1990 Spurs Preseason Presser

[Eazy P]

Good morning everyone, and welcome to HemisFair Arena for the San Antonio Spurs preseason presser.

Before we look ahead to the 1990–91 campaign, on behalf of the entire Spurs organization, we want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to the incredible city of San Antonio and our faithful fans across South Texas.

Standing here as a team that has won two of the last three NBA Championships is an unbelievable honor, but what makes it truly special is sharing it with this community. Those two Finals battles against a tough, disciplined Milwaukee Bucks squad pushed us to our absolute limits. Spurs fans are the heartbeat of this franchise. Every parade down the River Walk, every sellout crowd chanting in this building, and every silver-and-black banner hanging in these rafters belongs to you. We are truly humbled by your unwavering love and support, and we couldn't be happier to bring that championship glory to San Antonio. The energy in this arena during the playoffs was deafening, and every single person in our locker room knows we don’t hoist those banners without your unconditional love and support. On behalf of the entire organization, we are deeply humbled, eternally grateful, and proud to play for you.


Now, as any championship franchise knows, staying at the top requires tough decisions and constant evolution. We experienced some significant roster turnover this summer, and we want to address that directly.

We want to extend our sincere appreciation to Isiah Thomas, who chose to test the waters in free agency this summer. Isiah was a warrior for us, a vital architect of our championship runs, and we wish him nothing but the best.

We also finalized a trade sending Rodney McCray to the Charlotte Hornets. Rodney’s wing defense, unselfish passing, and veteran locker room presence were invaluable during our championship runs. Trading a player of his character is never easy, and we thank him for everything he gave to this city.


To fill those roles, our front office targeted high-IQ, battle-tested veterans who fit our culture. We added Phil Ford to give us seasoned floor leadership and composure in the backcourt .Orlando Woolridge brings elite athletic scoring on the wing that’s going to ignite our fast break. Grant Long adds a physical, blue-collar edge and rebounding muscle at the power forward spot. James Donaldson gives us a massive 7-foot interior wall, elite rebounding, and rim protection off the bench to match up with the heavyweights in the West.

Even with the new faces, our veteran foundation remains the same. The hunger in practice over the last four days has been phenomenal.

Michael Jordan came into camp in unbelievable shape. His drive to win back-to-back titles after losing in '89 is borderline terrifying. He's setting the tone in every single drill.

Magic Johnson continues to be the heartbeat and joy of this team. His communication, court vision, and transition passing with our new runners like Woolridge have already looked electric.

Chris Mullin looks light on his feet and sharp as ever. His perimeter shooting stretches the floor for our drives and he’s quietly added even more playmaking off the bounce.

Tom Chambers gives us that lethal, high-flying perimeter and mid-range scoring threat from the frontcourt, while Mark West remains our anchor setting punishing screens, owning the glass, and protecting the paint.


If there is one major takeaway from training camp, it is Danny Manning. His confidence is growing. He’s taking guys into the post, pulling up from mid-range, running the floor like a guard, and making good passing reads out of double teams. He’s putting in extra hours after practice every single day with the coaching staff, and his continuous growth is the single most exciting development of this preseason.

We know what’s waiting for us out there this upcoming season. We are the hunted. The target on our back is getting bigger.

Our goals for this upcoming season are to gel quickly as a unit and build our trademark chemistry during the preseason.
Secure top playoff seeding and hopefully maintain our home court dominance at HemisFair Arena. We can't be satisfied with what we've done in the past. The goal is to bring a third NBA Championship home to the best fans in professional sports.

Once again thank you all for join us.

If there are any questions, I will answer them to the best of my ability.

[greepleairport]

Danny Manning is an extremely versatile player that you currently have at shooting guard. He's a very oversized / slow shooting guard. Any ideas where he fits into your lineup this season?

[NickMalone77]

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: What went into the difficult decision to let McCray go to keep the core together for another season?

[Eazy P]

Danny Manning is an extremely versatile player that you currently have at shooting guard. He's a very oversized / slow shooting guard. Any ideas where he fits into your lineup this season?

It will depend on the matchup. We are hoping he can be a matchup nightmare from of the bench. He can play every position if needed, maybe not PG but ya never know. We've seen crazy lineup in the past with this league that worked out for the better. If he continues improve, you may see him in the starting lineup at some point in the season

[Eazy P]

Nick Melon; Charlotte Observer: What went into the difficult decision to let McCray go to keep the core together for another season?

We knew at some point we would have to make a decision to move on from McCray because he had outplayed his deal and on his own team he would play up to his potential. We figured he was going to get really good offers and since we had his Bird rights we knew our offer would give him the bigger payday. We didn't want to let him go for nothing. We talked to him about it and was good with whichever way things went. We are happy to see how he looked this preseason and wish him the best. Also having Danny Manning improving his game every year helped made that difficult decision a little easier.

[IamQuailman]

Will there be another rematch in the finals this year... or will things shake out differently for once? We know how the league feels, but what about your thoughts!

[Eazy P]

Will there be another rematch in the finals this year... or will things shake out differently for once? We know how the league feels, but what about your thoughts!

As much as I will like to keep things going, I think there's a possibility we can see a different finals match up. The sonics has a really good roster and could come out of the west. Their division is tough but on paper there isn't a hole on their roster.

[WigNosy]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

What do you say to the haters that are rooting for your team to explode despite your core being locked in through their primes?

[Eazy P]

Steve Duin, the Oregonian:

What do you say to the haters that are rooting for your team to explode despite your core being locked in through their primes?

I would advise them to focus on their own situation and not being a hater. Their time will come if they focus more on things to help make their team better.