PHOENIX — Boris Diaw, a guy who never has a problem, had a problem.

For nearly four years since joining the Spurs, Diaw suffered in silence as he was forced to satisfy his pregame coffee fix with plain old joe from the AT&T Center’s media lounge.

For a self-described coffee connoisseur, who not long ago traveled to Colombia to sample some the world’s finest, swallowing that weak, tepid stuff was akin to being waterboarded with Folgers crystals.

Salvation arrived a few weeks ago in a cardboard box. Diaw now has a working espresso machine in his locker, complete with tiny cups and saucers, so he can sip his java with a teaspoon of class.

“I still get the same amount of caffeine,” Diaw said. “I just enjoy drinking it now.”

Such is the laissez-faire existence of the NBA’s resident renaissance man, who plays the game and lives his life as if he has a nice Bordeaux — and not caffeine — running through his veins.

LaMarcus Aldridge has nicknamed Diaw “Tea Time” for the carefree way he ambles about the court.

More Information Diaw’s NBA stops Boris Diaw played for three other teams before joining the Spurs: Atlanta Hawks: 2003-05 — Averaged 4.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists in two seasons. Phoenix Suns: 2005-08 — Averaged 10.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists in four seasons. Charlotte Bobcats: 2008-2012 — Averaged 11.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists in four seasons. Spurs: 2012-present — Averging 7.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists in five seasons.

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It’s an apt sobriquet for a 33-year-old Frenchman who treats even the NBA Finals as if it were a weekend stroll down the Champs-Elysees.

“I’ve said to him many times, ‘I would like to be you so much,’” guard Manu Ginobili said. “His worst day is many times better than most of our best days. He lives in a different place.”

Diaw’s installation of a locker room espresso machine has given rise to a new moniker: The Borista.

Known to wander into shootaround with a Starbucks cup in hand, Diaw does not deny he seldom sweats the small stuff. Or the big stuff. Or stuff.

If they ever erect a statue of Diaw outside the AT&T Center, the pose will be an indifferent shrug.

“It’s all relative in life,” said Diaw, who Thursday returns with the Spurs to Phoenix, where he spent parts of four seasons. “We’ve got a pretty lucky life. We can’t be hanging our head because we are having a bad day. There are people in the world that have way worse days than you do.”

Call it the Tao of Boris: Even on the worst day of his life, he is still Boris Diaw.

Underrated impact

The Spurs have come to appreciate Diaw’s nonchalant demeanor, as well as his on-court versatility.

His impact on the team goes beyond his numbers — 7.3 points and 2.5 assists in 19 bench minutes per game this season.

Since joining the Spurs at midseason in 2012, after clashing with old-school coach Paul Silas in Charlotte, Diaw has become the poster child for Gregg Popovich’s “beautiful game” offense.

A 6-foot-8 forward who entered the league a point guard, Diaw’s ability to thrive in lineups either small or big unlocked the Spurs’ trouncing of Miami in the 2014 Finals. Looking ahead, Diaw could be a critical antidote to Golden State’s so-called “Small Ball Lineup of Death” on Monday.

“He has given them a unique dimension the last three or four years,” said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, who calls Diaw one of the NBA’s most underrated players. “He can play any kind of game.”

A career salvaged

There was a time when it was fair to wonder if Diaw’s days of playing his game in the NBA were done.

His skill and basketball IQ were never in question. The competitive moxie of a guy known as “Tea Time” often was.

“If you don’t know him well, you would think he’s not competitive enough,” Ginobili said. “That type of mood and body language is usually accompanied by an ‘I don’t care.’ But you see him perform and compete, and then you change your mind.”

Diaw acknowledges his personality fits better on teams that are winning.

Episodes of “Boris being Boris” that would have been cute under other circumstances wore thin in Charlotte.

One example: Never the paragon of personal fitness, Diaw commuted to work daily on a motorized Segway instead of walking the few blocks from his condo to Time Warner Cable Arena.

Silas grew so weary of asking Diaw to please shoot the ball in Charlotte — only to have Diaw pout — the team bought out his contract in February 2012, paying him to go away.

The Spurs were intrigued, but wary.

“He’s a smart basketball player, probably one of the most intelligent players in the league,” Popovich said. “He’s somebody we always looked at with a lot of respect.”

But there was baggage, and more than just the junk Diaw carried in his ample trunk.

Weighing their options, Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford sat down with point guard Tony Parker, who had known Diaw since they were teenagers in Paris, and picked his brain.

Parker’s response: “We have to do it. He’s a perfect fit.”

“Charlotte was saying stuff about him, and I was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Parker said. “I’ve played with him on the (French) national team. There’s no way Boris is like that.”

Parker, more than anyone, saw the root of Diaw’s troubles in Charlotte.

“Boris is the type of player, he needs a team around him that’s unselfish,” Parker said. “You put him on a team where there is too much freelancing, Boris isn’t going to be as good.”

The Spurs were sold, especially at the discount that accompanied Diaw as damaged goods.

Understood at last

Diaw believes the qualities that led to his “Tea Time” nickname have often been misinterpreted as laziness or loafing.

If that bothered Diaw, well, he wouldn’t be Diaw.

Asked if he felt compelled to prove his will to win at each of his four NBA stops, Diaw replied with his trademark shrug.

“No, and that’s part of it, too,” Diaw said. “I don’t need to prove anything. I want to win. When we don’t, I always try to improve, but I’m not going to beat myself against a wall.”

In San Antonio, Diaw at last feels understood.

“I’m sure I piss Pop off every now and then,” Diaw said, “but I think he gets it.”

That is not to say Spurs teammates have never seen Diaw upset.

To hear guard Patty Mills tell it, Tea Time is a walking Snickers commercial.

“When we don’t get to dinner on time,” Mills said, “that’s when he loses it.”

Perhaps that has been the key to keeping Diaw content all along.

Keep him fed, play his brand of basketball, let Boris be Boris.

Get him his coffee, and it’s always Tea Time.

“I’m not going to be mad,” Diaw said, “when I have a happy life.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN