Throughout the season spurs.com will celebrate the Spurs 40th Anniversary by visiting with former players, coaches and front office staff to discuss their experiences with the organization and the city of San Antonio.
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Bucks assistant coach Anthony Goldwire spent one season with the Spurs in the 2002-03 campaign and appeared in 10 games. Goldwire took some time before Milwaukee’s matchup against the Spurs on Dec. 7 to speak with spurs.com.
On playing with the Spurs:
“I think the team had some injuries and I was playing in the minors. They needed someone to come in and play. The first thing Coach Popovich told me was ‘I reminded him of Avery Johnson, someone who came in and took care of their business on and off the court and was professional about it.’ If I didn’t play I didn’t complain or whine. I just came in the next day and continued to practice. When I was called upon, I did a solid job playing. It was very inspiring for me. It made my time easier. I would like to thank Coach Pop and Sam Presti for giving me an opportunity to come in and play in the short time I was here. It was a great experience. I’ll never forget it. I was here with some great guys and four of them are still here; Tim, Tony, Manu and Stephen Jackson. There was Steve Smith, Danny Ferry was my guy and Steve Kerr. All of those guys. They won the title, but I wasn’t a part of it. They blessed me in other ways. I was very fortunate to be part of something special like that. It was a great time for me.”
On his favorite places in San Antonio:
“I went to school at the University of Houston, so I was going back and forth. My family would come here and we just enjoyed our time here. The landscape is very wide here, it’s very spread out. We visited a lot of different places. I have twin boys and little girl so we went to Fiesta Texas, Sea World and Schlitterbahn. My wife loves to shop, so we went to the New Braunfels shops.”
On playing in the opening season at the AT&T Center:
“It was a great atmosphere to play in. The fans were very upbeat. It was always a packed house. We didn’t lose here very much, I don’t know if we lost any when I was here. It was a great place to be. The fans were great and they’re still great to this day. It’s a great building. I also played in the Alamodome, but the Dome was a little too big.”
On the city of San Antonio:
“This is a pro teams’ town. If you are a San Antonio Spur, the whole city knows about you wherever you go. They really appreciate the brand of basketball you play. It starts with Coach Pop. This is a blue collar city. The Spurs have hard working guys who love to work, appreciate of their jobs and the things around them. They pay attention to the details, working together to become something great. It shows by the titles they have.”