Endorsements on the back cover of a book are important. That’s why I targeted the best coach in the NBA in my opinion, Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, to serve as the lead endorsement for BasketCases. In the Aug. 3 edition, the Sporting News ranks Pop as the 49th best coach of all time in any sport. The only NBA coaches voted ahead of him are Phil Jackson at No. 4 (10 NBA titles with the help of Jordan, Shaq and Kobe), Red Auerbach at No. 6 (nine NBA titles with the Celtics), Pat Riley at No. 30 (5 NBA titles) and Chuck Daly at No. 45 (2 NBA titles with the Pistons, Gold Medal with the original Dream Team).

Pop has won four NBA titles with the Spurs and could have won six with different outcomes on the Derek Fisher miracle shot and the Dirk Nowitzki last-second three point play. My friend Jay Howard, the former play by play broadcaster for the Spurs, introduced me to Pop in the fall of 2007, which helped secure his endorsement. 

During his final preseason game of this past year, NBA referee Ken Mauer (who wrote the foreword for BasketCases) worked a game in San Antonio and thanked Pop for me for his important contribution to BasketCases. A few weeks prior to that game, I mailed Pop a copy of the final version of the book with his endorsement on the back cover. When Kenny thanked Pop for helping me out, Kenny said Pop’s eyes lit up. “Kenny, I got the final copy and read the whole thing. It’s great. I loved it,” is what Pop told Mauer.

Pop, congrats on the accolade from Sporting News. Anyone who follows the NBA knows that others have won more championships, but you did it with less talent, which says something about your coaching.

Pop’ s quote on the back of BasketCases reads: “Basketball is the best sport in the world. It’s critically important that we make youth basketball a positive experience for everyone involved — especially the players. I enjoyed BasketCases because it’s the first book I’ve read that focuses on educating parents, coaches and players about the game. Derek Wolden’s perspective as a basketball official provides valuable insight to make the youth basketball experience enjoyable for everyone.”

Thanks, Pop.

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 at 10:07 pm and is filed under Officiating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.