DALLAS \u2013 Kelly Olynyk\u2019s impact on the San Antonio Spurs this season probably shouldn\u2019t be measured in minutes.<\/p>\n
The former Gonzaga big man, who has played more than 800 NBA games, has been a crucial resource in the continuing development of the rising Spurs and their star, Victor Wembanyama.<\/p>\n
\u201cKelly\u2019s been a very unique perspective because he\u2019s been around this league and seen the real NBA,\u201d Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Olynyk, who has played for eight different teams over 12-plus NBA seasons. \u201cWe have quite a few guys that have been with just our team and sometimes your perspective, when it\u2019s that narrow, is misleading at times. For Kelly, who\u2019s been part of teams that have won at a high level and that have lost a lot of games, his perspective has been invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through Sunday\u2019s All-Star break, Olynyk had played in just 30 of the Spurs\u2019 54 games, averaging 9.5 minutes. But Wembanyama, the top pick in the 2023 NBA draft who has quickly emerged as one of the league\u2019s top young players, says Olynyk\u2019s impact goes way beyond time on the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe remarks he makes, especially defensively, he\u2019s got good guidance,\u201d Wembanyama said after a Feb. 5 win in Dallas. \u201cHe sees things that I personally don\u2019t always get right away. It\u2019s great I can trust what he\u2019s going to tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Embracing his role as a mentor has come naturally, says Olynyk, adding it keeps him in the game he loves.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think it\u2019s exactly that,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201cComing from the player\u2019s perspective that doesn\u2019t have the physical, athletic attributes that he (Wembanyama) has, but I have a high IQ for the game and see a lot of different things happening on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to show him what I see and how he can make his life easier because he\u2019s obviously uber-talented and can do really hard things out there that nobody else can do. Sometimes to be great, you\u2019ve got to do the common things uncommonly well. He has the ability to do that at a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graduating from GU in 2013, Olynyk came off a first-team All-American season that saw him drafted 13th by the Dallas Mavericks and immediately traded to the Boston Celtics, where he established himself as a reliable, versatile big.<\/p>\n
Since then, he\u2019s also played for Miami, Houston, Detroit, Utah, Toronto \u2013 his hometown \u2013 and New Orleans before signing with San Antonio in July.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a different culture (in San Antonio). It\u2019s very out of the way, out of the limelight, out of the media,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201cThey stay in their own lane, but they do it really well. It\u2019s a great organization that has all the tools in place. They know how to win. They know what it takes to win and they do it their own way. That\u2019s special. When you\u2019re down there and part of it, you realize there is a certain standard they hold themselves to and they do it well.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s likely how he felt about playing at Gonzaga, where Olynyk returned in 2022 to see his No. 13 jersey raised to the rafters at McCarthey Athletic Center, becoming the fourth Bulldog to be so recognized.<\/p>\n
Since Olynyk\u2019s NBA arrival, there have been 23 additional players with Gonzaga ties who found time in the league, a trend that brings a big smile to his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, there was Rob (Sacre) and Adam Morrison. I was one of the next guys who was a first-round, lottery guy,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess Austin Daye (is another one).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started a trend, especially with the transfer guys redshirting and doing that kind of thing,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201cTo see the amount of talent they\u2019ve been turning out, All-Star level talent like (Damontas) Sabonis, now Chet (Holmgren) is a first-time All-Star, Jalen Suggs has been unbelievable down in Orlando.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven unbelievable role players like Rui (Hachimura) has really found a rhythm (with the Los Angeles Lakers), Corey (Kispert) was good in Washington and now he\u2019s got a new home (in Atlanta). Even Brandon Clarke, before his injuries, was playing really well. Andrew (Nembhard) has been unbelievable in Indiana. There\u2019s a lot of guys who are contributing at a high level in the pros. It\u2019s good to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest Zag to make his mark in the NBA is Andrew\u2019s brother Ryan, who went undrafted last summer but earned a two-way contract with Dallas and has played well enough that his deal is expected to be converted into a standard contract.<\/p>\n
Olynyk has seen the younger Nembhard several times this season and loves how well he has played as a rookie with the Spurs\u2019 in-state rivals from Dallas.<\/p>\n
\u201c(He\u2019s) very under the radar. He plays at his own pace,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201cHe\u2019s confident, plays both ends of the ball, he knows what he does and goes out and does it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see how much he likes to play basketball. He loves to hoop. He\u2019s a hoop junkie and just goes out and has fun. It\u2019s a testament to his family, his upbringing and where he\u2019s come from and how much he knows the game and has a feel for the game, loves the game. It\u2019s cool to see Dallas giving a kid like him a shot and he\u2019s capitalized on it, especially early in the season he had a string of games where he was unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like so many former Gonzaga legends, the affable Canada native returns to Spokane whenever possible to rekindle those memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery now and then (Coach Few and I reconnect), a text here and there,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, when I\u2019ve been back the past few summers, he\u2019s been there. It\u2019s been great to follow the Zags and catch up with him from time to time and the assistants as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now 34, Olynyk \u2013 who survived the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline \u2013 is focused on continuing to help the Spurs, who have the second best record in the Western Conference at 38-16 \u2013 three games behind Holmgren and defending champion Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been traded five times the last two years,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201c(I look at being traded as) new opportunities, go out there and make the most of it, you\u2019re still blessed to wake up and play the game you love every single day no matter where that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell these young guys sometimes a change of scenery is fun. Fun to go to a new place and meet new people, grow your network. You never know where life\u2019s going to take you and it\u2019s fun to see the other side sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Could life eventually take Olynyk to a full-time place on the bench once his playing days come to an end?<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell everybody I think I could be a good coach,\u201d Olynyk said. \u201cIt would be an easy transition. It\u2019s just the office work and everything else that goes with it (that people don\u2019t realize). Maybe we\u2019ll see. If the situation and the place is right, it\u2019s something I would look into, but hard to say right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2013 Kelly Olynyk\u2019s impact on the San Antonio Spurs this season probably shouldn\u2019t be measured in minutes.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-479722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}