SAN ANTONIO — The date was July 7, 2016. At the time, Boban Marjanovic was a restricted free agent with the San Antonio Spurs and had recently received a three-year, $21 million offer sheet from the Detroit Pistons.
But Marjanovic wanted to stay with the Spurs.
Feeling somewhat loyal to the Spurs after they gave him his first opportunity in the NBA following nine years of playing in Europe, Marjanovic had to be convinced that the logical move for he and his family was for him to take the job with the Pistons.
“We brought him over here (from Europe), so he felt that loyalty and everything,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said prior to Wednesday’s 109-103 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.