When the Washington Wizards played at the Orlando Magic last season, team president and general manager Tommy Sheppard ran into a familiar face, Marcin Gortat. The Polish Machine has a house in Florida and spends most of his post-playing career in the Sunshine State where he used to back up Dwight Howard over a decade ago. What started as wanting to say hello to former teammate Bradley Beal and others turned into a conversation with head coach Wes Unseld Jr. and a request from Sheppard to bring his 12 years of NBA experience back to DC to coach up Washington’s big men.
Gortat may not have been the most athletic center in the league, which led to jokes from then head coach Scott Brooks that he could not jump over the South Dakota phone book, but he carved out a role as an elite screen setter. In 2016-17, he led the NBA in screen assists with 6.2 per game and going forward his approach was referred to as the Gortat screen that many teams have tried to replicate. The Polish Hammer credited his past coaches Stan Van Gundy and Brendan Malone along with watching the likes of Tim Duncan, Kendrick Perkins, and Kevin Garnett for influencing his technique.
“How they basically disrespect me by leaving me open outside of the paint,” Gortat explained the origin of his infamous screen. “I have to come up with something better to be more effective and that’s how I sacrificed my numbers in order to create clear path for John and Brad and I know for a fact they freaking love it.”
Marcin Gortat on having a screen named after him
"If you asked me 10, 15, 20 years ago that eventually my screens will be one of the best screens in the world, I'd say you got to change your drugs man."@MGortat 🤣 pic.twitter.com/1R8hdaJn3x
— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 6, 2022
Although he also worked with the likes of Kristaps Porzingis, Makur Maker, and Jaime Echenique, Gortat worked predominantly with backup center Daniel Gafford during his 10 days with the Wizards. After the first practice Gortat joined for in the team’s first session back from Japan, Gortat demonstrated with Bradley Beal present on the art of screening for a dynamic guard like Beal for Gafford’s benefit.
“He’s definitely more skilled than we think he is,” Gortat described Gafford. “He has incredible touch around the rim, left and right hand, super athletic, very good kid, very smart kid, I think he has a big heart. We just got to continue to push him. We have to set him on the right path. You got to be here early, work hard, don’t get distracted, don’t get mad about missed shots, you got to continue to work hard, believe in everything he does and things will happen.”
“It’s good to have someone give as much experience as possible. I’m soaking up as much wisdom as I possibly can. I’m really enjoying the time, it’s always good to be around somebody that has a screen named after him,” Gafford began. “We’ve always worked on it time and time again throughout the time I’ve been here, but to actually have the person come here and teach it, it’s something you’ll really want to have in your back pocket.”
“With the coaches, they teach it, but sometimes when it comes from players, they’ve been in those situations,” Gafford reasoned. “Experience teaches a lot because they can walk through certain scenarios that they’ve been in. Visual learning and hands-on learning is the best type of learning for me.”
Having only missed eight regular season games during his five seasons on the Wizards (a mere two percent), Gortat joked with Porzingis who has had more than his share of unavailability due to injury that he needs to get stronger. But at the same time, Gortat understood that you cannot simply start lifting heavier weight midway through a career whereas the 2005 57th overall pick had always lifted strenuously since the beginning of his career and Porzingis attributed some of his issues in Dallas to attempting to lift more after not being used to that. Gortat also interacted with Deni Avdija who he commended as a “very bright kid, very explosive, shoots threes well, very good teammate locker room guy.”
“I feel like we have connected well,” Gortat said about his fellow non-Americans. “Me, Kristaps, and Deni we have a lot of things in common. We talk a lot of different things. We talk about life, basketball, investments, war, and everything. If I can help them with anything, even rebound the ball for them, I’ll do it. Kristaps wants to prove he’s great in this league. Deni obviously wants to get another contract.”
With Beal as the last player remaining from Gortat’s tenure in Washington, the two spent much of Gortat’s return reminiscing about old times and the center wishes they could have caught up further.
“Not only am I watching him as a basketball player, I’ve also seen him as an incredible human being,” Gortat complimented Beal. “He became a father, he created an incredible family and that’s what is most important. Family helped him to become a better player. I’m 100% sure he’s going to come back stronger now. I’m looking forward to seeing him in top 3 scorers, best scoring guys in the league. Also what I want to see if to see him more, bigger, and vocal leader because there’s always room to improve.”
Rolling with these fellas for 9 years now. 😈 @cmillsnbcs @RealDealBeal23 #nyc knicks tonight 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GwsE9WRURu
— Marcin Gortat🇵🇱 (@MGortat) October 14, 2022
By the end of Gortat’s time in Washington, a trade was inevitable during the summer of 2018 after a falling out with John Wall that started unraveling after a perceived shot at Wall after a Wizards victory that Gortat called a great “team win” in a tweet when the franchise point guard was out injured. Fast forward to the present and the two have buried the hatchet and Gortat is rooting for Wall as he returns to contending in the NBA this season with the depth-loaded Los Angeles Clippers.
“Only good feelings,” Gortat shared about his Wizards memories. “Obviously I know the narratives said that me and John had an argument, it’s over, we’re forgetting about this. We are grown men now, we are even older grown men now. We have to forget about this. I’m rooting for John, I want him to be successful in LA. We’ve been in touch for the past year, year and a half texting each other. I only have great memories here. We had incredible battles in playoffs, in regular season. We have incredible stories in the locker room.”
Marcin Gortat says he and John Wall have squashed their prior beef
"It's over, we're forgetting about this. … I'm rooting for John, I want him to be successful in LA. We've been in touch for the past year and a half texting each other. I only have great memories here." pic.twitter.com/p21Q7JRtfB
— Hoop District (@Hoop_District) October 6, 2022
“I knew the trade was coming and that’s where we were back then,” Gortat further explained, “It was what it was, it’s over. The most important thing is we’re supporting each other now. I love what Brad is doing, I love what John is doing. I hope John is going to come back to being one of the best point guards in the league. What I had with these kids, that’s going to go for eternity. I love these boys, I went to many battles with these guys.”
Gortat’s preseason stint with Washington as a player development coach was always going to be a trial run because of his other responsibilities such as businesses in Poland. A now married man, celebrating his third anniversary come February, and working on growing his family, Gortat now has other considerations for his time allotment besides himself. That and his 38-year-old body can no longer handle the same punishment of an NBA practice with younger players going at him.
“It’s definitely been fun to be around my family again, the hospitality was incredible, they welcomed me with open arms,” Gortat reflected at Madison Square Garden on his last day with the team during this stint. “It was fun, but obviously it was a lot of work. The first couple of days was tough on me, my body had to get used to the work that we’ve been putting in.”
That said, Gortat foreshadowed that he would return to the Wizards in a similar role this season when they can find a stretch of time that the team is in DC and not traveling. Should Gortat continue enjoying such a position where he wants to partake in a more official capacity, he knows he would need to devote a much longer period of time.
“I have to be able to commit for eight, nine months. Certain work has to be done for me to be here. I truly appreciate what Coach Wes did for me, gave me an opportunity. I love what Tommy did for me. I feel obligated to give back right now all I have,” Gortat articulated.
It is always hard to project how a team may perform prior to the marathon 82-game regular season, but in Gortat’s experience (that is certainly biased towards optimism), he envisions Washington making the post-season this year in the Wizards’ 25th anniversary of existence since the name change in 1997.
“I feel like the chemistry in the locker room is great, the chemistry in the team is unbelievable,” Gortat echoed a sentiment many other players on the roster have shared during training camp. “I truly believe if we’re going to stay healthy, we are a playoff team. And when you get to playoffs, then you can make a run.”
“Hopefully another 25 years and a couple championships with Brad as the leader and me maybe as an assistant coach,” the Polish Machine teased.
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