‘I don’t know that much about him’: The NBA Draft takes on the Spurs’ Big 3 and Kawhi

There was never any doubt about Tim Duncan.

The 1997 NBA draft lottery was a simple sweepstakes for the rights to take Duncan, the “only sure thing” in the class. Once the Spurs won that lottery, Gregg Popovich said he’d considered trading the No. 1 pick — for Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson.

“The chances of trading Tim Duncan are about the same as [team scout] R.C. Buford starting for us at off guard,” Popovich said.

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The pre-draft scouting reports for the two other members of San Antonio’s Big Three, as well as Kawhi Leonard, were less certain.

Manu Ginóbili

The 1999 NBA Draft took place five days after the Spurs won their first title in franchise history.

San Antonio took, then traded, high schooler Leon Smith with their first round pick. Late that night — with the second-to-last pick in the draft — the Spurs grabbed Manu Ginóbili.

The Spurs won the draft lottery in 1997 and drafted Tim Duncan.

Craig Jones /Getty Images file

The Argentinean guard was a relative unknown, as evidenced by the butchered pronunciation of his name. Duncan had never heard of him. There are few references to Ginóbili in draft previews.

The day after the draft, a Houston Chronicle writer gave the Spurs a ‘C’ for their selections and didn’t even mention Ginóbili.

“The Spurs really didn’t need a draft pick, especially the 29th pick in this lousy draft. They took high schooler Leon Smith, but dumped his rights to Dallas,” the Chronicle wrote.

The disrespect would continue when Ginóbili finally left Europe for the NBA in 2002. In one of his first games against the Lakers, Kobe Bryant told Bruce Bowen, “Tell me about the white boy.” Bowen responded, “Oh, you’re gonna see. He’s not a white boy, and he’s got some stuff.”

Tony Parker

San Antonio’s first round pick in 2001 (No. 28) wasn’t much more heralded. Charles Barkley had little to say about Tony Parker on the TNT broadcast.

“Well I don’t know that much about him, but if he got in the first round he must be a good player,” Barkley said of the French guard.

Fromer San Antonio Express-News beat writer Glenn Rogers had actually predicted the selection in his mock draft. After the draft, Popovich said the Spurs hoped they’d gotten “more than” a role player in Parker.

Parker, for his part, understood his initial assignment.

“My job will be easy,” he said. “I’ve watched a lot of Spurs games. I’ll pass the ball to Duncan and [David] Robinson.”

Kawhi Leonard

At the 2011 NBA Draft, the Spurs traded George Hill — a beloved backup guard — to Indiana for the high-energy forward the Pacers had taken with the No. 15 pick. That night, general manager R.C. Buford said it had been “one of the most difficult nights in Spurs history.”

Most pre-draft scouting reports had been high on Kawhi Leonard, but one Bleacher Report writer was not all that impressed.

“I watched a couple San Diego State games this season and wondered where Leonard was on the floor at times. He can be a great complementary player for a good playoff team, but I don’t see him ever leading one there,” Bleacher Report wrote.

The Toronto Raptors 2019 NBA championship banner would beg to differ.