Spurs coach Mitch Johnson and his employees’s emphasis on accountability might be even stronger this season after the addition of Billy Donovan.
That was the message middle Luke Kornet delivered to reporters on the primary day of coaching camp when requested in regards to the Corridor of Fame coach becoming a member of the defending Western Convention champions.
Commercial
The Spurs employed Donovan as an assistant within the offseason after Sean Sweeney left following the Finals loss to the New York Knicks to teach the Orlando Magic. Kornet performed underneath Donovan for a lot of the 2020-21 season in Donovan’s first yr as coach of the Chicago Bulls.
“Billy’s nice,” Kornet mentioned Tuesday. “He was very sincere, easy and holds you to a excessive normal,” Kornet mentioned.
A member of the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame’s Class of 2025 after main Florida to 2 nationwide titles, Donovan, 61, started on the lookout for a brand new job after leaving the Bulls in late April after six seasons as head coach.
The Bulls had been 226-256 underneath Donovan and missed the playoffs the final 4 seasons. Chicago made it to the primary spherical of the postseason in his second season season as coach.
Commercial
Donovan joined Chicago after 5 seasons teaching the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder. He completed that stint after mutually parting methods with the Thunder with a 243-157 report and 5 straight playoff appearances.
“He’s only a good chief, instructor and good at holding you accountable to issues all year long, which I feel suits in rather well with what we had (final season) and what we proceed to attempt to develop to be,” Kornet mentioned.
Kornet additionally likes that Donovan focuses on successful above all else.
“The objective (in Chicago) was at all times simply to win,” Kornet mentioned. “And so all the pieces was aligned to that and all the selections got here supernaturally from that the place there wasn’t actually any second guessing. That’s the first most necessary precedence for a coach and clearly one thing he is completed for years.”
Commercial
Kornet extra relaxed: Kornet arrived at camp with a higher sense of consolation with final season’s maiden voyage as a Spur behind him.
Having performed two seasons with New York, two seasons with Chicago and four-plus with Boston over two totally different stints over the earlier 9 seasons, the 31-year-old native of Lantana, Texas, is not any stranger to the two-year technique of settling in with a brand new workforce.
“I really feel like that first yr goes by fairly fast,” mentioned Kornet, who signed a four-year, $41 million contract with the Spurs in July 2025. “(Within the second yr), you simply really feel much more residence, much more snug and much more part of the id of the workforce and one of many guys. I really feel like making an attempt to take some possession (within the workforce) is a little bit bit simpler after you might have a base.”
Kornet mentioned he is an enormous fan of the Spurs’ skip-no-steps strategy and their “day by day accountability to win each recreation.”
Commercial
“That is one thing the employees does an excellent job of and the group does the place we simply hold to our processes and attempt to win that day,” he mentioned. “After which hopefully you search for and also you’re at place ultimately.
“However the pleasure is simply in successful the day, and we began with first day of coaching camp (Tuesday).”
Champagnie recollects thriller: Spurs ahead Julian Champagnie nonetheless cannot recover from how thrilling it was for him and some of his teammates to witness Texas’ 24-23 come-from-behind victory over Ohio State earlier this month in Austin.
“That was a loopy recreation, in all probability the most effective soccer recreation I’ve ever watched in individual,” he mentioned of the Longhorns beautiful the top-ranked Buckeyes with a 21-0 fourth quarter run after trailing by 20 getting into the ultimate interval.
Commercial
Champagnie mentioned the 105,044 followers in attendance underscored the eagerness of Austin’s sports activities followers.
“Austin’s nice. The followers are at all times there,” he mentioned. “Clearly, we (play there each season), they usually deliver the power, so I anticipated no (totally different) for that recreation.”
Champagnie might be again in Austin when the Spurs face the Houston Rockets at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Moody Middle. They can even play there on Feb. 26 in opposition to the Memphis Grizzlies and on Feb. 28 versus the Denver Nuggets.
Subscribe
There’s extra to San Antonio with the Categorical-Information. Subscribe in the present day for simply 25¢.
This text initially revealed at Why Luke Kornet believes Billy Donovan might be nice match with Spurs.
