UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and his longtime point guard, Tony Parker, are headlining a star-studded class of entrants into the Naismith Hall of Fame this weekend.
But, as Popovich detailed Friday, that partnership almost never got off the ground after Parker's initial workout didn't go well.
"I hated him," Popovich said here at Mohegan Sun, where the Hall of Fame held its news conferences Friday ahead of Saturday night's enshrinement in Springfield, Mass. "I said I don't want him. He's a weenie. He's unaggressive. He doesn't like contact, he's 19, and I don't want to see him.