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Ferry will return, but not as a playerDanny Ferry, admired for his work ethic and leadership during his three seasons with the Spurs, will rejoin the franchise as director of basketball operations. Ferry will assist with scouting and other day-to-day operations as he learns the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. Ferry's father, Bob, served as general manager of the Washington Bullets from 1973-90. The Spurs are waiting to announce Ferry's hiring because Indiana, which acquired Ferry last month in the trade for Hedo Turkoglu and Ron Mercer, is trying to deal his non-guaranteed contract to a team seeking salary-cap relief. Ferry's hiring is part of a reorganization of the Spurs front-office staff that began earlier this summer with the departure of former vice president and director of player personnel Sam Schuler. Sam Presti, the team's assistant director of scouting, has been promoted to director of player personnel. Presti, 26, joined the Spurs as an intern three years ago and has quickly earned praise for his talent evaluation and knowledge of the league's CBA. San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Taking one for the teamTim Duncan was on an island by himself. He could not bring himself to play for the United States against his native Virgin Islands. He grew up with many of the players on that team. Some were his classmates. And even though St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John are an unincorporated territory of the United States, and even though the Islanders are American citizens, they also consider themselves a somewhat separate entity. So when the United States faced the Virgin Islands on Saturday in their final opening-round game of the FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Duncan - a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player with the San Antonio Spurs - declined to participate. He wore his uniform, he warmed up, but he did not tape his ankles. Craig Sager, the analyst for the pay-per-view TV package, showed up an hour before tipoff anticipating taping a pregame interview with Duncan. Instead, he found himself sitting across from Toronto Raptors star Vince Carter. As the session was about to end, Sager was handed a note telling him of Duncan's decision; when Sager posed the question, Carter seemed stunned. Carter, though, recovered quickly, laughing and saying, "I'm playing against Canada." More seriously, he said, "Tim doesn't say much, but I have to respect his decision." In truth, Duncan's decision had no effect on the outcome. The Americans won, 113-55, allowing them to enter tonight's start of the medal round with a 4-0 record, averaging 108 points and winning by an average margin of 39.7. The Americans are to play Canada tonight at 10 in the second round. And Duncan is so quiet and reserved that most of his teammates didn't know his plans until the game began and the Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand was starting in his place. San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Duncan chooses to sit this one outWhen it came right down to it, Tim Duncan simply couldn't do it. He could not go up against friends and memories. He could not play against his homeland, the Virgin Islands. So Duncan, the best player on the best team, sat on the sidelines for Team USA yesterday. "It was a personal decision, of course," Duncan said in a statement after the U.S. Olympic qualifying team hardly broke a sweat in his absence, rolling to a 113-55 victory. "I did speak with the coaches and some of my Virgin Island friends and came to the decision that it was the best gesture to make and the right thing to do and that it felt right in this situation." Duncan had admitted all week he was torn about playing against the land where he grew up, where his parents passed away. Duncan first played for Team USA in 1995 in the Goodwill Games as an 18-year-old. And at that level, he became locked into Team USA. There is a complicated five-year wait for a waiver exception but realistically, basketball players don't jump. When Duncan began playing, the Virgin Islands - an unincorporated U.S. territory - did not have a team. "To a degree, this is about respect for the opponent," said San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, Duncan's NBA coach with whom the two-time MVP discussed his decision along with USA head coach Larry Brown. "I knew when we were coming to the tournament that was going to be an issue. He was thinking about it he's got a lot of friends over there. He cares about those guys and he talked to Pop and he talked to me about it and he just felt it was the right thing to do," Brown said, adding with a smile, "and then he told me he was not going to play against Detroit." The question, of course, was what if this game had mattered? Obviously, the U.S. survived. Teammates were fine by his decision. "I didn't understand the importance of the situation he was in," said Ray Allen. "When you get to this level you keep a loyalty to the people you grew up with. I'm glad he didn't play because he showed his people he respects them." San Antonio Spurs, General Basketball Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Spurs Aug 2003 Archive
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