McDonald: Fortunate 500 – Spurs' Bowen savors games milestone

[Bruno]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/b...en.1f1499.html

Web Posted: 03/11/2008 11:19 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
San Antonio Express-News

NEW ORLEANS — George Karl tells the story with a self-deprecating chuckle, like an empty-handed fisherman regaling friends with the tale of the big one that got away.

It was the summer of 1999 and Karl, then the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, had invited a handful of NBA wannabes to Las Vegas for a tryout camp. Among them was a 28-year-old, 6-foot-7 beanpole named Bruce Bowen.

Karl stayed home in Wisconsin and left assistants to preside over the workouts. Over and over, one name kept popping up in their reports from the camp.

"My staff kept telling me that Bowen could cover anybody on our team," recalls Karl, now the coach in Denver. "He could cover Ray Allen, he could cover Glenn Robinson. He could cover all of them. My assistants loved him."

Ultimately, nothing came of the workout. Bowen, who unbeknownst to Karl was destined to become one of the league's top defenders, wound up in Philadelphia, where he lasted just half a season before moving to Miami.

Tonight in New Orleans, Bowen — in his seventh season with the Spurs — will celebrate a milestone of longevity that would have been but a pipe dream to that 28-year-old fighting for his basketball life in Las Vegas.

Bowen will play in and start his 500th consecutive game, extending on both counts the longest active streaks in the NBA.

Second place as a starter isn't even close.

Detroit's Tayshaun Prince ranks No. 2 on the games-started list, a scant 163 behind Bowen. If Bowen's streak ended now, Prince would have to start the equivalent of two more seasons to eclipse it.

For more perspective: the Spurs have won three NBA les since Bowen last missed a game — Feb. 6, 2002 against Phoenix.

The approach of his imminent iron-man landmark has left Bowen, 36, in a reflective mood.

"More than anything else, I reflect on being able to do something I really enjoy," Bowen said. "Not a lot of people can say that. I have a wonderful job."

He didn't always have an NBA job, which is what makes Bowen's streak even more impressive.

Undrafted out of Cal State Fullerton in 1993, Bowen bounced around in basketball's bush leagues, first in the French professional leagues, then in the CBA, then cycled through three NBA teams from 1996-2000 before joining the Spurs in the summer of 2001. His life was a series of tryouts and 10-day contracts, every day a fight for his daily bread.

That struggle still forms Bowen's approach to the game. He has been named to seven consecutive all-NBA defensive teams.

"Guys in that situation all tend to play a certain way," says Spurs forward Ime Udoka, "like every game is their last."

Bowen credits his staying power to a work ethic honed in his youth.

Practically abandoned by his parents, both of whom were addicted to drugs, Bowen sought role models in other nooks of the family tree.

The uncle who worked as a janitor at Bowen's high school in Fresno, Calif., during the day, then attended school himself at night. The aunt, a librarian, who also took night classes.

Bowen says he has thought of them often during his streak.

"It's not anything where I think I'm anything special," Bowen said. "It's a product of enjoying and appreciating where I am and being able to go out and do it every day."

So how is it that Bowen is still plugging along, at an age in which most of his contemporaries are checking tee times?

"He must have good genetics somehow or another," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich joked.

Indeed, it takes a good bit of luck to play 500 games in a row — an awkward fall here, a jammed finger there, and it's all over.

But Bowen has also made his own luck.

Teammates say it isn't uncommon to arrive for a 10 a.m. practice to find Bowen has already been at the team's workout facility for two hours, working up his own sweat.

Married with two young children, Bowen rarely stays up late and rarely ventures outside his San Antonio home after hours.

His only vice? Chicken pot pies, a culinary remnant of his hardscrabble youth.

Robert Horry, at 37 the only Spur older than Bowen, calls his younger teammate "a nerd" — a description Bowen doesn't necessarily deny.

"That's fine," Bowen says. "You know in the end, the nerd always ends up with something special."

Tonight, as Bowen prepares for his 500th consecutive opening tip, that will be as true as it ever was.

[DespЏrado]

God what a let down of an ending. Yeah nerd culture is kind of in ascendancy but wtf? Just calling him a nerd is so anti climactic to the drive of the article that it bears repeating the fact that McDonald is probably the worst sports journalist this town has ever been forced to endure...

This guy sucks...what a horrible tribute article to one of the most professional men our team has ever had. His work ethic has done more to a promote the winning culture of this team than practically anybody, and Jeff Mcdonald couldn't get a better quote to end the article than saying he's a nerd?

Robert Horry, at 37 the only Spur older than Bowen, calls his younger teammate "a nerd" — a description Bowen doesn't necessarily deny.

"That's fine," Bowen says. "You know in the end, the nerd always ends up with something special."

Tonight, as Bowen prepares for his 500th consecutive opening tip, that will be as true as it ever was.

[1Parker1]

**knocks wood after reading this article.


Why would McDonald choose to write an article that has such potential to be a jinx so close to the playoffs?

[gospursgojas]

Way to jinx him McDonald

[thispego]

yeah mcdonald is awesome

[polandprzem]

yea he should le it: Fortunate 499 ...


Btw. BB will get his tribute I assure you that. He is my second best spur and I always admired him.

[Jimcs50]

God what a let down of an ending. Yeah nerd culture is kind of in ascendancy but wtf? Just calling him a nerd is so anti climactic to the drive of the article that it bears repeating the fact that McDonald is probably the worst sports journalist this town has ever been forced to endure...

This guy sucks...what a horrible tribute article to one of the most professional men our team has ever had. His work ethic has done more to a promote the winning culture of this team than practically anybody, and Jeff Mcdonald couldn't get a better quote to end the article than saying he's a nerd?

This was the point. His being a nerd is why he has played 500 straight games...because he does not party, he practices hard, he keeps his body in great shape, he goes to bed early, etc.

Are you that clueless? Stop being so damn sensitve...sheesh.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

I like the nerd quote from Horry at the end. I thought it was funny.

It's like the accolade equivalent to "perfect attendance" in a school year or whatever.

[SuperManu!!!]

Who got the longest streak?

[jcrod]

I think Green? Blackman? I don't remmember, but i believe it ended in Dallas when the Nelson didn't play him.

[T Park]

I see the forum journalist experts are back out in full force.

[DarrinS]

I'm sure some hater out there is blogging about how Bruce has hurt people. I hate the wussification of the NBA.

[DespЏrado]

Yeah and no one defending this worthless piece of crap article has ever heard the term damning with faint praise.

Seriously, this article needs some hyperbole, some fire, and some more appreciation of just what Bowen has done for this team. What it has meant for the team to have a player who can literally nullify the opponents best player for 500 straight games is unbelievable. Bowen has had moments of slump and games of being a step slow, but what he has brought is irreplaceable. And all of that he has done in a league where being a wingman defender has literally been outlawed.

So sure play up the fact that it's taken a of a work ethic to get here, but there is a lot more to Bowen than being a gym rat.

[SpursDynasty]

It's good to have a player we can count on, who stays healthy enough for 500 consecutive games. When other teams put their hopes on a #1 draft pick who has to miss the entire season without ever having played a single NBA game, thus letting the team/fans down, it makes us appreciate guys like Bowen more.

[oboymeetsogirl]

The players themselves know what an incredible feat those 500 consecutive games are. In this day and age, I can't imagine it. Even Kobe once hurt himself once, moving things at home in his garage. Mailman was a specimen in his time, but he'd come up lame every few hundred games. But Bruce is made of something else, man, and the Spurs organization needs to celebrate this even more.

I've said this before: we all know Tim Duncan has been the man, but without Bruce's defense of every team's primary perimeter threat, it might very well have been only two instead of four championship banners hanging in the rafters.