It took Spurs coach Gregg Popovich a couple of days to summon up the nerve to finally have the talk with one of his all-time favorite players, the tough love combined with allowing Parker to spend summer after summer playing for his beloved French national team over the years manifest of that feeling. It wasn’t a long talk between coach and player. The message was simple: it’s time. And, this is permanent.

It would be a lie to say Parker was happy. He’s a mighty competitor. But he accepted Popovich’s decision, just as Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and others in recent years have as their roles were changed and reduced.

”A lot of people don’t understand the relationship I have with Pop, the respect we have for each other,” Parker said. "And so, for me, it’s like, I’ll trust him. Whatever happens. I have a feeling that he’ll take care of me my whole career, and I know he will until I’m finished. When he told me he thought it was best for the team, me coming off the bench and play with Manu, maybe we’ll bring some energy and stuff like that, I believe him. I trust him. And if he thinks we can do something even better with for team, I’m fine with it. I’ve been very blessed to be with the Spurs all those years, and that’s part of our mentality. Me, Manu, Timmy, always sharing for the team.”

In a 2014 interview, Tony Parker explained how he has grown under coach Gregg Popovich.

Often, ’culture’ in an organization means ’we do what the best player wants us to do.’ That’s not culture; that’s appropriation masquering as standards. The Spurs have true culture. It’s a culture that could make David Robinson see he had to take a back seat almost immediately to Duncan, that saw Daniels realize the team would win more with Parker starting, that got Duncan to know when it was time for the offense to stop running through him and to start going through Kawhi Leonard. It is a culture that has seen Popovich reinvent the team over and over for 20 years.

Most every player in the NBA wants to win. But most of them want to win without making any real sacrifices to their numbers -- shots, money, whatever. (This is also true of many coaches, whose egos are just as big as most players. Trust me.)

Parker is one of the winningest point guards of his generation -- four championships, including that Finals MVP in 2007 as he led the Spurs to a four-game sweep of a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. But he is no longer that guy, even though he’s getting paid like it ($15.4 million this season).

“You have to look at the big picture,” Parker said. “For me, as a professional, that’s what you have to do that, anyway. You have to rehab. They pay me a lot of money, and so that’s part of it. I never saw it like that. My relationship with Pop goes deeper than that. He knows how hard I worked to come back, and R.C. (Buford, the Spurs’ general manager), too. So that’s why, for me, I just look at the big picture. I really believe that they will take care of me.”

Murray does not lack for confidence. But he was still surprised to get the keys to the car so quickly.

Dejounte Murray showcased his all-around skills in a win against the Cavs.

"It just shows how much of a pro he is, how much he’s willing to sacrifice for the team,” Murray said of Parker last week.

"...I just try to motivate him to keep going. I always tell him, out of everything you did -- winning championships, all the points you scored, anything -- the thing that surprised me and shocked me the most and made me respect him even more was when he got hurt last year. To see him in here every day, coming in on crutches, trying to get to running and shooting, he was dedicated to get back. He said he was going to get back to play again, and that was the best thing that I’ve seen from him.”

Murray looks like a colt during his two-year-old campaign -- not ready for the Derby, but all legs and arms, potential pouring from his pores. His length makes him a more than capable defender already. The 3-point shot is not not his strength at present as he’s made just 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) of them this season. That has to improve. But, he’s not afraid of anybody.

“1,000%,” DMs Jamal Crawford, the Wolves’ guard and Murray’s mentor; he’s been shepherding Murray since the latter was a high school star in Crawford’s native Seattle.

Crawford has stayed on Murray since he came to the L, too, telling him “Every night, consistency. Not getting too high, or too low. It's a long journey, keep enjoying the process.”

Murray inhales rebounds at his position and became the third player in league history to grab 13 boards in a game in which he didn’t score a point – which he did last week in a 106-104 win vs. Denver. The other players to accomplish the feat: Dennis Rodman and Petur Gudmundsson. (Petur Gudmundsson?) His 5.3 rebounds per game are sixth in the league among point guards, per NBA.com/Stats, behind Russell Westbrook, Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Lowry and Chris Paul.

Murray started eight games out of injury necessity last season, but wasn’t ready. He started the first seven this season while Parker was still completing the rehab from the quad injury that ended his season in Game 2 of the 2017 Western Conference semifinals. But after Murray struggled with consistency and his shot in October and early November, Popovich started Patty Mills 11 games to try and get some offensive punch on the floor.

Coming off the bench in November, Murray’s offensive rating rose signficantly. And when Parker got back on the court, while the team was still managing his starter minutes, they placed Murray down the stretch in several games. But that was off-Broadway stuff. The Spurs always had plans for the day their 2016 first-rounder would be the guy. They decided not to wait any longer once they were able to see Parker play a month’s worth of games.

The Spurs took Dejounte Murray with the 29th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

“Internally, this probably hasn’t been any different than it appears externally,” Buford said. ”Just as Timmy allowed Pop to coach him, and Manu allowed us to present our team in the best way possible, Tony, the day the discussion took place with Pop, those were his sentiments ... we couldn’t have done this without the professionalism Tony displayed -- and the mentorship he continues to show to Dejounte.”

At least Murray’s had half a season to get ready. Parker became the permanent starter in 2001 in his fifth professional game. He started all but one game the rest of that year, including all 10 playoff games.

“I think the biggest thing is staying positive, because you’re going to have your ups and downs,” Parker said. “Now, a lot of people are going to have a lot of expectations of him, and you know how hard Pop is. You know how he is. At the point guard position, it’s not easy to play for him …

“I’m just trying to be there for (Murray), you know -- support, whatever questions he has, and using all my knowledge that I have. I think I know the system even better than Pop. I’m just trying to help him as much as I can. It’s not going to be an easy transition, because as we play better teams, and playoffs, you know how hard it is.”

This regular season hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk for the Spurs. Their 34-21 record belies the incredible job they’ve done patching together lineups and wins. With Kawhi Leonard having played just nine games as recovering from his own quad injury has proven much tougher than expected, and Rudy Gay (heel) out since just after Christmas, San Antonio has had to make do with almost no proven scoring on the floor around All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge for long stretches.

Murray is just one of several young players -- as well as Brandon Paul, Davis Bertans, Bryn Forbes and Derrick White -- who’ve all played meaningful minutes already this year.