San Antonio Spurs forward Boris Diaw wants to go to outer space. His head coach, Gregg Popovich, wants him to feel lighter in a different way: By losing weight here on earth. Popovich plays Diaw extra minutes so that he can get some good old fashioned cardio, Diaw told Sports Illustrated.
The two have a friendly ongoing battle regarding Diaw’s fluctuating weight, with the forward revealing [his] size actually gets him extra minutes on the court.
“Sometimes we’re up 30,” Diaw says, “and he’s like, ‘I’m just going to leave you on the court so you can lose some weight.’”
Listed at 6’8” and 250 pounds, Diaw is definitely one of the bigger guys in the NBA. He uses that size to his advantage, often using his body to gain position down low. I’m sure that Popovich appreciates Batum’s size. This definitely seems like more of a friendly, joking around type of thing. I’d bet that Pop is more concerned with Diaw being in shape to run, and thus play longer minutes, than actually lose much weight, seeing as his weight is an advantageous part of his game.
Boris Diaw and the Spurs will play game three vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight (Friday) at 9:30 PM ET. The series is tied 1-1.