“I think the most important thing is he’s just a great human being to be around, always has a smile on his face,” Spoelstra said.
JULIUS ERVING SIXERS JERSEY HOW TO
“Any time Jimmy wants to get up extra shots or play one-on-one, Remy’s a perfect guy for that, because he’s played college basketball and he knows how to push Jimmy to give him some game reps.”Īll done with an effervescent passion of someone grateful for the opportunity. And, yeah, he spends a lot of time with Jimmy, but he helps everywhere.
And then he’s fully immersed in our player-development program. “He’s in the video room,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said, “which is the best training I think in the league, to learn about scouting and tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of teams. When Butler moved on to the Heat in 2019, he asked Ndiaye to come along, just as Butler has had personal trainer Armando Rivas along at each NBA stop.įor Ndiaye, it has meant working with Butler on demand, but also being a presence with the rest of the roster, often jumping into NBA Finals pregame scrimmages with Heat neophytes such as Orlando Robinson, Jamal Cain and Nikola Jovic. And everyone in Senegal right now, they just love him.” And since then, that’s the relationship that we have. “And since then, he ended up going to Senegal, seeing the family, seeing the kids, playing basketball with the kids and all that. “Every time he came in the morning, I’m there just to help him rebounding and that’s how it started,” Ndiaye said of their time in Philadelphia. Related ArticlesĪSK IRA: Have NBA Finals opened eyes to Heat’s Adebayo?įor Ndiaye, 33, it is just another step in a journey from Dakar, Senegal, that included the influence of his uncle Makhtar Ndiaye, the former NBA forward, work with NBA Africa, and eventually his path to the 76ers.īutler grew so taken with Ndiaye and his story that he has traveled to Africa to visit with Ndiaye’s family. I try to get stops, too.”īecause of the relationship, the sessions can be heated without becoming contentious. But it’s all about getting you ready for the game. I’m right there like everybody else is contesting. “I do the best I can to be very careful with him,” Ndiaye said of the sessions. If Butler scores, Butler gets to gloat (and a point). “It’s all about getting him ready before the game,” Ndiaye said of their drill work that can come at the break of dawn, the stroke of midnight, on the Heat practice court, at the University of Miami, the University of Colorado during the NBA Finals, or whenever the workout whim suits Butler. Remy Ndiaye, player development specialist for the Philadelphia 76ers, visits Goree Island on Jin Dakar, Senegal. Little did Ndiaye know, but at that moment, Butler also was sizing him up.Īt 6 feet 6 and with considerable length, Ndiaye set up as the perfect practice partner, having taken a defensive bent during his playing days at Northern Oklahoma and Dallas Baptist.īasically, he stood as defense on demand. And that’s the main thing that connected me with him. He came in and started asking about family, ‘Where you from?’ and stuff like that.
“But me being around him, just the first day we met, I knew this dude is a great dude. Until you’re around him, and he comes to know who you are, it’s hard to understand it. And that’s what connects me with him from the beginning. “A lot of people don’t know this, until you’re around him, you realize this dude has a big heart,” Ndiaye told the South Florida Sun Sentinel ahead of Monday night’s Game 5 of the Finals against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for Julius Erving Golf Classic (PGD Global Event)) He’s just always smiling, a good, genuine person that you can always rely on.” Julius Erving talks with Remy Ndiaye during the Julius Erving Youth Basketball Clinic at Sixers Practice Facility on Septemin Camden, New Jersey. “Jimmy went at 5 o’clock in the morning to do his physical and Remy was in the building, and from the day he met him until today, his energy has never changed. “He’s the first person that we met when Jimmy got traded to Philadelphia,” Bernie Lee, Butler’s agent, said amid the NBA Finals. 12, 2018 trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Philadelphia 76ers.Īt the time, Butler had come to be viewed by some as a pariah, having also been part of a trade from the Chicago Bulls 17 months earlier.īut upon his arrival to the 76ers’ training facility, Butler found a kindred spirit, one with an equal passion for the game and for creating excellence. To go back to the genesis of the relationship with the native of Senegal is to go back to Butler’s Nov.
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