YOM KIPPUR: Building Stronger Bridges

Atoning and Moving Forward

   Originally delivered as a Yom Kippur sermon in 1997, shortly after the occurrence of the events described here., this post can also be found in "Baseballs, Basketballs, and Matzah Balls: What Sports Can Teach Us About the Jewish Holidays ... and Vice Versa" by Rabbi Mitchell Smith (available on Amazon) 

On the evening of July 14, 1997, I made my way through the Tel Aviv rush hour traffic to Israel's National Stadium to attend the opening ceremonies of the 15^th Maccabiah Games. Along with 50,000 others, I came to watch the opening night pageantry saluting these games, a Jewish Olympics fusing athletic competition with the spirit of Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people. The ceremony was colorful and moving, a well-crafted if sometimes kitschy amalgam of old newsreels, choreographed numbers on the field, and narration commemorating the centennial of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland and recounting the achievements of Zionism’s first 100 years.

As we watched footage of David Ben Gurion proclaiming in 1948 the establishment of the Jewish State, soldiers making their way to the Western Wall in 1967 marking the capture of the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, and images of Yitzhak Rabin shaking Yassir Arafat’s hand on the White House Lawn in 1993, all around me in the stadium cell phones began to ring. From the pieces of conversation that I was able to hear, I gathered that something terrible had happened. A few moments later an announcement was made bringing the ceremony to a sudden end and, foregoing the customary entrance into the stadium of each country’s delegation, all in attendance were ushered out.

Half an hour later, at the nearby home of friends, I learned from the TV coverage that the bridge which was to carry the delegations from the staging area toward the stadium itself had collapsed, toppling about 100 members of the Australian contingent into the Yarkon, a small river running through that neighborhood on its way to the Mediterranean. There were numerous injuries incurred in the fall, and two athletes were confirmed dead that first evening. Two others would subsequently be added to their ranks, and it was later learned that the deaths were caused not by the fall, but by the ingestion of untreated sewage that was in the Yarkon.

As this tragedy cast its pall over the entire Maccabiah Games, the following day was declared a day of mourning, and all competitions were cancelled. What would have otherwise been a time of wonderful opportunities to compete and excel became instead an occasion notably bereft of any excelling, a time for learning something about human nature and missed opportunities for “manning up.”

First to come were the unending condemnations of the decision to have gone on with the opening night ceremonies for some period of time once it had become known that the bridge had collapsed. As it turned out, key Maccabiah officials and dignitaries had already been informed of the events well in advance of the actual announcement to the public. Then-president Ezer Weizman, seated in the VIP section, was quick to claim that he was not the one opting to proceed with the ceremony, and anyway, no one knew at the time the extent of the calamity.  (Not true, it was later learned, but irrelevant in any event.)

“LIKE THE ORCHESTRA OF THE TITANIC, PLAYING AS THE SHIP WENT DOWN” read the very large headline the next day on the front page of the Israeli daily paper Ma’ariv. Televised coverage of proceedings in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, showed one politician after another ascending the speaker’s podium to criticize that decision, and since talk is cheap, it seemed like a good time for all the parties (Israel has some two dozen political parties!) to get into the act. Even Arab members of the Knesset took the Maccabiah folks to task as they, too, were not to be denied their chance to be heard.      

The “talk fest” continued the following evening at the memorial service for the fallen Australian athletes, when then-mayor of Jerusalem Ehud Olmert declared that “the Games should go on – in the Maccabean spirit – for this is what the fallen athletes would have wanted.” What the dead athletes would probably have wanted, I thought to myself, would be to see the responsible parties held accountable for their negligence which resulted in the stupid and needless loss of lives. How much easier, though, to just keep talking, to toss out empty phrases like “the Maccabean spirit,” and to point an accusatory finger at somebody else.

The engineer who designed the bridge blamed the construction company for shoddy workmanship. The construction company officials claimed that they merely built the bridge according to the specifications they were given, inadequate as they might be to the task of carrying thousands of people. The Maccabiah organizing committee put the blame onto the event-planning firm which they had hired to erect the bridge. The bridge, it turned out, was built without the necessary permits, and local officials of the Ramat Gan municipality were also implicated. It seems that orders called for a bridge that was needed for only two hours. Supposedly the engineer had stipulated that no more than 100 people be allowed on the bridge at a time, surely an unrealistic, not to mention irresponsible, specification for an event of such magnitude.

It was reported in the press that the Maccabiah organizers had awarded the contract for the bridge’s construction to the event-planning firm because their bid of 90,000 shekels, (about $30,000 at the time) was so much lower than the 300,000 shekel estimate submitted by the Israeli Defense Forces. Since the army does not operate on a for-profit basis, the organizers should have been suspicious of a competing bid for a bridge to carry 5,000 people over the Yarkon that came in so much lower, but it appears that the pressures of meeting a budget prevailed, even though it resulted in the loss of lives.

The Australian delegation, mourning the loss of four team members and debating whether or not to stay on at the Games, was furious to hear that financial considerations had taken precedence over human safety. “Who cares if they went on with the ceremony or not?” asked one Australian athlete with whom I spoke. “What does it matter if they went ahead with dancing and the fireworks? The whole subject is irrelevant. The only question that really matters is how this tragedy was allowed to happen in the first place.” And yet, continuing to debate the matter of the ceremony as if it had any consequence, Israelis filled the airwaves with the sounds of their own self-importance. It called to mind the verse in Genesis after Cain had killed his brother Abel, and God says to him, “Hark! Your brother’s blood cries out to me.” The blood of dead athletes cried out, but none of the officials or dignitaries involved seemed to be listening as they were all too busy talking.

On the bus back to the hotel following the memorial program, the Australian basketball coach remarked, “Tell me why everyone here keeps saying, ‘It’s not my fault’? When is someone going to come forward and admit to at least a part of the responsibility in this?”­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

            Rabbi Hillel taught: In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.                                    

  The fact that no one accepted any responsibility, but elected to pass the buck, caused me to think of the prayer which we recite on Yom Kippur, the Ashamnu confessional, in which we own up to our shortcomings. It is instructive that this confessional prayer, like so much of the Yom Kippur liturgy, is worded in the plural – we have transgressed, we have betrayed, etc., acknowledging our standing as a community before the Almighty rather than removing ourselves from the circle of responsibility. Even more to the point is the paragraph immediately preceding the Ashamnu, recited as we prepare to rise and confess our sins, in which we proclaim the following:

Our God and God of our ancestors, may our prayer reach You and may You heed our supplication. For we are neither so arrogant or stubborn as to say before You … “We are righteous and have not sinned, for indeed we have sinned.” (italics mine)

Several people were dead because of negligence. Nothing could change that. But some good could have come out of this tragic episode if someone (anyone!) had stepped forward to accept even a portion of the responsibility. What a remarkable thing it would have been, in true service to a society championing decency and in tribute to the fallen athletes, if someone, from President Weizman to the engineer to the Maccabiah organizers, would have risen to the occasion and admitted to making a mistake, instead of each one worrying only about securing his own political well-being. Would this not have been a more genuine and meaningful show of respect to the fallen athletes than a dozen memorials or two dozen speeches?

How welcome it would have been if Israel’s rabbinic leaders, entrusted (presumably) with the spiritual well-being of the country, would have come forward and said something of moral substance about the need, or even the benefit, of acknowledging when we have erred, rather than devoting their energies to ritual policing and using their positions (as many have done) for political entrenchment.*

There are many ways that we can shirk our responsibility, by denying that we messed up, by passing the buck, by rationalizing our behavior. We may find it easier to play the victim, to find excuses. But on Yom Kippur, we are reminded that our actions have consequences, and we are asked to “man up.” And while the fasting and prayers of Yom Kippur can bring about reconciliation with God, our tradition instructs us that only by reaching out in genuine regret to those we have wronged can we begin to amend our relations with one another.

On Yom Kippur we pray for forgiveness, and seek a clean slate. What a wonderful thing to be forgiven, to be offered another chance. In his book How Good Do We Have to Be? Rabbi Harold Kushner writes:

In ancient Israel in Biblical times, religion not only defined what was right and what was wrong … it also gave people something to do when they felt burdened by a sense of falling short of the mark and disappointing God. They would bring a sacrifice, a sin-offering, to God’s altar. Its purpose was not to “balance the books” with one good deed to offset every bad one, nor was it to bribe God to overlook their offense. Its purpose was to acquaint the donor with his or her better nature, to let him say to himself, “I know that I am not perfect … I am not a bad person.  I am a person who often does bad things, but more often does good things. And if that’s good enough for God, it should be good enough for me.” And the sages tell us that in all of Jerusalem there was no happier person than the man or woman who brought his sin-offering to God’s altar and walked away feeling forgiven.

     But we cannot find forgiveness until first we have acknowledged our shortcomings. The irony is that there is really no shame in admitting our failings, but rather a show of tremendous courage and character. We are not expected to be perfect, as the very name of this day attests. The word kippur comes from an ancient Near Eastern root k-p-r which means to cover over, not in the sense of sweeping things under the rug, but as in the growth of new tissue over a wound, covering over the scarred area. Just as nature has a process for healing and new growth, so do we have a spiritual process for doing the same.

Rabbi Hama ben Hanina taught: Great is repentance for it brings healing to the world.                    

Even in times of tragedy, times of confusion and chaos, times of weariness, or perhaps at those times most of all, we can find the capacity to admit we have strayed from the path of honor, and the courage to rectify our mistakes.

“Hear our voice, O Lord,” we recite in prayer on this day. But of no less importance is that we hear, too, by pausing to take stock of ourselves, by pausing from our activities and our posturing and our struggling to simply hear our own voice.

“Return us to You, O Lord, and we shall return. Renew our days as of old.” Yom Kippur offers us an opportunity to find the wisdom, the courage, and the call within to acknowledge our own shortcomings and take responsibility for our actions, so that we may renew our lives and bring strength and blessing to ourselves and one another. It is a time to commit ourselves to building stronger bridges, so that we may walk on them proudly and honorably in the coming year and always.

 HEROES AND DEFINING MOMENTS: 9/11 AND THE HIGH HOLIDAYS 

On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed:

Who shall live, and who shall die….

Who shall live out the full measure of their days,

and who shall not…

                 From the High Holy Day prayer book

 

    

"I know we’re going to die. Some of us are going to do something about it."

                Tom Burnett, a passenger of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, speaking to his wife on the telephone from the airplane

 

 

"Are you guys ready?  Let’s roll."

                                 Todd Beamer, another passenger on Flight 93

I

n the Jewish year, at no time is our fate more on our minds than during the Days of Awe. The High Holy Days take note of life’s uncertainty. The words we recite in prayer echo age-old concerns.

From earliest times, man turned to religion in his quest to overcome the fear of such uncertainty, inventing rituals to stave off the dread of things beyond his control. For their own seeming ability to triumph over uncertainty, elite athletes have long been held in high esteem, the rare breed among us achieving that elusive victory. In the world of sport one confronts an uncertain outcome, and in victory, the best of competitors seem to defy fate. Is there a more compelling image than Michael Jordan releasing the shot that clinched the 1999 NBA Championship and closed his professional career (or so we believed at the time, picturing our hero riding off into the sunset), the epitome of the athlete imposing his will on life’s uncertain stage? Larger than life, such heroes seem to lend to all of us a feeling of being in control, if only for the briefest moment.

But every once in a while, reality supersedes symbolism, and real heroes, performing real tasks, take center stage. And while real-life heroes may not always defy fate and walk away with trophies, they truly stand up to it in a manner that compels our attention. It happened one fall Tuesday, when events changed a country in ways beyond our imagination. In its burden of grief, a people found heroes more important than athletes. It found them in smoke-filled stairwells of the World Trade Center. And it found them in the air at 30,000 feet. Actually, there were athletes involved.  We just didn’t know it at the time.

On one of the hijacked planes, it turns out, there was a two-time NCAA rugby champ, a college baseball player, a national collegiate judo champion, and a former high school football star. And there were others who were pretty serious in their own recreational athletic pursuits.

In his book Among the Heroes: United Flight 93 and the Passengers and Crew Who Fought Back, New York Times reporter Jere Longman wrote that “upon conducting more than 300 interviews, I came to realize that the passengers and crew members aboard Flight 93 were…people who were on top of their game, who kept score in their lives and who became successful precisely because they…knew how to make a plan and carry it out.”

There were people, noted Longman, who could assess a situation and work in teams. People who were fiercely competitive and hated to lose.  People who knew how to exercise patience and think ahead. Unflappable people who had learned to stay calm under pressure, people who didn’t submit meekly to anything. People with a keen sense of planning and preparation, undaunted by a challenge and ready to face adversity, even when it presented a threat to their security. Qualities one would expect to find among seasoned athletes.

One passenger “had a special ability to make you rise above yourself and be the best part of what you could be,” a friend told Longman. The husband of another passenger reflected on the democracy of it all: “They gathered information, they did reconnaissance, they submitted their plan to a vote. They were ordinary citizens thrown into a combat situation. They said, ‘We’re probably not going to make it, but let’s save others.’”

“At times like this, sports are trivial,” Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly observed some days later. “But what the best athletes can do – keep their composure amid chaos, form a plan when all seems lost and find the guts to carry it out – may be why the Capitol isn’t a charcoal pit.”

Up until September 11, says Longman, “passengers were (discouraged from assisting) the crew in the rare case of an airplane hijacking. That all changed with the brave insurrection of the passengers and crew members aboard United Flight 93…. Many crucial questions about the final minutes of the flight remain unanswered, but it is clear the passengers and crew acted with heroic defiance. They accomplished what security guards and military pilots and government officials could not – they impeded the terrorists, giving their lives and allowing hundreds or thousands of others to live.”

With the hijackers at the controls as the Newark-to-San Francisco flight took a sharp turn southward somewhere near Cleveland, a plan was being hatched. “We’re going to throw (boiling) water on (the terrorists) and try to take the airplane back,” flight attendant Sandy Bradshaw relayed to her husband back home. “We just had breakfast and we have our butter knives,” Jeremy Glick said to his wife, Lyz, apparently rising to the moment with his wit intact as well as his courage. These brave people had decided to take charge, to wrest control back from the terrorists, or at the very least to prevent them from succeeding in their diabolical scheme.

The Philistines had taken Samson captive, and put him in shackles, and gouged out his eyes. And the princes of the Philistines gathered to offer sacrifices to their gods and to rejoice, saying, “Our gods have given Samson the enemy into our hands.”  And as it pleased them, they called for Samson to be brought from the prison to amuse them. There were some 3,000 people on the roof, waiting to laugh at Samson. And Samson grasped the two middle pillars upon which the building rested, and prayed, “O Lord, give me strength this one last time to avenge myself upon the Philistines.” And Samson toppled the columns, saying, “Let me die with the Philistines,” and the house fell upon all who were in it.       (Judges 16:21-30)

Speaking at a memorial for the crew and passengers of Flight 93 at the site of the crash three days later, Pennsylvania Governor (and later Director of Homeland Security) Tom Ridge said that by fighting back, these courageous people had “undoubtedly saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives in the process….They sacrificed themselves for others – the ultimate sacrifice. What appears to be a charred smoldering hole in the ground is truly and really a monument to heroism.”

Although there is no way to know exactly what happened, says Longman, “what does appear certain is that the passengers and crew acted with heroic purpose. The hijackers attempted to scare the passengers into docility by warning that they had a bomb on the plane. In the end, though, it was the passengers who unnerved the hijackers.”

When the German army began its annihilation of the Warsaw Ghetto, some Jews, despite enormous odds, took up arms. On the first evening of Passover, April 19, 1943, more than 2,000 well-armed German troops broke through into the Ghetto with tanks. Armed only with light weapons, a few hundred Jews fought back, inflicting sizeable losses upon the Nazis. The Jews proved to the entire world that it was possible to resist with pride and courage. 

 

During those days, Warsaw Ghetto uprising leader Mordechai Anilewicz wrote to a friend: “Something has happened that is beyond our wildest dreams….The Germans ran away from the ghetto twice. I cannot describe to you the conditions under which the Jews are living. All will perish sooner or later. Our fate is sealed….but I have been fortunate enough to see the Jewish defense of the ghetto in all its grandeur.(Lionhearts: Heroes of Israel)             

Adds Longman: “They set out that morning as businessmen and businesswomen, students, vacationers….In the final desperate minutes, they were all trying to get home safely to their families….They were scared, but they did not let fear overwhelm them. They knew the odds were slim, but they retaliated with valor and prevented the terrorists from reaching their target. At a time…when the United States appeared defenseless against an unfamiliar foe, the passengers and crew of Flight 93 provided the solace of defiance. They fought back, bringing a measure of victory to unthinkable defeat.” 

Practice the way you want to play 

“The thing holding me together is knowing the person Todd was on his easy days was the person he was on his hardest day,” said Lisa Beamer of her husband, a passenger of Flight 93. Many Americans learned that the same thing is true of the fire fighters and other first responders who rise to the occasion day after day, as so many of them did on that fateful morning. It is a quality shared by the best in all walks of life. Michael Jordan, the consummate athlete and as fierce a competitor as there is, was known for showing as much intensity in practice as on game day. How different the attitude shown by someone like Allen Iverson, a gifted athlete, but one who sneers at practice as something for other people. 

How different the attitude of the corporate leaders who, like Iverson, scoff at the rules they consider beneath them. Leaders of Enron, Tyco, Worldcom – pampered executives cashing in on millions in stock options to build luxury homes and indulge their fancies while their own employees saw their retirement savings vanish. Different, indeed, from the spirit of self-sacrifice that moved firefighters to rush into the burning towers of downtown Manhattan to save lives while all about them were rushing out of those same buildings.  Unlike some over-indulged athletes and captains of industry, these modestly paid civil servants embodied the loftiest qualities of the human spirit. These were America’s heroes on September 11 and in the days that followed.

The experience of (concentration) camp life shows that man does have a choice of action. There were enough examples of…men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way. 

                

Man’s Search for Meaning, by Victor Frankl, psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor

“Time to step up to the plate,” is how Todd Beamer had put it.

In 1995, Aaron Feuerstein stepped up to the plate when the largest fire in Massachusetts history destroyed his textile mill. At age 70, he could have accepted $300 million in insurance money and retired to a comfortable life, or rebuilt overseas, where labor costs are far cheaper.  But he spent the $300 million and borrowed another $100 million to rebuild the mill, insuring that his 3,400 employees would keep their livelihood. Taking the additional step of paying his workers their salaries for two months after the fire, to the tune of $25 million, Feuerstein came to be known as The Mensch of Malden Mills. “I think it was a wise business decision, but that isn’t why I did it,” he told Sixty Minutes’ Morley Safer.  “I did it because it was the right thing to do. And what would I do with the money? Eat more? Buy another suit?” Quoting the Torah in Hebrew (“Lo ta’ashok sakhir – You shall not take advantage of the laborer in need” Deuteronomy 24:14), he explained. “You are not permitted to oppress the working man because he’s poor and needy, amongst your brethren and amongst the non-Jew in your community.”

In his introduction to the book Lionhearts: Heroes of Israel, a profile of fighters who gave their lives in service to Israel and the Zionist cause, editor Michael Bar-Zohar dedicated the book

…to the spirit of the fighters, to the qualities of volunteering, self-sacrifice for one’s fellow man, utmost courage and nobility, without which a nation cannot exist.  In these present days, characterized by the pursuit of material wealth, the preference of private interests over public ones…we should remember that terms like “patriotism,” “sacrifice”  and “courage” are not just empty slogans but the expression of noble qualities and feelings of which one should be proud.

In a speech he gave to the employees of his company shortly before his death, Tom Burnett, one of the heroes of Flight 93, said: “What we accomplish in life, our pursuits, our passions, echo in posterity through our children, our neighbors, and in our souls.”

One visitor to the crash site of Flight 93 remarked: “Just the thought of people on an airplane saying, ‘We’re not going to let these guys get away with this,’ makes you want to live your life better than you had been.”

To want to live your life better than you have been, to leave a legacy in your own lifetime, to step up to the plate when it matters – this is not only the message of these sacred autumn days, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and 9/11 – but carried on the clear, piercing blasts of the shofar, cuts to the very heart of what it means to be a Jew.

HOLDING COURT WITH ... SPURS ASSISTANT COACH ETTORE MESSINA

How did you first start coaching?

I started coaching at age 17, coaching the U-14 team in the club where I had played.  This was in Venice.  

I would imagine that the two primary things you did then were teaching the players the basic skills - shooting, ball handling, passing, etc. - and understanding the game and widening their knowledge regarding how to play basketball.  So if you compare what you do now as an assistant coach in the NBA to what you did then with the kids, is there anything that connects you with your roots?

It's funny that you ask this because especially when you come here (to the Spurs) and you look at who is probably the best basketball coach in the world and the way he teaches and coaches, he's still going back to the basics all the time. As a young coach I had little experience, I was just a kid who had played and was watching the head coach of our pro team and how he coached the players. I saw that he was really focused on teaching the fundamentals. So what I saw him do was what I was trying to teach my players. And now, after almost 40 years, I am with another coach who does the very same thing. 

Of course the game has evolved over the years; it's played by better players, better athletes, but nevertheless teaching the basics is at the core of coaching.

You have had a great career yourself as a head coach in Europe. Now you are working alongside arguably - as you said - the best coach in the business these days.  What is it that makes Coach Popovich such an exceptional coach?

First of all I would say his culture, because he is a person who has a lot of interests beyond basketball - whether it's politics, history, or whatever.  He is a person with a special talent to relate to people. Overall I would say it is the person he is that makes him such a special coach.

Can you point to some of the things he does in particular?

The way he prepares himself for a game. The way he prepares the team for a game? His ability to squeeze what is really important to tell the team without wasting time, without talking too much, without overloading the players with information or requests.

The way he reacts in the game, the way he coaches the game.  This is the reason that so many coaches from all over the world come to watch our practices.

"It's not necessarily only in practice that you can improve."

In the college game practice is at the heart of the team's foundation - they have more hours of practice than of play. In the NBA it's nearly the opposite.  What role does that relegate practice to?

True we have less practice time, but there are other ways to teach, whether it is in the shoot-around when there is some time to go out on the floor, or in a film session or a development session, not it is not necessarily that only in practice that you can improve. It can be done individually or with a small group of players, and I think that what NBA coaches do very well is to maximize the utility of their time and still accomplish a lot.

When you reflect on your coaching career thus far, what gives you the greatest sense of satisfaction or pride?

It is the times when I have had the opportunity to work with people who were all focused on trying to do what we were doing in the best possible way: players, coaches and management. Each time I had the opportunity to experience this feeling that we were all on the same page in this regard it was great - whether we won or lost the game.

HOLDING COURT WITH ... MIAMI HEAT STAR GORAN DRAGIC

Ten years ago Goran Dragic was the “new kid on the (NBA) block.” The start of the current NBA season sees Dragic as the leader of the 2017-18 Miami Heat, on and off the court. The one-time student is now the teacher, who brings with him the success of the Slovenian gold-medal performance during last month’s European Championship.

How much did your years of NBA experience impact you were able to contribute to the Slovenian success in this summer’s Eurobasket victory?

Every year is a learning process and you try to get better. With each passing year I have tried to become a more vocal leader.  We had a good young team and I felt that Igor put a great system in place for us and that we played well as a group. To me that is the key – it’s not just one or two guys but the whole team and that was what we were able to bring to the European Championship.

How much was this the factor critical compared to previous Eurobasket Tournaments where Slovenia came up short?

It was huge. In the past we may have had better players but we didn’t have the chemistry that allowed us to reach that last step and win a medal. This year we really connected as a team and we played amazing.

Did that chemistry mean greater intensity of play? Did it mean greater trust in each other? What did it produce on the court?

It meant that everybody knew what their role is and everybody was on the same page. It meant everybody was battling for each other and at the end of the day everybody was happy for each other if someone else had a good game.  And off the court we were hanging out together all the time.

And for you going against the best players in the world for the past ten seasons had an impact on what you were able to achieve as one of the team’s veteran players?

When you are competing against the best players in the world you get better too. All the work I have put in during the past, getting experience, trying to learn, trying to get better, defense, playing different styles, all this helped me as a leader of our team. But at the same time, in Europe it’s a different game and different rules so you need to adjust.  It’s not only about being able to play the same game here in the NBA as in Europe.

Luka Doncic, the 18-year-old who is projected as a 2018 NBA lottery pick, had a big role in the team’s success. Former national team stalwart Sani Becirovic posted on Facebook that “when you see Luka Doncic play you understand why we love this game.”  What did Luka bring to the success of this team, and to the spirit of how you all played?

What Sani is saying is that Luka is playing for fun. He’s not putting pressure on himself and when you watch him it is just him playing with his friends. He plays to give the fans something to cheer. What separates him from most other players is that he is not afraid.  He is playing with such calmness – it’s unbelievable for such a young guy – only 18 – to play at a level like this. He plays with a whole lot more experience than his age would suggest. Maturity-wise he is like 30! How he plays – his relaxed manner – he plays like a veteran and not like other players his age.

When Luka will presumably come over here to play in the NBA what else will Americans learn about him?

They will see what a diamond he is and what he is capable of doing.  That is the thrill of sports – you always want to play against the best, and Luka is one of the best.

You talked about Slovenia’s success though as a true team effort.

Well really everybody played an important role. Klemen Prepelic was a big part of our team, he played unbelievably. And then Gasper Vidmar, probably had his best European basketball tournament of his career. That was huge for us. And of course Anthony Randolph was great.  But you can’t single any players out. It was truly a team effort.  You had Aleksei Nikolic, Jaka Blazic – really everybody emerged as a leader and a player you wanted to have on this team. This was something very special.

From the beginning of Slovenian basketball, the national team qualified for European Championships but did not do manage to reach the medal rounds. What do you see now as being different, and does this suggest a new era for Slovenian basketball?

The main thing, as I said, was that everybody was on the same page, and accepted their role and what was asked of them.  And also, the important contribution of Igor (Kokoskov). He was a great leader and had a vision of what he wanted from the very beginning and up until the last game.  He was always calm and he conveyed that feeling of calmness to the team.  And you felt that he trusted you and that was the biggest thing – when we played through some tough situations we always had the feeling that we were going to be okay.

What does it mean to a small country like Slovenia to have this kind of success?

It’s great. We’re a country of some two million people and we have qualified for every major (basketball) tournament.  We are only missing an Olympic participation. And not just qualifying, but usually just one or two steps away from a medal. We have a good foundation for young kids learning the game.  At the moment there are some financial problems we face. But now we are seeing Olimpija getting back on its feet so hopefully we will again have a major club in European basketball.

You play in the NBA; this is your career and your livelihood.  It’s a long season and you strive to make the playoffs. Representing Slovenia is a different side of your basketball journey. What has it meant to represent your country in international play?

It means an awful lot. Slovenia has given me a lot. It’s my country; it’s where I grew up with my friends and was educated there. I cherish those things and to be able to represent my country is a privilege and an honor. And to be on the biggest stage in European basketball and win a gold medal for your country and your people is unbelievable and probably it will go down as the biggest achievement in my career. Of course, I am hoping to get an NBA ring … we’ll see.

I always try to represent my country in such a way that I can be a role model for young kids. For me, I don’t play basketball because it’s a job.  I play basketball because I enjoy it. And that is why I have always played for our national team, and even though there is the risk of injury and then you are in trouble when it comes to your team here (in the NBA) but I never thought about that.

Did the Heat have any concerns in that regard? 

The only time I didn’t play was when I signed with the Heat but I was also having problems back home because my wife was pregnant and there were some complications with the baby.

Does the prospect of getting to the Olympics spur you to stay with the national team?

I don’t know at this point.  We will see. That is three years away.  I said that I am retired, but it is always tempting to play in the Olympics.

Just outside of the Heat locker room where we are at the moment there is a photo of LeBron and D-Wade and Chris Bosh holding the NBA trophy. Does that motivate you to try to bring another title to Miami in the Goran Dragic years?

Of course. Every season you want to do your best, and would love to hold that trophy up.  In Slovenia no one gave us a chance and you’re always dreaming someday to become a champion. Everything is possible and that is why you work hard and try to get better every day.  And you hope that you will have that unbelievable chemistry with your team that results in being able to achieve your dream.

What do you think the Heat need to do to have a chance to get the trophy in 2018?

We need to rebuild the chemistry we had last year. We need to get back to that mentality. We feel we are on the right track. It’s still early but if we want to be a contender for the title we need to get a lot better.

Early on in your career (before you were a big star) we used to talk about when you would become more of a leader as a veteran and now you are.  As you look back on these past ten years in the league, what have you learned and what do you try to pass down to the newer players?

I know how tough it was for me when I came to the league so I want to help the young guys. I think the most important thing is to be an example for them. And I am now a much more vocal player and teammate. I am talking to the guys and giving them some advice.  When I was young Steve Nash and other veteran players helped me a lot with their advice so now it’s my turn to be in that position and try to help the young guys.

Considering the role that Steve Nash played as a mentor to you, does he continue to be someone in your own mind who you pattern your leadership style after?

Yes, of course. I always like to go back to my beginnings in the NBA and Steve Nash was one of the best and Grant Hill too.  And then in my time here in Miami I learned a lot from D-Wade and Chris Bosh.  These guys are leaders and Hall of Famers. You want to pick from guys like that to develop your own style.

You have been with Eric Spoelstra now for three years.  What sticks out in your mind concerning your relationship with him as player and coach?

He’s a very open guy and great communicator.  He has visited me twice in Slovenia including this year.  It’s a privilege to learn from someone who won two championship rings and I just want to keep improving under his leadership.

When you returned here to Miami after the European Championships, what was the clubs reception to your success?

Everybody was happy for me.  They were all following the games – probably because of me! I think the games were being shown in the treatment room. I had gotten a lot of text messages and tweets. When I got here there was a big poster showing me lifting the trophy and all the team signed it.

How hard was it for you to go from the European competition almost immediately right to Florida and training camp?

It was pretty hard. Physically I was okay but mentally I was pretty burnt out. When you are winning you don’t sleep a lot and you are out celebrating after games. Between all of that and the jet lag I was struggling for a few days.  But now I am totally back in my normal rhythm.

Having had the chance to play with your brother Zoran during his time with Phoenix and then here in Miami, what was the highlight of that for you?

I would say his last game playing for the Heat when he scored 24 points. I was on the bench cheering for him and that was one of the best moments. But also I would have to say in Phoenix the first time we shared the court together in an NBA game. That was truly special.

We have talked about your transition from student to mentor. You had a mentor-relationship with Luka Doncic’s dad Sasa early in your career.

Sasa was my teammate and mentor when I was playing in Slovan and in Union Olimpija.  He was the leader of our team and Luka was a ball boy in those games. So I knew him when he was a kid.  It’s nice to see how life circles back – first playing with the dad and now playing with the son.

Does that make you feel old?

A little bit.

HOLDING COURT WITH ... LATVIA'S DAVIS BERTANS

"I have no doubt he is going to be in a Spurs uniform for a long time.”    --- Former San Antonio Spurs great Sean Elliott.                    

Call him Tiago Splitter 2.0.  Like Splitter before him, Latvia’s Davis Bertans navigated his way through injuries and contract issues to make the same trip from Spanish powerhouse Saski Baskonia (formerly Caja Laboral) to the San Antonio Spurs. And like Splitter, Bertans left his own native country as a teenager to seek his basketball fortunes abroad with teams known for developing young players. Venturing first to Slovenia’s Olimpija at age 18, then on to Partizan Belgrade, Davis developed his game in the Balkans before heading to Spain, before finally joining the Spurs in the final days of the 2016 NBA Summer League.

HOLDING COURT WITH …caught up with Bertans at the start of the current season, and again in recent weeks.  First the interview that appeared in early November on the Spanish website Solobasket.com

You’ve been waiting for the day for a while.

DB:  Yes, for about five years. It feels great to be here.

You had your first game in the Alamodome in pre-season exhibition play, and more recently saw action in the season opener against the Warriors.  That must have been an exciting game for you.

DB:  Definitely – even though it was not so competitive at the end, it was still great to get on the court in the very first game and to score my first bucket.

Although you have only had limited minutes so far you seem to be finding your rhythm the moment you step onto the court.  Against the Warriors you went 2 for 2 and then a couple of games later against the Heat you started off draining your first two shots… and in all of these cases it happens within 30 seconds or less of entering the game.  Most NBA rookies struggle in their first few games as they are fighting off nerves. Was that typical for you, or were you just having great nights or what?

DB:  I’m just staying ready. You never know when you’re going to get minutes throughout the game so I stay warm and if I get a chance I have to use it.

You’re not exactly new to playing at this high level, between Euroleague competitions with  Saski Baskonia and playing for the Latvian national team in European Basketball Championships, but even so this is the NBA(!!)  Do you ever find yourself thinking: I can’t believe I am on the same court with this or that player that maybe you watched on TV over the years?

DB:  Maybe before or after the game you think about players you have watched on TV for five or ten years, but once you are on the court you forget about all of that.

The much greater number of games in the NBA – up to four games a week – can take a toll, though I probably need to ask you this in February or March.

DB:  Well the (five-star) hotels make it all good. It’s a lot of travel but our team plane is very comfortable, we don’t have to go through normal security checks, so there are a lot of things that ease that for us.

As you say, there are many “perks” available to NBA players even compared to the better teams in Europe?  What else have you noticed?

DB:  The staff that are part of the organization, like whenever you are on the court you have someone to rebound for you, and whatever you need there is someone to help you out, so that is probably the biggest difference.

There are more and more European and international players in the league with every passing year, but you are probably on the best team for an international player, given the number of international players that have played for the Spurs during Gregg Popovich’s time as head coach and the culture he has built here, and even having Ettore Messina who is an accomplished veteran of European basketball.

DB:  It is really perfect, plus even some of the American guys have played in Europe before getting on an NBA roster, so all of that makes it easier. Even if there are some things that I need to get used to I have players to turn to, for example Manu spent a few years playing in Italy before coming over here.

With that, was there any player on the team that you knew personally before coming here?

DB:  Not really.

What did Gregg Popovich say to you when you first got here?

DB:  Just welcome to the team.  He was talking to the whole team in training camp, telling us what he expects of the team and for everybody to accept their roles and that was pretty much it.

And since that time what is the most memorable thing he has said to you?

DB:  Fresh in my memory is what he said to me in last night’s game (against  ) when I stepped onto the court and I didn’t take an open shot and I tried to pass the ball and ended up turning it over and he said that’s a good lesson for me (laughing).

You are in touch with Kristaps Porzingis?

DB:  We got in touch after I signed with the Spurs and texted before the season opener – he wished me good luck and I wished him the same. Hopefully when we go to New York we will get some time and we will go for dinner.

              

He had a surprisingly amazing season last year.  People weren’t expecting this, and saying things like he lacks the physical strength to succeed in this league.

DB:  I didn’t expect that it was going to be THAT good. I knew that it was going to be better than what people were predicting from when he went in the draft. I knew that he was ready and that I knew that he might average like 10 (points) and eight (rebounds). People thought he wouldn’t really be ready for the league for the first couple of years. But I believed that after he was playing in the ACB for two or three years that he was ready and would do better than all the people predicted. I knew that he could play and could average 10 (points) and eight (rebounds per game).  But I didn’t expect that he would do as well as he did so quickly and average like 15 or 16 points per game.

He did comment on how much it helped him that then-coach Derek Fisher let him play through mistakes.

DB: Well that might be the hardest thing to overcome, for example if you make a turnover and then you get subbed out. But still you can see how hard and has been working and how much he has improved since his final season in Spain (2014-15).

And do you yourself feel pressure this year coming in as a rookie?

DB:  No, not at all.  Really I’m just happy to be here. And if I don’t get many minutes on the court I will just try to learn. And get better. Hopefully next year I will get a bigger role but I will take whatever Coach Pop gives me.  One of the best things on this team is that everybody accepts their role and no one is getting frustrated with the minutes they get.

How do you think it will be for Kris and Willy Hernangomez being reunited again after playing together two years ago?

DB:  I think when Willy gets more comfortable and gets more playing time they will be a really great duo. And of course they have great chemistry between them and all that size. When Willy gets more experience in the NBA he’s going to be a great force.

What’s the biggest adjustment you have found yourself making so far this season?

DB:  Probably the biggest adjustment is being on the bench so much and just waiting for the opportunities. But I’ve been in that situation before, like when I was 18 and moving to Slovenia and I knew that you just have to go step by step to get a more important role on the team so I know what it’s like when you just have to start all over again.

When you went to Union Olimpija and then to Partizan, was it that you were on their radar, or that you and your agent sought that out for you?  How did that come about?

DB:  At that time Olimpija was known as a good place for young players and young players could usually get some minutes there.  And they were a Euroleague team back then and also playing in the Adriatic League. And getting to play in Euroleague back then at age 18 and 19 was a big deal.

Knowing that other players who were successful but in the beginning had to be patient for their opportunities, does that help you?

DB:  Well definitely that helps but I think it helps more that I’m on a really great team and the team’s goal isn’t to make the playoffs, it is to win the championship. On a winning team you’re always happy, whether you get minutes or not.

Well the Spurs have had some historic games here in the Miami Heat arena.  I was at the Game 6 when it looked like the Spurs could start celebrating a championship and they Ray Allen stepped back to take that three-pointer and…

DB: No… don’t say it!

Today Sean Elliott does the radio broadcast of Spurs games, but as a longtime player himself Elliott was part of the 1998-99 team that won the first of five NBA Championships, and had his own jersey retired by the team.  This is what Elliott had to say about Bertans.

“He has a tremendous upside.  The coaches are really high on him. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s got great size, he’s got a good basketball IQ, he’s a little more athletic than I thought he was and actually he’s been a surprise athletically to a lot of people. We all knew he could shoot the ball and he’s only going to become a better shooter with more confidence.   His ability to get into the game and make his shots immediately is remarkable.  That is hard for guys coming over here to San Antonio because so many times players come here and they want so badly to be a part of it that they will forget who they are as players and they will end up passing the ball instead of taking the shot. Pop wants him out there to score; that’s what we brought him here for. Manu and Kahwi are doing a lot to pass along the culture of the Spurs to him, showing him and the other young players how to be a professional on and off the court. NBA Newcomer Davis Betrans

“I have no doubt he is going to be in a Spurs uniform for a long time.”

Call him Tiago Splitter 2.0.  Like Splitter before him, Latvia’s Davis Bertans navigated his way through injuries and contract issues to make the same trip from Spanish powerhouse Saski Baskonia the San Antonio Spurs. And like Splitter, Bertans left his own native country as a teenager to seek his basketball fortunes abroad with teams known for developing young players. Venturing first to Slovenia’s Olimpija at age 18, then on to Partizan Belgrade, Davis developed his game in the Balkans before heading to Spain, before finally joining the Spurs in the final days of the 2016 NBA Summer League.

HOLDING COURT WITH …caught up with Bertans at the start of the current season, and again in recent weeks.  First the interview that appeared in early November on the Spanish website Solobasket.com

You’ve been waiting for the day for a while.

DB:  Yes, for about five years. It feels great to be here.

You had your first game in the Alamodome in pre-season exhibition play, and more recently saw action in the season opener against the Warriors.  That must have been an exciting game for you.

DB:  Definitely – even though it was not so competitive at the end, it was still great to get on the court in the very first game and to score my first bucket.

Although you have only had limited minutes so far you seem to be finding your rhythm the moment you step onto the court.  Against the Warriors you went 2 for 2 and then a couple of games later against the Heat you started off draining your first two shots… and in all of these cases it happens within 30 seconds or less of entering the game.  Most NBA rookies struggle in their first few games as they are fighting off nerves. Was that typical for you, or were you just having great nights or what?

DB:  I’m just staying ready. You never know when you’re going to get minutes throughout the game so I stay warm and if I get a chance I have to use it.

You’re not exactly new to playing at this high level, between Euroleague competitions with  Saski Baskonia and playing for the Latvian national team in European Basketball Championships, but even so this is the NBA(!!)  Do you ever find yourself thinking: I can’t believe I am on the same court with this or that player that maybe you watched on TV over the years?

DB:  Maybe before or after the game you think about players you have watched on TV for five or ten years, but once you are on the court you forget about all of that.

The much greater number of games in the NBA – up to four games a week – can take a toll, though I probably need to ask you this in February or March.

DB:  Well the (five-star) hotels make it all good. It’s a lot of travel but our team plan is very comfortable, we don’t have to go through normal security checks, so there are a lot of things that ease that for us.

As you say, there are many “perks” available to NBA players even compared to the better teams in Europe?  What else have you noticed?

DB:  The staff that are part of the organization, like whenever you are on the court you have someone to rebound for you, and whatever you need there is someone to help you out, so that is probably the biggest difference.

There are more and more European and international players in the league with every passing year, but you are probably on the best team for an international player, given the number of international players that have played for the Spurs during Gregg Popovich’s time as head coach and the culture he has built here, and even having Ettore Messina who is an accomplished veteran of European basketball.

DB:  It is really perfect, plus even some of the American guys have played in Europe before getting on an NBA roster, so all of that makes it easier. Even if there are some things that I need to get used to I have players to turn to, for example Manu spent a few years playing in Italy before coming over here.

With that, was there any player on the team that you knew personally before coming here?

DB:  Not really.

What did Gregg Popovich say to you when you first got here?

DB:  Just welcome to the team.  He was talking to the whole team in training camp, telling us what he expects of the team and for everybody to accept their roles and that was pretty much it.

And since that time what is the most memorable thing he has said to you?

DB:  Fresh in my memory is what he said to me in last night’s game (against  ) when I stepped onto the court and I didn’t take an open shot and I tried to pass the ball and ended up turning it over and he said that’s a good lesson for me (laughing).

You are in touch with Kristaps Porzingis?

DB:  We got in touch after I signed with the Spurs and texted before the season opener – he wished me good luck and I wished him the same. Hopefully when we go to New York we will get some time and we will go for dinner.

              

He had a surprisingly amazing season last year.  People weren’t expecting this, and saying things like he lacks the physical strength to succeed in this league.

DB:  I didn’t expect that it was going to be THAT good. I knew that it was going to be better than what people were predicting from when he went in the draft. I knew that he was ready and that I knew that he might average like 10 (points) and eight (rebounds). People thought he wouldn’t really be ready for the league for the first couple of years. But I believed that after he was playing in the ACB for two or three years that he was ready and would do better than all the people predicted. I knew that he could play and could average 10 (points) and eight (rebounds per game).  But I didn’t expect that he would do as well as he did so quickly and average like 15 or 16 points per game.

He did comment on how much it helped him that then-coach Derek Fisher let him play through mistakes.

DB: Well that might be the hardest thing to overcome, for example if you make a turnover and then you get subbed out. But still you can see how hard and has been working and how much he has improved since his final season in Spain (2014-15).

And do you yourself feel pressure this year coming in as a rookie?

DB:  No, not at all.  Really I’m just happy to be here. And if I don’t get many minutes on the court I will just try to learn. And get better. Hopefully next year I will get a bigger role but I will take whatever Coach Pop gives me.  One of the best things on this team is that everybody accepts their role and no one is getting frustrated with the minutes they get.

How do you think it will be for Kris and Willy Hernangomez being reunited again after playing together two years ago?

DB:  I think when Willy gets more comfortable and gets more playing time they will be a really great duo. And of course they have great chemistry between them and all that size. When Willy gets more experience in the NBA he’s going to be a great force.

What’s the biggest adjustment you have found yourself making so far this season?

DB:  Probably the biggest adjustment is being on the bench so much and just waiting for the opportunities. But I’ve been in that situation before, like when I was 18 and moving to Slovenia and I knew that you just have to go step by step to get a more important role on the team so I know what it’s like when you just have to start all over again.

When you went to Union Olimpija and then to Partizan, was it that you were on their radar, or that you and your agent sought that out for you?  How did that come about?

DB:  At that time Olimpija was known as a good place for young players and young players could usually get some minutes there.  And they were a Euroleague team back then and also playing in the Adriatic League. And getting to play in Euroleague back then at age 18 and 19 was a big deal.

Knowing that other players who were successful but in the beginning had to be patient for their opportunities, does that help you?

DB:  Well definitely that helps but I think it helps more that I’m on a really great team and the team’s goal isn’t to make the playoffs, it is to win the championship. On a winning team you’re always happy, whether you get minutes or not.

Well the Spurs have had some historic games here in the Miami Heat arena.  I was at the Game 6 when it looked like the Spurs could start celebrating a championship and they Ray Allen stepped back to take that three-pointer and…

DB: No… don’t say it!

Today Sean Elliott does the radio broadcast of Spurs games, but as a longtime player himself Elliott was part of the 1998-99 team that won the first of five NBA Championships, and had his own jersey retired by the team.  This is what Elliott had to say about Bertans.

“He has a tremendous upside.  The coaches are really high on him. The sky’s the limit for him. He’s got great size, he’s got a good basketball IQ, he’s a little more athletic than I thought he was and actually he’s been a surprise athletically to a lot of people. We all knew he could shoot the ball and he’s only going to become a better shooter with more confidence.   His ability to get into the game and make his shots immediately is remarkable.  That is hard for guys coming over here to San Antonio because so many times players come here and they want so badly to be a part of it that they will forget who they are as players and they will end up passing the ball instead of taking the shot. Pop wants him out there to score; that’s what we brought him here for. Manu and Kahwi are doing a lot to pass along the culture of the Spurs to him, showing him and the other young players how to be a professional on and off the court. Davis is an intelligent young man and I have no doubt he is going to be in a Spurs uniform for a long time.”

HOLDING COURT WITH … caught up with Bertans again just before the All Star break.  Here is what he had to say with half a season under his belt.

The more time that passes the more I am getting used to being here and learning the system.

We talked before about your great shooting percentage and how when you take the shot you have total certainty that it’s going in.

I had Coach (Dusko) Vujosevic at Partizan who used to tell me “If you miss a shot you just forget about it right away and you focus on the next one and that one is going in. So that’s what I have been doing.

I’ve always had confidence in my shooting but with more playing time I am feeling more comfortable being out on the court and being more aggressive both offensively and defensively. That comes with more games and more minutes on the court.

Bertans’ inaugural NBA season includes a 21-point performance to lead the Spurs to victory over Charlotte back in January.

HOLDING COURT WITH … caught up with Bertans again just before the All Star break.  Here is what he had to say with half a season under his belt.

The more time that passes the more I am getting used to being here and learning the system.

We talked before about your great shooting percentage and how when you take the shot you have total certainty that it’s going in.

I had Coach (Dusko) Vujosevic at Partizan who used to tell me “If you miss a shot you just forget about it right away and you focus on the next one and that one is going in. So that’s what I have been doing.

I’ve always had confidence in my shooting but with more playing time I am feeling more comfortable being out on the court and being more aggressive both offensively and defensively. That comes with more games and more minutes on the court.

Bertans’ inaugural NBA season includes a 21-point performance to lead the Spurs to victory over Charlotte back in January.