<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Do you think the loss of Jimmy Chang has contributed to the Spurs? struggles? ? DA, San Antonio I?m glad you called it a "loss" because that, my friends, is exactly what this was, and the Spurs franchise will forever be the poorer for it. For those of who don?t know who Jimmy Chang is, well, you should be ashamed to call yourself a Spurs fan. I?d even be willing to argue you?re not a fan of the human race. Jimmy, for the unenlightened, was the Spurs? interpreter for Chinese center Mengke Bateer during the 2002-03 season. He was much more than that, of course. I happen to believe he was the glue that held that title team together, the person most responsible for transitioning the David-AJ-Tim championship era to that of Tim-Manu-Tony. I don?t think it?s a reach to say that no one ever enjoyed a more meteoric rise through the NBA than the esteemed Jimmy Chang. Not even Sam Presti. When the Spurs opened training camp in the fall of 2002, Jimmy was either attending college in California or taking a break from school. I don?t remember which. (I?ve never been able to tell whether Jimmy is actually doing ANYTHING or just taking a break from it.) Jimmy?s sitting on his couch watching ESPN when a report about the Spurs trading for Mengke Bateer flashes on the screen. When it comes to life-changing moments, this was the equivalent of Jimi Hendrix picking up a guitar for the first time or Ben Franklin deciding to go fly his kite in an electrical storm. A huge NBA fan, Jimmy figures the Spurs might need an interpreter. So he picks up the phone, dials information, gets the team?s main office number and calls. After selecting the prompt for the company directory, he punches in P-O-P-O-V-I-C-H. Sure enough ? and I will forever be amazed by this ? Jimmy gets dumped into Pop?s personal voice mail and leaves a message offering his services. A couple days later he gets a call back from the Spurs. They bring him in for an interview and the next week he?s flying on their charter and has his own room at the Four Seasons in New York while they play the Knicks in an exhibition game. When the Spurs won the championship, Jimmy was pictured, along with the players, on the Wheaties box. From the seat of his couch to the front of a Wheaties box in nine months. That?s progress. (Jimmy, by the way, promptly went out and bought seven cases of the cereal.) There are some of us who wonder if Jimmy even knew Mandarin. If Bateer spoke three words of English before joining the Spurs, I think he might have known four after leaving the team. But in my nine years as the Spurs beat writer, there wasn?t a better locker room to cover than the one that season. Kevin Willis, Speedy Claxton, Malik Rose, Steve Kerr, Danny Ferry, Manu, Bruce, Tony, Tim, Steve Smith, Bateer, Stephen Jackson ? everyone seemed to enjoy each other. And they all knew their roles, Jimmy included. Whenever Kevin Willis didn?t know a play during practice ? which was often ? he would subtly push Bateer onto the court in his place. And when Bateer subsequently botched the play, it was Jimmy who would get blistered by Pop. After Pop delivered one of his famous "are-you-living-in-phone-booth?" rebukes, Jimmy asked me for help. "Pop says I am living in a phone booth. What does that mean?" "It means he isn?t happy." "Well, you try translating Fist Up and Fist Down into Mandarin. It isn?t easy." Bateer didn?t play much, but when he got into a game in Minnesota late in the season and quickly picked up a foul, Jimmy almost drew a technical for jumping out of his seat in protest. When Pop decided to sit most of the regulars in the final game before the playoffs, Bateer finally got an extended run. Jimmy stood in front of the bench, shouting instructions as Pop walked down to talk to another player. P.J. ? as only P.J. would do ? tells Jimmy to go ahead and sit in Pop?s chair. So Pop turns around to sit down, sees Jimmy in his place and ... bursts out laughing. Anyway, the Spurs decide not to bring Bateer back after the season and come to the (in my opinion, illogical) decision that they no longer need a Chinese interpreter. Jimmy?s magical run is over. Since then, I have argued the franchise has been plagued by the Curse of Chang. And the Spurs aren?t alone. Toronto signed Bateer and Jimmy (by then they were a package deal) prior to the 2003-04 season, but traded them to Orlando in January. Their coach at the time, Kevin O?Neill was fired at the end of the season. Coincidence? Only now have the Raptors begun to recover. The Magic made the mistake of immediately waiving Bateer. Have they made the playoffs since? I think not. As for the Spurs, all I can say is they won one championship in Jimmy?s lone season. They?re 1 for 3 without him. Jimmy is back in California. I think he did some work with 7-foot-8 center Sun Ming Ming, but is otherwise finishing his degree and, like most sports-loving college students, trying to make a living selling tickets and playing poker. It?s a long drop from his charter-flying, championship-ring days with the Spurs, which is why I hope he doesn?t become the Todd Bridges of Chinese interpreters. I know this much: The 2008 Olympics are in Beijing, and if I?m USA Basketball, I?d already be on the phone with Jimmy. </div> Source
