The definition of primo is the first or leading part. In this case, Josh Primo is the first and the leading part of dismissal. What is trailing and following him, we do not yet know, but one could assume it is not good.
Timeline:
5:40 pm (CST): San Antonio Spurs officials told the media that Head Coach; Gregg Popovich would be late for his scheduled 5:45 pm (CST) media session. The media was told Pop would not be available until after 6:15 pm (CST).
6:24 pm (CST): It was announced, first via press release that the San Antonio Spurs had waived Joshua Primo. The 19-year-old Canadian from Toronto. A stunning announcement, considering the Spurs had just re-upped him and extended into year three with the team.
7:00 pm (CST): It was discovered all of Primo’s social media accounts went private.
7:15 pm (CST): The San Antonio fan detectives discovered all Josh Primo merch was pulled from all Spurs-affiliated websites, and from the team stores at AT&T Center.
Josh Primo was the youngest player in the 2021 NBA Draft when selected 12th to the Spurs. His on-court development absolutely had the organization excited about his NBA future. Waiving Primo so abruptly without explanation is fairly unprecedented — and jarring.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 28, 2022
Understanding San Antonio’s investment in Josh Primo is important. A player who was being built up to become one of the foundational pieces alongside Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell, being suddenly released is loud. The Spurs would prefer it quieter, but that is not possible. This whole situation is screaming at us. Primo messed up somewhere along the line, we just do not know where, or have the specifics, yet…
In a boring market, not since the Kawhi Leonard debacle has the Spurs’ fan base been so polarized by a story like this.
Josh Primo released this statement:
Josh Primo statement to ESPN in the aftermath of his release from the Spurs tonight: pic.twitter.com/H1n3k3IIcn
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 29, 2022
Fair assumptions:
- A professional organization does not waive a player who is believed to be suffering from a mental episode or has an ongoing mental health issue, especially one like the San Antonio Spurs.
- The Spurs would not have been optioning his third year just days ago if they were planning on parting ways with him.
- The Spurs would not play Primo on 10/24, and then waive him after his best performance of the season, in limited minutes – shooting 50% from the three-point line and 60% from the field.
Reaches, but crazier things have happened:
- Primo missing the 10/26 game may have nothing to do with injury, and the Spurs were conducting an internal investigation into whatever is ongoing.
- This smells a lot like something that involves another person or persons.
- If Primo was struggling with mental health, substance abuse, or gambling issue, the organization would invest in his health and best interest.
- The mental health press release by Primo sounds a lot like someone trying to get ahead of whatever is coming – the insanity defense, but not.
To summarize, the San Antonio Spurs put a lot of stock into Josh Primo. Hence why they were able to let Dejounte Murray walk. The Spurs made this decision suddenly – many believe within 48 hours, so whatever was uncovered was bad. Given the investment into the young player, there are few doubts that San Antonio’s front office would get Josh the help needed unless it was something that could not be walked back or deemed unfixable.
This treatment is a lot like what Trevor Bauer got from the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is surely more to come out. And now we wait.
