Spurs’ Lucas Proves Master of Motivation

Less than 24 hours after the San Antonio Spurs continued to build the coaching legend of John Lucas, Lucas was clearly irritated at his team. The day before, Jan. 24, the Spurs had handled the Chicago Bulls, and Lucas’ budding reputation as part-master psychologist, part-genius had grown. The Spurs had set a franchise record with their ninth consecutive victory, and they had done it in style against the world champions with a national television audience watching.

But at their Jan. 25 practice, the Spurs seemed distracted by their success. Lucas was trying to ignite their enthusiasm, but the Spurs’ energy was either misdirected or absent.

Lucas resorted to high-schoolish crosscourt wind sprints to spark his team, but several of the veterans were dragging. Lucas yelled constantly in his raspy voice, but that elicited only blank looks and little effort. Finally, he joined the sprints and even ran backward to demonstrate how slow the Spurs were.

Still unsatisfied, Lucas ordered another scrimmage. On one play, J.R. Reid and little-used substitute Sam Mack grabbed the ball simultaneously, and Reid ripped it away. A jump ball was called, but Mack, who had been playing out of control, was upset by Reid’s needless physical play and began mouthing off at Reid.

“Sam,” Lucas emplored, “will you just slow down? Just slow down. You’re going 90 miles an hour.”

While Lucas was scolding Mack, Sean Elliott and reserve David Wood were jockeying for position around the circle. While Lucas continued talking, the elbowing between Elliott and Wood became more intense, and Wood seemed ready to throw a punch. Lucas finally noticed the action out of the corner of his eye.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lucas said as he walked toward Wood. Lucas started smiling at the absurdity of two teammates fighting after a big win and repeated, “What’s wrong with you? What do you think you’re doing?”

Several of the Spurs began giggling. Wood and Elliott realized they were acting silly. Lucas had quickly diffused the situation by utilizing nothing but the tone of his voice.

“Let’s go home,” Lucas shouted in a resigned mode that contained precisely the correct amount of exasperation. “Go on. Get out of here. And when you leave, don’t even stop to shoot. Just go.”

Everyone left laughing and feeling good.

“Hey, Woody,” Lucas yelled at Wood. “You didn’t set me up, did you?”

Wood, who immediately understood he was being accused of creating the incident to end practice, smiled and said, “No, sir.”

John Lucas says he is flying by the seat of his pants. He has devised what is probably the most unique operation in modern sports history, but he says it is a plan of reaction, not the result of a blueprint.

“I don’t think about it,” Lucas said. “I don’t draw it up. I don’t have it mapped out. I’m just being me.”

Lucas’ model was his successful drug clinic in Houston. He structured the team in much the same way he did his business, and he treats the players much like he does recovering alcoholics or drug abusers--with equal parts honesty, toughness and tender loving care. He tells the Spurs they must take responsibility for their lives within the team concept. And he tells them he loves them. When was the last time any player had to react to his coach saying, “I love you”?

“I told them that the first day I was here,” Lucas said. “I told them that I didn’t like them, I loved them.”

Lloyd Daniels had heard the message before. He spent time with the coach at Lucas’ Houston clinic.

“He uses the same motivation,” Daniels said. “He’s got this team thinking like a family. He’s got us all playing together, respecting each other. He was that way in the treatment center too. He’s always said, ‘Just love each other.’ ”

Lucas has made the players full partners in the team, or as he says, he has given them ownership. A lot of coaches talk about leadership; Lucas assigns it. Lucas has named David Robinson the leader. Robinson sometimes gives the pre- and post-game talks. Robinson decides the amount of fines, what time the Spurs practice and what time the charter plane leaves on road trips. Along with Sean Elliott and Dale Ellis, Robinson decides the roster makeup.

Recently, the Spurs had to make a roster move. Lucas told Robinson, Elliott and Ellis to decide what to do. “They looked at me like I had lost my mind,” Lucas said. “But what I saw was them spending an hour together, discussing what they should do.”

The players suggested that the Spurs release William Bedford and activate Willie Anderson, who is not quite fully recovered from leg injuries. Lucas complied.

“He’s given the team to us,” Robinson said. “It’s a different thing when you have part ownership in the team. You’ve got more at stake and guys want to play. A lot of coaches talk about guys being leaders, but they’re so dominant as a coach and the egos clash and they can’t let the guys run the team. John has an excellent understanding of what it takes to be a great NBA coach, which is more of a manager.”

Lucas understands every aspect of being a professional player. In 1976, he was the No. 1 pick in the college draft despite being a 6-2 guard. He starred with the Houston Rockets, but his career plummeted when he began abusing cocaine. Lucas was able to survive for a while because of great talent and a gregarious personality. He was an overpowering character with a divine gift of gab.

But ultimately he had to confront his problem. It wasn’t easy. Lucas was in rehab clinics three times. He became a model patient, but that was a part of his sick-and-slick routine. He earned eight-hour home visitation passes for good behavior. He’d leave the clinic. When he returned, he’d be high on cocaine.

Lucas says he has been sober since March 14, 1986. But he hasn’t forgotten the depths he has experienced. Nor has he forgotten the heights. His approach is a balance of extremes.

“I’ve always been like this,” he said. “As a point guard, you have to know how to deal with other people and how to help your team. I was not the No. 1 pick based on talent. I was the No. 1 pick based on leadership. It was about the type of person I was before I got addicted to drugs and alcohol.”

The Spurs have soared under Lucas’ leadership. After their victory over the Bulls, they ended the Sonics’ 20-game winning streak at Seattle Coliseum with a 20-point victory. Before their 125-110 loss to the Suns Friday in Phoenix, the Spurs had won 15 of 17 games under Lucas, who was hired after Jerry Tarkanian was fired. Tarkanian’s greatest transgression was telling Spurs owner B.J. (Red) McCombs the Spurs were not good enough to compete with the .500 teams in the league.

“I didn’t expect him to say that we could win a championship,” McCombs said. “But our expectations for the team were so different that I just couldn’t accept what he said. Luke is totally responsible for our success. He’s got the same 12 guys. Lucas can’t play a play, but it’s happened.”

You can talk to Lucas for an hour, and he never says the name “Tarkanian” unless asked. He has no desire to rip Tarkanian, but in talking about the situation he inherited, he talks about all the things he had to fix.

When Spurs assistants showed Lucas Tarkanian’s offense, Lucas’ response was to chuck it. “Everything they showed me took more than 24 seconds to run,” Lucas said. “I asked them to show me all the plays, and they were naming off ‘Triple X-Z,’ and I said, ‘Wait a minute. We’re going to gut all of it.’ ”

Lucas installed an offense he calls run and read. Players run to spots, read the defense, and then run patterns. Unlike Tarkanian, Lucas has plays for every player on the team. Everyone feels important.

But Lucas knew the most important Spur had to feel most important, so his first chore was to make sure everyone understood the Spurs are Robinson’s team. Tarkanian’s pet project had been Daniels, who was involved in the recruiting mess when Tarkanian was at UNLV. Despite Lucas’ closeness to Daniels, Lucas knew that made no sense.

“What had to be re-established was this had to be David’s team,” Lucas said. “It had become Lloyd’s team. It had become a team that the pieces weren’t going to fit the puzzle right.”

Robinson said he had been determined to be the Spurs’ leader this season. But it helped that Lucas made it official.

“I really feel like this is my team for the first time,” Robinson said.

Lucas’ primary reclamation project, however, was guard Avery Johnson, whom Tarkanian fought to keep off the roster. Tarkanian publicly said Johnson was not good enough to be a starting point guard. The Spurs signed Johnson anyway. When Lucas installed Johnson in the starting lineup, the Spurs went on to win 10 consecutive games. Tarkanian has since admitted he misjudged Johnson, a devout Christian who said his faith allowed him to withstand Tarkanian’s ridicule.

“As a Christian you know who you are,” said Johnson, who first met Lucas when Johnson was a rookie in Seattle in 1988. “So if you know you’re a quality athlete, you don’t worry about what people say. You service almighty God, but you’re not just saying, ‘Praise the name of Jesus’ and you can’t shoot a layup. You really know who you are. And I did.”

To an extreme. During the Spurs-Bulls game, the Bulls used a big lineup with Michael Jordan playing point guard. The 5-11 Johnson was upset when Lucas took him out of the game. Later, Lucas laughed when he revealed what Johnson said to him. “He told me, ‘Coach, I can guard Michael Jordan.’ ”

Lucas was calculated in his attempt to build Johnson’s confidence, and to build the Spurs’ confidence in Johnson. During one game, Lucas called a timeout. When the Spurs were seated, he told Johnson to run the huddle. Lucas regularly allows different Spurs to run the huddle, but Johnson was the first.

“I freaked out,” said Johnson, who has a high-pitched, excited voice. “I went crazy. I went, ‘What? My huddle?’ He said, ‘Yeah. Talk.’ I told them we have to play defense, we have to play together, and then I went back on the court and I was still thinking, ‘He turned the huddle over to me!’ He really knows how to lift you up.”

Lucas knows how to lift others because he’s had to lift himself. He encourages his players to work on their character. He still works on his. Lucas helped the NBA set up meetings in every NBA city so recovering drug and alcohol users have places to go to get help on road trips. Lucas still attends meetings, but he seeks counseling in other areas.

“The main reason I go now is that I’m having a hard time accepting that I’m getting older,” said Lucas, 39. “I’m having my hair dyed. I’m really struggling with the aging process and losing my hair. I used to ride around listening to hair restoration tapes, trying to think more hair on my head rather than accept the fact that I’m losing my hair.”

Lucas shakes his head at his vanity, but he has no problem admitting his silly hangup. That shouldn’t be surprising. Lucas haw had to admit to greater problems in his life. Dealing with those problems has been far more challenging than coaching a basketball team, which is why Lucas is so down-to-earth when dealing with compliments of his brilliance and genius.

“What I do is not who I am,” Lucas said. “My title is coach. That’s not what I am. I am a grateful, recovering addict-alcoholic who is on a search to continue to find himself, to be open-minded, honest and willing to change. This is only a window in my life. I don’t know how long I’m going to coach, but that’s not important. A lot of guys can coach. But only a few can make a difference in people’s lives. And that’s what I want to do.”