Couch Q&A: Bryn Forbes on his NBA rookie year and realizing, 'I actually can do this'

Bryn Forbes’ dream rookie year with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs finished as well as it began — on the active roster, with the respect of his legendary coach, suddenly getting meaningful minutes in playoff games, sometimes playing a position he learned in a season.

Nearly 11 months after the Spurs signed Forbes to a conditional contract, hoping the undrafted guard out of Michigan State would shoot his way onto the roster, Forbes scored eight points in 24 minutes in the Spurs’ final playoff game, occasionally handling the ball as the team’s point guard. He hit one critical 3-pointer early in the game and later, using a pump-fake, drove around Kevin Durant to score again.

Forbes, who won two state championships alongside Denzel Valentine at Lansing Sexton High School, played in 42 games for the Spurs during the regular season and postseason. He averaged 2.6 points in 7.9 minutes during the regular season and 3.3 points in 12 minutes in six games during the Spurs’ playoff run, which ended with a sweep at the hands of the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. In that series, he twice played at least 23 minutes. 

More significant for his long-term NBA future, however, was his time in Austin, Texas, with the Spurs’ D-League franchise. There, at the request of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, he learned to play point guard. It showed in early April, when Forbes, back with the Spurs, scored 27 points and dished out six assists in a win at Dallas. 

“I walked off the court then like, ‘Man, I think I can actually do this,’” Forbes said Friday.

During that interview, he talked about his rookie season, facing Draymond Green in the playoffs, playing for Popovich, becoming a capable point guard and what’s next.

Couch: What’s it like to pump-fake Kevin Durant in the playoffs, drive by him and knock down a shot? 

Forbes: "Just to be in that game was big, just to be able to play in that game meant a lot to me. I was just enjoying myself out there and doing what I do best. Every shot I made felt good. Every shot I made this season felt good."

Q: Did you know Coach Popovich was going to play you that much?

A: "His style is to just kind of throw you in the fire sometimes, when you least expect it. You come to the game like, ‘Ah, I probably won’t play this one, I’ll probably just be sitting,’ and boom, you’re in the game in the second quarter. You’ve just got to stay prepared. For him to put his trust in me, you always want to show up when he does that, so that he feels more comfortable putting me out there." 

Q: Did you and Draymond talk over the course of the Western Conference finals?

A: "Oh, yeah. A lot. Off the court, we got to hang out a lot. Just getting some advice and be around him, that was cool."

Q: He’s known as a trash talker; did he try to get in your head on the court?

A: "Not at all. Which, I didn’t know what to expect. I had never played against him in that setting. I mean, he talked, but not really (trash talk)." 

Q: When you play pick-up ball against him, does he try to get in your head in those more informal settings?

A: "Oh my gosh, yeah. For sure. Also it depends on who it is. Some of our other guys (on the Spurs), I’m sure he had words with." 

Q: One of the things that’s noticeably different about you in the NBA is your ball-handling and your ability to create your own shot and create for others, something we didn’t see much at MSU. Is that something you’ve developed or based on more opportunity?

A: "One day Coach Pop just walked up to me and said, ‘Hey, Bryn, I’m going to put you in the D-League for a little bit and have you play some point guard, because if you can do that, you’ll be so much more valuable. You’re not a natural point guard, but you can bring the ball up doing those types of things.’ Every day after practice I’d do a point guard workout after for an hour. It became a routine anytime I was in Austin. It just got easier and easier, decision-making, all that stuff. I think I’ve had the ball-handling, I just wasn’t comfortable with the pressure and knowing what to do, knowing what’s open coming off a pick-and-roll. It was a real learning experience, the D-League was, and I think that was most helpful this year, going there and learning a whole new position in a couple months. I came back and the Dallas game (on April 7) was the first time I played point guard (and scored 27 points). That’s when I really knew I could do both. That’s kind of one of my strengths, the pick-and-rolls, score off that and look for my shot. That’s helped me a lot."

MORE COUCH ON FORBES:

• Couch: Valentine, Forbes find a new world in NBA
• Couch: Spurs make Forbes a priority; now he has to make shots
• Couch: Forbes, Valentine - from childhood friends to the NBA

Q: Describe Gregg Popovich as a coach. What makes him what he is?

A: "One thing that stands out more than anything he did on the court — it didn’t even have to do with basketball. We had lost that game against Houston (in the playoffs) and he turns on a video of these kids in a third-world country picking up trash to survive and digging through trash. And then he’s like, ‘These people have problems.’ He was like, ‘We don’t have problems. All we have to do is win a basketball game. I’m just asking you guys to get over a screen or get through pick-and-rolls.’ He always preached that there were more important things than basketball. After he showed that, he wasn’t yelling or anything. I was so impressed with that, because I’ve never seen a basketball coach put life in perspective like that. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and maybe one of the best experiences of my basketball career. Because we’re playing for the Western Conference final and he’s saying that."

Q: What was the highlight of your season? Anything that sticks out for you personally?

A: "For me personally probably the Dallas game. It’s the first game I got to play real minutes, 20-some minutes and do this and do that and play a new position the whole game and kind of be free. That was a lot of fun." 

Q: Is that the game when you knew you belonged in the NBA? There aren’t that many people in the world who’ve scored 27 points in an NBA game? What’s the feeling when you walked off the court that night?

A: "The feeling inside is knowing what you’re capable of doing. You feel like you’re capable of being more. I didn’t have much time to work on the point guard position. To feel comfortable doing that, without a crazy amount of time, a whole summer, I’m just excited. I walked off the court then like, ‘Man, I think I can actually do this.’"

Q: Your teammate Kawhi Leonard, can you describe his impact on a game?

A: "For me personally, best two-way player I’ve seen in my life. He does it on offense and defense every single night. Amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s impressive. It’s really impressive.

Q: What does your summer look like?

A: "I’ll be in Lansing for a few weeks and then I get right back to the grind. I’ll be back in San Antonio. I’ll be able to make it back to Lansing some weekends. It’ll be good, because I’ll be able to get a lot of work in. That was my No. 1 goal, just by next year be as good as I can be and have really made changes in my body, my talent, even my diet. I’m excited for the summer because I have so much time to get better." 

Q: Will you play with the Spurs in the NBA Summer League?

A: "Yeah, I’ll play in the Summer League?"

Q: What’s your contract situation with San Antonio?

A: "It’s a team option for a second year." Details here.

Q: Have they told you they’re going to pick up that option?

A: "Not explicitly, but they don’t really tell you much explicitly, ‘This is what’s going to happen.’ From making the team, I didn’t know what to expect. (Popovich) told me after the last (preseason) game that I made the team. Every step of the way, you find out that last day, even if you thought you knew from the jump.”

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.