Playing Through

Pops Mensah-Bonsu (Photo Courtesy of John Sommer)

"It's all about making adjustments," Austin Toros coach Quin Snyder said.

He wasn't kidding.

A month ago, I was all set to write about the Toro's Malik Hairston, whom, as it happens, I once sat next to on a plane. But when he was called up to the San Antonio Spurs, I decided to interview the new guy, if only because of his spectacular name: Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu. The British-born power forward, known as Pops, threw down some spectacular dunks and in his eight games with the Toros was leading the league in scoring (26.6 per game) and rebounds (13 per game). After losing their first three games, the Toros have been on a tear, with the best record in the NBA Development League. But the first seven of Pops' games with the team were on the road, which meant I'd just have to cool my heels.

It was worth the wait: In his first home game, Pops was on fire, scoring 39 points and pulling down 18 boards in the 131-124 overtime win against Colorado.

"I don't intend to be in the D-League long," he later told me during an afternoon shootaround. "I'd like to think that I won't be here at the end of the week. I'd like to think that, the way I'm playing, I'm putting pressure on the NBA to make a move. I don't want that to sound arrogant – that's just the situation. But I'm not sitting around waiting for the phone to ring."

As it turns out, Pops' first home game with Austin would be his last home game with Austin. A few hours after we spoke, Pops was gone. The NBA had made its move. The Spurs signed Mensah-Bonsu to a 10-day contract. [The Spurs released Mensah-Bonsu from his contract as the Chronicle was going to press.]

So it goes in the D-League. The Toros had 20 different rosters last year, 15 different starting lineups this year. "The D-League is not about the development of a team," Snyder said. "It's about the development of players. We're all trying to get out of here. I mean, I'm not necessarily, but the players are. That's the reality. But it's a paradox: In order to get out of here, you have to be here."

You can imagine that it would be easy for both coaches and players to become cynical and selfish. There's scarcely a guy in the league who wasn't the best player on his college team, yet here he is, barely making enough money to live on, playing in Bismarck, N.D., or Bakersfield, Calif. Yet the atmosphere at Toros practices and games is remarkably free of the bad, bitter vibes you might expect.

Snyder is the reason for that. He's a smart guy, a good guy, and he has a philosophical perspective rare in sports. "If you pour everything you have into something, and you don't make it – well, first of all, I hate that term, 'making it.' It implies there's only one way to make it, and there's not. But we're all human, and what we're learning is how to be mentally tough."