The Spurs held practice at a Miami Beach school. And kids there got a huge surprise

 

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Assaraf lost a bet, so he had to go through classes at Hebrew Academy on Wednesday wearing a suit instead of more casual attire.

Turns out, that wasn’t the most unusual part of his day.

Members of the boys and girls basketball teams at the small private school got quite a surprise — they got to be in the gym to watch No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama, coach Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs having a gameday shootaround session on their court. Popovich even posed for pictures with the group and engaged the players in a question-and-answer session.

“It was amazing,” Assaraf said. “To hear from a legend like that ... even if you don’t follow basketball like I do, you know Gregg Popovich. A legendary coach, and to hear him speak was just amazing.”

The encounter started taking shape a few weeks ago, when someone from the Spurs called the school and asked if its facility would be available for practice. The Spurs, in Miami to play the Heat on Wednesday night, were staying nearby...

Hebrew Academy didn’t hesitate before saying yes. Having the school’s basketball players in the gym was not part of the plan — that is, until Wednesday morning. 

“I was prepared to not have them [i.e. Hebrew Academy's basketball players] here,” school athletic director Adam Sargent said. “And then, as things go, Pop shows up and tells somebody to tell somebody to tell somebody who told me that if we wanted to bring our varsity teams in here, go ahead.”

Word got out — fast. Some students climbed on gates outside the gym to peer through the windows just for a look at Wembanyama. Inside the gym, the Spurs heard the commotion. Wembanyama acknowledged the kids more than once...

“Everybody just had a hell of a time, took pictures, answered their questions, just had fun,” Popovich said. “It was just kind of a high school moment. But because it was unplanned, it made it a lot of fun for everybody.”

...

“I just talked to Gregg Popovich. My heart is shaking,” Hebrew Academy center Dov Shapiro said. “He looks much better in person.”

Shapiro left an AP calculus class when he heard the Spurs were in the gym. It was worth the risk of a teacher perhaps being a bit miffed, he said.

“I’ll miss 100 classes to see Wemby,” Shapiro said. “And to talk to Pop, come on. It’s life-changing.”