Gregg Popovich is a national treasure. In an upcoming SI.com feature on Boris Diaw by Andrew Sharp, the veteran power forward revealed an interesting anecdote about Pop and why he sometimes leaves Diaw in games for extended stretches of time:
“Sometimes we’re up 30, and he’s like, ‘I’m just going to leave you on the court so you can lose some weight,'” Diaw told Sharp (via Extra Mustard).
The 34-year-old Frenchman isn’t as sleek as he once was, to be sure. And as he wanes, and as other players have begun to wax on San Antonio’s roster, he’s seeing his time on the court diminish. Diaw’s minutes fell to a career-low average of 18.2 per game during the regular season.
He averaged 6.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game, adding 2.3 assists.
With that in mind, it’s not shocking that his savvy head coach would want to let him run for a while during blowouts to help keep him in basketball shape.
The San Antonio Spurs are currently tied at one game apiece with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals.
As the Spurs have been up big in five of their six playoff games to this point, Diaw has gotten in plenty of action. However, as the competition heats up he’ll likely be utilized less and less, barring an injury.