AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Boris Diaw was playing some of the worst basketball of his career in 2012 – when he was playing at all. Not even the Charlotte Bobcats, en route to the worst record in NBA history (7-59), deemed him worthy of minutes every game. Diaw looked out of shape and lethargic. As his production and conditioning worsened, the Bobcats finally, mercifully bought him out.
Two years later, Diaw was in the running for NBA Finals MVP with the Spurs.
Did San Antonio rejuvenate him?
“No!” Diaw snaps before breaking into a laugh.
“If I was rejuvenated,” Diaw says, “that means I got old at some point.”
Diaw certainly hasn’t looked over the hill with the Spurs, whom he signed with after his 2012 buyout. He has played in more wins (204) than anyone the last four years. His combination of points (1,270), rebounds (617) and assists (420) as a reserve in that span is unmatched.
And he has helped the Spurs to a 34-6 start and nine straight wins this season heading into their matchup with the Cavaliers tonight.
“He’s a really smart basketball player, probably one of the most intelligent players in the league,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said.
Draft buzz in 2003 called Diaw a 6-foot-9 point guard. Now, the Spurs list him as a 6-foot-8 center-forward. He has also played both wing positions during a 13-year that also included stops with the Hawks and Suns.
He has shown amazing athleticism. Yet, his weight – listed at 250 pounds – is a common concern.
And as he put it, “I’m at the same time very easy to coach and at the same time very hard to coach.”
Diaw was difficult to coach in Charlotte, where then-Bobcats coach Paul Silas ripped his effort and commitment. He was also difficult to coach in Atlanta, where he told isolation-favoring coach Mike Woodson he couldn’t play for him.
The common theme: Both coaches wanted Diaw to score more.
“I’m not that,” Diaw said. “I need teammates and good teammates. I need a system where the ball is moving, where it’s team basketball.”
Diaw said he has long recognized how much his team’s style affects him, but he can’t always control it. He fit with the Hawks, who drafted him No. 21 in 2003, until they fired Terry Stotts for Woodson. He clicked for Mike D’Antoni’s Suns, but then they replaced him with Terry Porter and traded him to Charlotte. There, Diaw meshed with Larry Brown before the Bobcats fired him and hired Silas.
So, Diaw knew what he wanted when he became a free agent in the spring of 2012: a team that shared the ball, was headed to the postseason and could become a long-term fit.
The Spurs just weren’t certain they wanted him.
Though Popovich declined to look back on Diaw’s Charlotte-to-San Antonio transition – “When did he play for Charlotte? Twenty years ago or something?” Popovich said. “It’s 2016" – Tony Parker remembers it well. The Spurs point guard, who grew up with Diaw in France, recalls Popovich and San Antonio general manager R.C. Buford asking about Diaw.
“Charlotte was saying stuff about him,” Parker said. “I’m like, ‘Are you serious?’ I’m like, ‘I’ve been playing with him with the national team. There’s no way Boris is like that.’”
Parker’s message to Popovich and Buford: “We have to do it. He’s going to be perfect.”
In many ways, Diaw has been.
He appears to get along well with Popovich, and the Spurs’ emphasis on ball movement suits him to a T. Diaw also provides them with a versatility that creates mismatches.
Start with Diaw’s scoring ability.
Put a smaller player on him, and Diaw will post him up. Put a bigger player on him, and Diaw will take him to the perimeter. Guard him too closely there, and Diaw will drive to the basket. Too loosely, and he’ll shoot 3-pointers.
Diaw is the only player shooting 60% on both post-ups and drives (minimum 10 attempts of each). Here’s the field-goal percentages of all 90 qualifying players, Diaw represented by a black dot and everyone else gray:
| Player | Team | Post-ups | Drives |
| Boris Diaw | SAS | 61% | 63% |
| Kevin Durant | OKC | 63% | 58% |
| Nikola Vucevic | ORL | 53% | 61% |
| Blake Griffin | LAC | 43% | 66% |
| Charlie Villanueva | DAL | 60% | 49% |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | 55% | 52% |
| Andrew Nicholson | ORL | 50% | 56% |
| Arron Afflalo | NYK | 59% | 47% |
| Kawhi Leonard | SAS | 53% | 52% |
| Chris Paul | LAC | 50% | 55% |
| Shabazz Muhammad | MIN | 55% | 50% |
| Kelly Olynyk | BOS | 57% | 47% |
| Paul Millsap | ATL | 53% | 49% |
| Jabari Parker | MIL | 53% | 48% |
| Evan Turner | BOS | 46% | 54% |
| Thaddeus Young | BKN | 50% | 49% |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN | 47% | 52% |
| Nikola Mirotic | CHI | 45% | 54% |
| Carmelo Anthony | NYK | 45% | 54% |
| Dwyane Wade | MIA | 45% | 53% |
| Greg Monroe | MIL | 43% | 55% |
| Shaun Livingston | GSW | 56% | 42% |
| Mirza Teletovic | PHX | 44% | 53% |
| Harrison Barnes | GSW | 52% | 44% |
| Luol Deng | MIA | 44% | 52% |
| Derrick Williams | NYK | 46% | 50% |
| Marcus Morris | DET | 50% | 45% |
| DeMar DeRozan | TOR | 43% | 52% |
| Andrew Wiggins | MIN | 46% | 48% |
| LeBron James | CLE | 43% | 51% |
| Amir Johnson | BOS | 53% | 40% |
| Brook Lopez | BKN | 48% | 45% |
| Al Horford | ATL | 48% | 44% |
| Russell Westbrook | OKC | 42% | 49% |
| Danilo Gallinari | DEN | 53% | 39% |
| David West | SAS | 51% | 40% |
| Chris Bosh | MIA | 39% | 51% |
| Lance Thomas | NYK | 50% | 40% |
| Rudy Gay | SAC | 53% | 37% |
| Kenneth Faried | DEN | 53% | 37% |
| Zach Randolph | MEM | 43% | 46% |
| DeMarcus Cousins | SAC | 44% | 44% |
| Jared Sullinger | BOS | 42% | 46% |
| Deron Williams | DAL | 39% | 48% |
| Ryan Anderson | NOP | 47% | 39% |
| Ersan Ilyasova | DET | 40% | 46% |
| Mason Plumlee | POR | 53% | 33% |
| James Harden | HOU | 38% | 48% |
| Rodney Hood | UTA | 40% | 46% |
| Josh Smith | LAC | 44% | 42% |
| David Lee | BOS | 43% | 43% |
| Joe Johnson | BKN | 40% | 44% |
| Kyle Lowry | TOR | 38% | 46% |
| Khris Middleton | MIL | 41% | 43% |
| Pau Gasol | CHI | 40% | 43% |
| Marvin Williams | CHA | 60% | 23% |
| Jeff Green | MEM | 43% | 40% |
| Jon Leuer | PHX | 40% | 43% |
| Wesley Matthews | DAL | 35% | 47% |
| Spencer Hawes | CHA | 41% | 42% |
| Luis Scola | TOR | 45% | 38% |
| Klay Thompson | GSW | 40% | 42% |
| Bojan Bogdanovic | BKN | 41% | 40% |
| Kobe Bryant | LAL | 35% | 45% |
| Jimmy Butler | CHI | 34% | 46% |
| LaMarcus Aldridge | SAS | 47% | 33% |
| Nerlens Noel | PHI | 39% | 41% |
| Anthony Davis | NOP | 34% | 46% |
| Nicolas Batum | CHA | 41% | 36% |
| Derrick Favors | UTA | 45% | 30% |
| Gordon Hayward | UTA | 31% | 44% |
| Markieff Morris | PHX | 32% | 42% |
| Gerald Henderson | POR | 33% | 41% |
| Kevin Love | CLE | 53% | 21% |
| Andre Drummond | DET | 41% | 33% |
| Tobias Harris | ORL | 32% | 40% |
| Stanley Johnson | DET | 36% | 34% |
| Kristaps Porzingis | NYK | 39% | 31% |
| Kevin Martin | MIN | 27% | 42% |
| Terrence Jones | HOU | 42% | 27% |
| Draymond Green | GSW | 28% | 41% |
| Aaron Gordon | ORL | 25% | 43% |
| Michael Carter-Williams | MIL | 21% | 46% |
| Julius Randle | LAL | 30% | 38% |
| PJ Tucker | PHX | 26% | 40% |
| Marcus Smart | BOS | 30% | 36% |
| Paul George | IND | 20% | 46% |
| Frank Kaminsky | CHA | 33% | 30% |
| Noah Vonleh | POR | 15% | 38% |
| Metta World Peace | LAL | 8% | 30% |
The only other player in Diaw’s class is Kevin Durant.
Diaw’s 3-point shooting has also jumped to 38% after dipping last year. He’s shooting 37% from beyond the arc with the Spurs, more than enough to force defenses to account for him.
And scoring just scratches the surface of what Diaw brings to the table.
Whether he’s spotting up on the perimeter, driving to the hoop or posting up, Diaw is looking to pass. Thought he pre-draft evaluations were overblown, Diaw often resembles a point guard in a power forward’s body.
Diaw is a solid position defender. He helps on the glass, too.
All this adds up to a prime playoff contributor. Opponents will have a difficult time finding a weakness to exploit. Meanwhile, Diaw will create mismatches.
The Spurs – with Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Danny Green and Parker – have the talent to compete with anyone. Diaw help them turn the style of any game to their favor.
That’s why Parker, who has played only for San Antonio and never even entered free agency, is so glad the Spurs listened to his recommendation. It’s telling that, when trying to clear cap space for Aldridge, San Antonio traded Tiago Splitter rather than Diaw.
Unlike most post-buyout free agents, Diaw wasn’t looking for just a few-month destination to finish the season in 2012. He wanted to find a long-term home, and it appears he has.
“Hopefully,” Parker said, “we can finish our careers together.”