[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 36 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Pages 1704-1705]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Honoring the 1999 National Basketball Association 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.
    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

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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.