The San Antonio Spurs are one of the NBA’s most highly regarded franchises. While the team’s basketball brilliance, especially during Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili’s time, was one of the main reasons for its success, their system and culture were also crucial. This is what made the Spurs stand out from the rest of the league.
One player who immediately learned how different the Spurs operated was Derrick White. The 29th pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, White was fortunate enough to have exquisite mentors in veterans Pau Gasol and Ginobili.
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In the latest episode of his podcast, he recalled an incident when Bryn Forbes was going to pay for a team dinner. However, true to his gracious nature, Gasol would not permit the young guard to settle the bill, choosing instead to cover the cost himself.
An expensive team dinner
While players on other teams often break into different groups and have separate dinners when they’re playing on the road, the Spurs usually eat like a family. According to White, during his rookie year, the team had one at an expensive steak house and Forbes was supposed to pay for it all.
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“We had team dinner and, like, there was this joke where Bryn was going to pay for it. And Pau was like, ‘No, you would never pay for a dinner. Like, this is my responsibility as, like, the vet,'” White recalled.
At that time, Gasol was already in his 16th year in the league and had already established himself as a bona fide star. With NBA championships, All-Star and All-NBA citations and $220 million in earnings, the Spaniard took it upon himself to pick up the check instead of Forbes, who was still playing in his second season, functioning as an off-the-bench sharpshooter.
Unbeknownst to Gasol, while it seemed like Forbes was going to pay for it, it was actually Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich who was picking up the tab.
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“It was a joke ’cause it was Pop actually paying for it, but Bryn had his card,” White relayed. “Pop heard about it and gave Bryn his card. And so Bryn was gonna pay for it, but Pau was like, ‘No way!”
Unselfish, familial culture
The story is indicative of the culture Popovich had cultivated within the Spurs organization through the decades. While he still demanded excellence from every player, he also never failed to give them proper perspective — that this was only a job and that building and maintaining relationships was much more important.
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His habit of picking up the dinner tabs of his players on the road was just another example of how he always tried to lead by example. In fact, once players, current and former, caught wind of what their coach was doing, they regularly sought out where he would be dining for the night and would suddenly show up hoping to have a free meal.
“We almost started following him around ’cause he got a rule. If he sees you out at dinner on the road trip, he paid for it,” former Spurs guard Josh Richardson revealed in a separate interview.
When it came to first-class education in hoops and life, there was no better franchise than the Spurs. White is a prime product of that environment and it’s showing in how he’s become one of the leaders of the Boston Celtics.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.