[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
[September 7, 1999]
[Pages 1500-1501]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks to the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs
September 7, 1999

    Thank you very much. Please be seated, everyone.
    Welcome to the White House. I want to say a special word of welcome 
to Peter Holt, to Gregg Popovich, obviously, to the San Antonio Spurs. We're also joined 
today by four Members of the House of Representatives from the great 
State of Texas: Congressmen Gonzalez, 
Rodriguez, Bonilla, and Edwards. And we thank them 
for being here.
    I want to acknowledge the team captains, Avery Johnson and David Robinson, who is 
the only graduate of the Naval Academy playing in the NBA. That's 
important, because I have to stick up for the service academies here. 
It's part of my job, you know. [Laughter] I'd also like to offer a 
special word of welcome to Sean Elliott. He's 
had a tough few months; we're glad to see him here. Thank you very much. 
Thank you.
    Everybody who works around here at the White House and who knows me 
knows that I am a basketball fanatic. You know, I live for the NCAA 
finals and the NBA finals, and I follow basketball very closely. And 
I've been fortunate enough to be good friends with two or three 
reasonably successful basketball coaches, who have taught me a little 
about the game.

[[Page 1501]]

    And it's really--it's a lot like politics. You get ahead, and then 
you get behind. [Laughter] Then you try to get ahead again. And 
normally, you don't know whether you're going to win until right before 
the end of the game.
    And I like this team. They started 6 and 8, and finished 46 and 7. 
And when we were watching the NBA, the semifinals and the finals--and I 
always have people come over and watch the games with us--and one night 
Hillary and I were watching with a bunch of our friends, one of whom was 
from one of the other towns you were playing, Coach. [Laughter] And he kept cheering and cheering and 
cheering. And finally, Hillary looked 
at him and said, ``Now, tell the truth. Don't you think the Spurs are 
the best team in basketball this year?'' And he said, ``Well, of 
course.'' [Laughter]
    And I don't think there's much more you can say. This is a team with 
enormous talent, enormous dedication, a steel will, and a great heart. 
And they won because they deserved to win. And I think all of us who 
love this sport, not just people from San Antonio or from Texas, were 
elated by their success, because they deserved it, and they earned it. 
And I'm glad to welcome them all to the White House today.
    Thank you very much.

[At this point, Peter Holt, chairman, Gregg 
Popovich, coach and general manager, and team 
member Avery Johnson made brief remarks.]

    You know, there's a thousand things I'd like to say. [Laughter] I 
identify with a lot of people on the scene. You know, when the 
commentators kept saying, every time Avery was 
not guarded, he scored--did you notice that? And they kept referring to 
one person who made the mistake of saying he really didn't belong in the 
NBA and could never lead a team to a championship. You know, when I was 
Governor of Arkansas, that's what they said about me when I was running 
for President. I identify with that. [Laughter]
    And then every time things were slightly in doubt, the television 
camera would do this close-up on Tim Duncan's 
eyes--[laughter]--and I knew they were going to win. I'm trying to 
develop that killer look. [Laughter] We're about to enter all these 
tough budget negotiations, and I'm trying to visualize what Duncan 
looked like when it got really close, you know. [Laughter] But if any of 
you guys want to stay around and help me through the next month, you're 
welcome to do it. [Laughter] Government scale's a little low for you, 
but it's rewarding work; it's rewarding work. [Laughter]
    Let me just say one thing, seriously. I don't want to talk about the 
contents of it. But one of the most interesting telephone conversations 
I ever had in my life--with someone I had never met, especially--was 
with Coach Popovich, when I called to 
congratulate him. And I realized that he was a man with a keen 
understanding of human nature and the human spirit and what it really 
takes to make good things happen. And I want to thank you publicly for 
that conversation and for your remembering what we talked about as we 
walked in today. I'd say you've got a good chance to repeat.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 6:08 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to team members Sean Elliott and Tim 
Duncan.