A Season on the Upswing?

By Adonal Foyle, with Irwin Soonachan (Courtesy of Basketball Digest.)

January 2002

[Soonachan] The new year brought contrasting fortunes in Golden State. The Warriors organization dropped to its lowest point since Latrell Sprewell mistook P.J. Carlesimo for a bobo doll. Yet Adonal's stock rose to new heights as his team sunk to new lows.

During dreadful days for the Warriors, Adonal's play was one of the few bright spots. Here's the latest in his monthly diary.

January 8, 2002

This has been a very difficult time both on and off the court. My playing time has decreased significantly without explanation, and that has led me to speculate on the possible reasons.

My foul shooting was horrible at the beginning of the season, but since the Nellie game [on December 1, Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson pulled out his old "Hack-a-Worm" Dennis Rodman defense, repeatedly sending Foyle to the foul line, where Adonal shot 1-for-8] I've been shooting better. I'm doing the things that it takes to become a better player. My rebounding is getting better, and so is my defense. I'm doing what it takes to bounce back emotionally, but for some reason I'm stuck in a pattern of playing 10 minutes. It doesn't matter what I do -- I can move mountains in those 10 minutes, but they only extend my time a little bit.

I can't speculate on what management is doing; it's not my place. All I can do is keep working on my game: Get my free throws to 70% or 80%, hit 15-foot jumpers, make strong post moves, play good defense, and block shots when I can. That's been my refuge in this situation. I just decided to let them do what they want with me in terms of minutes. When I am on the court, I will make them see why I deserve to be playing. And if nothing else comes from it, I will be a better player out of this.

I know when I'm going to be playing, so I can mentally prepare myself for my minutes and be as efficient and productive as I possibly can be on the court. That is going to be the guide by which I judge myself. I wipe everything else from my mind.

Democracy Matters [Foyle's student activism organization] has its first fundraiser coming up, and that has been an escape as well. I'm also writing a lot of poetry. In the last month or so, I've written 25 poems. That's not too surprising, because in adversity -- specifically calm moments during adversity -- I tend to be more creative. It's a lot of wonderment, and discovery, and just "thoughts" when I am fighting through adversity. Some of the poems are a little downcast, but there is a redeeming feature in them.

Through the chaos of everyday situations, or whatever horrible situation you find yourself in, there is hope. If you can go through the dredge and get dirty, but at the end come out of it and see the situation for what it is, you can put it in perspective. You can put it into a jar for introspection. If you can do that, you're not as fearful, because you can see the situation for what it is. You can see how it is affecting you.

I also talk to the team psychologist a little, like on the last plane trip. I am surprised emotionally by a lot of stuff, but I'm very good at catching myself emotionally when I'm not myself. I ask him questions like, "What would you do in a situation like this or that?" That gives me options.

January 14

We just had a rare five days off in a row. I did a lot of practicing, and was very active in Democracy Matters. I participated in a panel on campaign finance reform through the Greenlining Institute and gave a speech there. After that, I held the fundraiser for Democracy Matters at my house. About 50 people were there, and I gave another speech. My parents came out and helped me through all of it.

The days off really gave me some time to work on my game. I continued working on my foul shooting, and relaxed a little bit. It was hard, though, relaxing for five days with the team on a six-game losing streak.

One thing that we cherish in the NBA is the notion that if you have a bad game, you can make it better tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, you can redeem yourself the next day. The time you have to wait to redeem yourself is usually short. It would have been nice to go into a five-day stretch of not playing with at least one win under our belts. The losing streak made the time off a little bit long. It also brings a lot of emphasis to the Miami Heat game, because we had five days of practices where we were thinking about our losing streak. The practices were intense, even though they didn't keep us there too long.

[Warriors coach Brian] Winters applauded me for my professionalism through all of this and for continuing to work on my game. He also said that he would continue to play me, even with Damp [Erick Dampier] coming back from injury. It was an eventful week, but a fun one for me.

I'm in a very interesting place in my basketball career. I'm playing well and in a good place emotionally. I'm not playing for more playing time, I'm just playing the game the way it's supposed to be played. I like that place. I have to stay at that high level and continue to work on my game, not let myself fall into insecurity. I will never again play to impress coaches.

January 19, 2002

The Cavaliers game was a good one for me. I finally got to bring my jump shot out in a game. It's been there for a few years. It has surfaced in pickup games, but it hasn't shown up consistently. I haven't shot it that much in game situations, so it was good to bring it out of the cupboard.

That win also broke a seven-game losing streak. We had played good defense against Miami even though we lost, and it carried over to the Cleveland game. Then we went to Sacramento to play the Kings and didn't defend as well.

It's been up and down the last few days. Emotionally, we were glad to get a victory, but in Sacramento we lost a game we could have won. The final score was a lopsided 121-97, but we were in the game.

I've been playing well in the minutes I've been given, and to be given the opportunity to do what I did against Cleveland was very exciting. Even if things don't work out in Golden State, I want to go somewhere else and play. Somebody who watched me against Cleveland will say, "He can do a little more than we thought." I'm trying to change the perception of my game and ability when I step on the floor.

It's funny though, I wasn't euphoric or any different than I normally am after the game. I kept thinking about the one shot I missed. I'm very obsessive. For me, basketball's always a work in progress.

The atmosphere on the team is mixed. Guys think we can do better than we're doing. I sense that we're not totally depressed or down, but that we're just filled with the notion that we can play better than we're playing. In a sense, that is very good. It would be very easy for this team to get down in the dumps after we got one game and then didn't play well in the next one. Instead, we're not making any excuses.

January 26

This difficult time will determine who has what it takes to be on this team. Winning is a skill that has to be learned. When you think you can't win, that is the time you have to dig even deeper. We've been getting closer, our defense has improved, but we're making mistakes at the end of games to beat ourselves, which is a tendency we have to overcome.

I've been thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr. this week. We had ceremonies to honor him during Monday's game vs. the Utah Jazz. I've been pondering what he would think of the NBA and its players. Dr. King would be really proud of us. He wrote that the struggle for rights is really a struggle for opportunities. He would be proud of the opportunities that we have in the NBA, proud of the money we make, and proud of our accepted position in society. He made all of this possible for us. He also would be proud of the activism of some of the players. Some of us do a lot in the community, and a few, like Larry [Hughes], are very active. Even so, Dr. King would say that we can do more. Many players don't realize just how much of an impact they can have.

Dr. King said, "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Not only can we be even more active within our communities, but we should also be more attentive of issues facing the world at large. This is true of most people, but in the NBA, we have resources and a voice that can change society.

February 3, 2002

The situation with Marc Jackson has been difficult for everyone involved. The organization is trying to do the right thing in order to maximize his trade value. This includes not playing him so that he doesn't get hurt, and patiently waiting to get the best deal that they can for him. This is part of good business practices.

But there is another consideration in doing business: goodwill. What is good for the organization is not just purely based on profit. Marc really doesn't want to be here, and the team might not be able to wait for the absolute best deal.

Every consideration must be looked at when you're dealing with a player who doesn't want to stay. Not practicing goodwill can tarnish the reputation of the organization among the rest of the players in the league. And why disrupt the team? You can say that you're waiting for the best "business" deal, but what is the determining factor in that best deal?

What Marc said about the Warriors was uncalled for and derogatory. However, you can understand his frustration. He has been sitting on the bench.

Marc has a $24 million contract, and people say that he should sit on the bench and take the money. They don't understand that the one thing driving everybody in this league is the desire to play. It's not just a question of enjoying it because you're making big money. Every player in the NBA wants to be on the floor and contribute to the success of his team. Obviously, there's more to it than Marc just being a spoiled brat -- he's very competitive.

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