Why the Spurs’ Sean Sweeney is the unsung hero of the NBA playoffs

MINNEAPOLIS — The pocket book appears to observe Sean Sweeney in every single place: from Spurs coaches’ conferences, to movie periods, to one-one-one pow-wows with gamers.

During video games, the yellow authorized pad — secured in a brown leather-based portfolio — slides beneath Sweeney’s arm as he stalks the sidelines three steps behind head coach Mitch Johnson. It rests on his lap on the group airplane rides.

For the Spurs’ affiliate head coach, that pocket book would possibly as properly be a vestigial appendage. Its contents, nonetheless, stay a well-guarded thriller in Spurs circles.

“I don’t know,” ahead Julian Champagnie mentioned. “And honestly and truly, I don’t want to know.”

This a lot is nearly actually true: Whatever secrets and techniques are scrawled in Sweeney’s trusty pocket book are an enormous purpose the Spurs are one victory away from returning to the Western Conference finals for the first time in 9 years.

Renowned NBA-wide as a defensive savant, the 41-year-old Sweeney joined Johnson’s workers final summer season after 4 seasons in Dallas.

The outcomes have been as quick as they’re imposing. After posting the league’s fifth-worst protection in 2024-25, the Spurs jumped to 3rd throughout the lately accomplished common season.

Heading into Game 6 of the convention semifinals Friday in Minnesota — a sequence San Antonio leads 3-2 — the Spurs boast the league’s prime playoff protection, permitting a paltry 102 factors per 100 possessions.

How a lot credit score does Sweeney deserve for the Spurs’ stark defensive about-face? Just ask the league’s first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.

“All of it,” Victor Wembanyama mentioned.

The unsung star of the Spurs’ playoff run is a 5-foot-11, carrot-topped Minnesotan who grew up simply throughout the Mississippi River from the Target Center in St. Paul and appears like he may need wandered off the set of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

Looks, nonetheless, may be deceiving.

To hear a number of Spurs inform it, Sweeney is a mad scientist with a steel-trap thoughts and a sailor’s mouth.

“He’ll come to the bench and just start tripping, cursing us out,” Champagnie mentioned with amusing. “More often than not, he ends up losing his voice — running out of air, because he’s screaming at us so much.”

Sweeney has not been made obtainable to the media for interviews, however the Spurs’ defensive numbers converse for themselves.

Entering Friday, the Spurs have performed 10 playoff video games. They have restricted opponents to lower than 100 factors in half of them.

That has been an unfailing profitable formulation. Including the common season, the Spurs are 16-0 when retaining groups under the century mark.

In the convention semifinals, the Spurs’ Sweeney-led protection has unveiled a slew of halfcourt traps in opposition to the Timberwolves’ All-Star (albeit hobbled) guard Anthony Edwards that has oft rendered Minnesota’s offense inoperable.

Granted, the schemes work primarily as a result of the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama is there to shut down roughly half the ground at any given time. Still, Spurs gamers reward Sweeney for getting all of them on the identical web page.

“His attention to detail on everything and the way he can explain things to make it make sense for us (is big),” guard Stephon Castle mentioned. “He’s a big reason we’re one of the top defenses in the West.”

Indeed, Sweeney’s arrival in San Antonio has turned out to be one of the most consequential free-agent acquisitions of the final NBA offseason.

When the 39-year-old Johnson took over full-time for Gregg Popovich final summer season, one of the first gadgets on his to-do record was to place collectively a workers.

The Spurs retained a pair of holdovers from Popovich’s bench, Matt Neilsen and Mike Noyes.

Johnson’s transfer from the assistant’s room to the head coach’s workplace resulted in a single emptiness. Another was created when longtime Popovich aide Brett Brown voluntarily opted to maneuver to the entrance workplace in a consulting position.

Johnson ended up including three new assistants to a super-sized workers — Sweeney; Corliss Williamson, a former NBA participant and veteran assistant who coached final season in Minnesota; and Scott King, who had been the head coach of the G League’s Austin Spurs.

The notion was not simply to verify containers however inject recent concepts.

“To be able to add to that group was really beneficial,” Johnson mentioned, “and Sean has been a big part of that.”

To appeal to the extremely sought-after Sweeney from Dallas, the Spurs provided a considerable pay bump and the title of affiliate head coach, a designation that didn’t exist beneath Popovich.

Johnson didn’t know Sweeney personally earlier than final summer season, however knew of him.

Both have been former faculty level guards — Johnson at Stanford and Sweeney at the University of St. Thomas, a personal Catholic faculty in St. Paul.

“I just took a liking to his ability to articulate his basketball philosophy and what he thought about the game and NBA coaching in general, in terms of competitiveness and how hard you should coach and holding guys accountable,” Johnson mentioned. “But also the modern, creative part and thinking outside the box.”

Before coming to San Antonio, Sweeney spent eight seasons teaching beneath Jason Kidd, with stops in Dallas, Milwaukee and Brooklyn.

He was an integral half of a workers that guided the Mavericks to a Finals berth in 2024. During that run, Sweeney developed defenses that toppled the Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Spurs’ opponent in the subsequent spherical ought to they survive this one.

“He was always prepared and ready for the moment,” Kidd mentioned.

Give Johnson credit score for pursuing Sweeney in the first place. Many first-time head coaches would possibly really feel threatened by somebody of Sweeney’s stature and pedigree swooping in.

He understood the profit of constructing the finest workers he might. With that as the purpose, Sweeney’s rent was a no brainer.

For a coach like Johnson, who earlier than final month had by no means coached in an NBA playoff recreation whilst an assistant, Sweeney’s presence has been as reassuring as a favourite blanket.

“I’ve really enjoyed his honesty,” Johnson mentioned. “I’ve enjoyed his competitiveness.”

Sweeney’s contributions have been schematic, designing defenses for particular person video games in addition to devising in-game changes on the fly.

Often, Sweeney may be discovered trailing Johnson by a number of ft on the sidelines, directing visitors and barking orders.

His affect goes past Xs and Os.

Forward Devin Vassell remembers his first assembly with Sweeney over the summer season. The new coach got here armed with movie from Vassell’s faculty video games at Florida State, demonstrating for the sixth-year professional the defensive participant he might nonetheless change into in the NBA.

“He showed me clips of me at Florida State, the old days,” Vassell mentioned. “Just really emphasizing the defensive end and taking pride in that. He’s really just encouraged us to be special on the defensive end.”

Sweeney is aware of get his level throughout, gamers say. Spurs rookie Dylan Harper describes Sweeney as “fiery and funny.”

“He always wants to win,” Harper mentioned. “He always wants us to do the right thing. We all understand where he’s coming from when he’s frustrated or upset.”

When angered, Sweeney’s face can grow as red as the hair on his head. Players learned quickly what makes Sweeney most unhappy.

“When you’re soft,” Champagnie said. “If we know what we’re supposed to do and just don’t do it, he hates that (stuff).”

The deeper the Spurs advance in the playoffs, the higher the likelihood Sweeney is not in San Antonio next season.

An NBA team in search of a head coach is sure to come calling. Sweeney has already been linked to openings in Chicago and Portland.

Spurs players will not be surprised if Sweeney lands one of them.

“A lot of defensive coaches end up being head coaches, especially in the NBA,” guard De’Aaron Fox said. “I think he could do it now.”

Asked to name the qualities that would make Sweeney a successful NBA head coach, Fox chuckled.

“He’s definitely crazy enough,” Fox mentioned.