Former President Obama shows massive love to legendary Spurs team

The internet is a magical place. The opportunities that it has provided for countless people are difficult to wrap your brain around if you were born before a certain year. I won’t identify what year that is, but just know it starts with the number 19. One of the most readily available avenues to notoriety is the podcast industry.

That’s a little funny to say in JJ Reddick’s case, considering he played in the NBA for 15 years, but after he retired, he was a media darling. He rose quickly on ESPN, and when he started his own podcast, there were tons of listeners ready to absorb The Old Man and the Three.

However, that podcast was somehow parlayed into a head coaching job for the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, the show has been reformatted to The Young Man and the Three, and the first episode is dropping today, October 23.

Whereas before, Reddick would host the show, now there will be rotating hosts and special guests, and for the premiere, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sits down with former President Barack Obama. The 44th President is no stranger to hoops, and he had some flattering words for the last Spurs team to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.

"If you asked me the teams I enjoyed watching [the] most over the last decade. It’s the Warriors and before that, it was the Spurs. I just like that style of basketball. Right? The Beautiful Game and the ball’s popping, and nobody’s just backing up and dribbling the whole time." - Former President Barack Obama

The 2014 Spurs made a lasting impact on the game of basketball

It's really interesting when you think about the various iterations of Spurs championship teams and the influence they had in the NBA. It was during the first half of Tim Duncan’s career that San Antonio won most of their championships, but the team that gets the most love is the 2014 squad.

There was no one true superstar for that team—it was a total team effort. The basis of the offense was quick decision-making and trusting your teammates. Whether you decided to shoot, pass, or drive the basketball, your team is to have your back and act unselfishly from start to finish, and that’s exactly what happened.

This isn’t the first time that former President Barack Obama paid his respects to that team. He was still the president when the Tim Duncan-led group visited the White House after winning the organization’s fifth title. There, he shared some very inspiring words about the franchise.

"This is an organization that has been marked by excellence… one of the best in professional sports," then-President Obama remarked.

He could have stopped there or maybe added some sort of generic praise, but the former POTUS is a true basketball fan, and he knew what the Spurs had just done. So, he congratulated the team for just how special their play was.

"When you look at the passing and guys back-cutting the hoop and sharing the basketball, you see basketball the way it should be played.  And I was telling these guys you can now see everybody around the league actually stealing... then start applying that style of play all around the league.  And it's made the game better."

It's true to this day. The Warriors, Nuggets, Bucks, Celtics, etc., all have shades of Spurs basketball to them. To be fair, San Antonio's good-to-great system had shades of Mike D'Antoni's 'seven seconds or less' offense, but they changed several principles making it unique and nearly impossible to defend.

Instead of putting an emphasis on taking quick shots, the priority was making quick decisions with the ball. If that decision was to shoot then so be it, but what couldn’t happen was stagnation. The constant motion paired with a lineup of intelligent, versatile and confident playmakers is a headache for any defense.

That’s what makes the Celtics so difficult to contend with. They don’t just have good players; they have smart players with experience, and they can all hurt you in various ways.

This summer marked 10 years since that championship run. A new era is beginning because the Spurs have the next star projected to change the game. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll make a lasting impact on the game that even the Beautiful Game may not compare to. Thankfully, he’ll be doing it in silver and black.

Watch the full episode below