley Matthews signed big contracts worth more than 70 million, the Spurs' top "3D" Danny Green only completed a four-year contract extension with the team for $45 million, the purpose of which was just to help the team leave enough space to sign All-Star interior LaMarcus Aldridge.

Green's choice is actually not surprising, because before him, the team's leading big brother has already led by example, and has repeatedly chosen to take the initiative to reduce his salary for the benefit of the team.

In the summer of 2007, the Spurs decided to extend Duncan's contract for two years ahead of schedule, and according to the salary cap and collective bargaining agreement at the time, Duncan could have received a contract extension worth $51 million, but in the end he offered a salary cut, and in the end he only signed a two-year contract of 40 million. He did this for the sole purpose of helping the team free up more space to re-sign Parker and Ginobili. In an interview at the time, Duncan once said this touching sentence: "I want to leave as a victor like David." ”

However, Duncan at that time was still far away from the day he "left". In the years that followed, he took the initiative to take several salary cuts to help the team free up salary space and reduce the pressure of the luxury tax in order to strengthen the roster. In 2012, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Spurs worth $30 million, and his salary fell by more than 50% compared to the previous season; In the summer of 2015, he signed a two-year, $10.5 million contract extension with the team to help the team retain Kawaii, sign Ade, and build the team's future core.

Recognized as the No. 1 player in NBA history, Duncan's career has only been three seasons with an annual salary of more than $20 million, which is incredible. When other superstars were in the twilight of their careers with pension contracts of 2 to 30 million at every turn, dragging down the team's rebuilding work, Duncan could be said to be a clear stream.

Including Jin Feng, who chose to renew his contract last season, to be honest, many teams contacted him at the beginning, and among these offers, the Spurs' offer was the lowest, but Jin Feng still decided to stay because he had been "infected".

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Financial sacrifices are only part of the story, and at Spurs, the sacrifices of players in terms of team status, personal data, etc., are widely present to everyone. The first one that should be brought out is another member of the GDP - the Argentine Ginobili. Old fans who have really had some experience watching football should know it: Manu in his peak is definitely the top scoring guard in the league, and in the entire league, only Kobe Bryant may be able to stabilize him.

However, such a legend has only served as a starter in a total of 993 regular season games played until his retirement. Such an arrangement inevitably limited Ginobili's room to play and harmed his personal interests. To take the simplest example: Ginobili was named an All-Star only twice in his NBA career, starting 74 games in 2004-05 and coming off the bench once in 80 games in 2010-11. It was also the two seasons with the highest percentage of starts in Ginobili's NBA career. In other words, if Ginobili changes teams, he can start every game and be selected as an All-Star every year!

In addition to Ginobili, Aldridge has also sacrificed a lot of shots in the last two seasons in order to obey the team's style of play. In his final year with the Trail Blazers, Ade averaged 23.4 points on 19.9 shots per game, but in his first two years with the Spurs, he averaged just 14.1 and 14.6 shots per game, respectively.

Is it because Ade's ability is not working? The answer is obviously no, since the beginning of the season this year, under the special arrangement of the old man, Ade has become the core of the offense, with an average of 20.3 shots in the first three games, 24.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists, which is still the top level in the league! is such a player, but he has been questioned, and these should have been mentally prepared from the moment he decided to join the Spurs.

The highest level of sacrifice is to integrate these two words into the blood and bones, and it is to make sacrifices without feeling that you are sacrificing. Ginobili once said in an interview: "We've all made sacrifices at different times, not just because we're selfless, but because we enjoy it, and we like it." The quality of life is very important to me, as long as you have enough money, it is all about what you want. For me, it's better to be happy every day than anything else. ”

Zi said: "Do not suffer from widowhood but suffer from inequality, do not suffer from poverty but suffer from anxiety." It means that poverty is not terrible, but what we are afraid of is uneven distribution, and it is not terrible to have fewer people, but what we are afraid of is not being stable. Although this sentence has historical limitations and contains some negative emotions, it is also a wise saying. In short, two words: fairness!

Spurs players are willing to make sacrifices for the team, and it is also important that this team treats everyone equally, and in terms of hiring, it is not about seniority, and there are capable people, providing everyone with opportunities to develop.

Take Parker as an example: when he entered the NBA Draft, he was not at all conspicuous. Without any background in American basketball, he didn't get much attention, and in the end, Popovich was selected after being strongly recommended by Spurs general manager RC Buford.

However, after only four games for the Spurs, Parker, who was only 19 years old, was promoted to the starting point by the old man, and has been the team's main point guard for more than ten years. Although Parker was scolded in the first few years, it was Popovich's bold promotion and careful training that finally made his Hall of Fame-level career possible.

More than a decade has passed, Parker has become a veteran himself, and it is time for the Spurs to renew. Although Parker is indeed injured now, even if he can play healthy, it may be time to give up the start.

While the team's veteran players were recuperating, the young Murray was given ample opportunity to perform.

Dejounte Murray, the young point guard selected by the Spurs with the 29th pick in the first round last year, has become the biggest surprise for the Spurs after more than a year of development. Since the beginning of the new season, he has started in place of Parker, averaging 13.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals in the first three games, shooting 56.7% from the field! Among them, in the last game against the Raptors, he gave a gorgeous performance of 16 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

Murray has strong technical characteristics, tall and long arms, excellent athleticism, and a positive defensive attitude, but he is thin and lacks consistency in his outside shooting. In the face of such a piece of jade to be carved, most teams will choose to develop slowly, and maybe even delegate to the development league to exercise, but Popovich is not.

Examples like Murray's are not uncommon at the Spurs. In recent years alone, people like Green and Mills, including Baynes, Joseph, and Marjanovic who are no longer on the team, have also gone from little-known small people to "middle-class players" who can get stable contracts and team status, which is inseparable from the Spurs' meritocracy team culture and Popovich's superb coaching level.

In the NBA, there are many successful teams, but not every team has been as competitive as the Spurs for nearly 20 years. The Bulls in the 90s of the last century, the Lakers in the first decade of the 21st century, and the Heat during the Big Three period can all be called dynasty teams, but these teams, without exception, have all had some "internal problems". Only Spurs, even if you hear them say bad things about each other, you will immediately think: this is a joke.

This is first and foremost thanks to their great coaches. Popovich, who was born in the military, had a tough style, and under his rule, he placed special emphasis on discipline and would never tolerate the existence of black sheep. This point has been fully reflected in the selection and management of the Spurs team in the future, and those players with "personality defects" have no chance to enter this team.

In addition, Duncan, the team's cornerstone player, is a consummate leader in his own right, leading by example in training and games, while at the same time being gentle and even hilarious, which largely neutralizes the tension caused by the coach's stern style and ensures a pleasant atmosphere in the locker room.

At the same time, one reason that cannot be ignored is that the Spurs are still a multinational force, these players come from different countries and have different cultural backgrounds, but they come to a strange country for the same goal, have a similar psychological process, can understand each other, and are willing to help each other, which is naturally more conducive to the unity of the team.

In the NBA, teammates are not equal to friends, many people fight side by side on the court, hating to swear life and death, but as soon as the game is over, they go back to their respective homes, there is almost no intersection, only when they go to the away game, can they go shopping and have a meal together, and cultivate a relationship. In such a team, basketball will only be seen as a job, and the game can be full of passion, but it is difficult to rise to the height of love.

But the Spurs are different, this team is really like a big family, Popovich is a strict father, Duncan and Ginobili are amiable big brothers, Leonard and Murray are obedient and willing little brothers, everyone supports each other and moves forward side by side for a goal. When the brothers are too old to fight, the younger brother will say from the heart: Don't worry, leave it to me!

Duncan, who retired a year ago, still returns to the team from time to time; Ginobili, who has just retired, is believed to do the same, and Parker said he wants to surpass Duncan and play 20 seasons with the Spurs for ....... In fact, they have done enough for this team, because because of their words and deeds, the next generation has grown up and is ready to take over the banner of the team.

"I feel like it's really like a home, that's why I chose to renew my contract in the first place, and that's why we've won games in a row, and it's clear that Toney is a great player, he's sacrificing himself to help the team, and I'm looking forward to him coming back to the game soon," Jin Feng said in an interview.