D12 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7 , 2019
three years as director of per-
formance for the Clippers. With
Los Angeles, Simpson was credit-
ed for implementing a system in
which players wear GPS trackers
to evaluate their workloads. The
Wizards have used something
similar for years. Additionally,
Simpson implemented year-
round “load-management plans”
for players that provided game-
minute, practice and workout
recommendations.
Simpson also has a connection
with Wizards Coach Scott
Brooks. Before his three seasons
in Los Angeles, Simpson worked
as the director of performance
science with the Oklahoma City
Thunder from 2011 to 2016, and
he began his run as the first
full-time sports science director
in the four major American
sports when Brooks was still the
Thunder coach.
Simpson, who is British, previ-
ously worked for the country’s
professional and Olympics teams
and was the head of strength and
conditioning for the English
Institute of Sport.
“Mark brings over 25 years of
sports science experience to
Monumental Basketball,” Gener-
al Manager To mmy Sheppard
said in a statement. “His vast
global knowledge will be a great
asset for us as we expand and
strengthen our athlete care and
player performance across all of
our teams.”
[email protected]BY CANDACE BUCKNERThe Washington Wizards
haven’t hidden their desire to be
like the Los Angeles Clippers, a
franchise that rebuilt over a short
span and wound up landing the
top NBA free agent of the sum-
mer, Kawhi Leonard. On Tuesday,
Washington continued its imita-
tion by announcing the hire of
another executive from the
Clippers.
Washington added Mark
Simpson as vice president of
player performance for Monu-
mental Basketball, the new orga-
nizational structure that includes
the three professional basketball
teams (the Wizards, the WNBA’s
Mystics and the G League’s Capi-
tal City Go-Go) as well as the
esports franchise, Wizards
District Gaming.
Last week, the team hired
Johnny Rogers, the former direc-
tor of pro player personnel for the
Clippers, for the new position of
vice president of pro personnel.
At the announcement of Monu-
mental Basketball last month,
chairman Ted Leonsis hailed the
Clippers as “great people.”
Simpson spent the previousexpected Wednesday.
Kamara, 29, scored 48 goals in
90 MLS matches between 2016
and 2018. He arrived in Washing-
ton over the weekend and is await-
ing clearance to practice and play.
United also acquired Felipe
Martins from the Vancouver
Whitecaps for $75,000 in targeted
allocation money in 2020 and a
2020 international roster slot and,
according to people familiar with
the deal, Emmanuel Boateng from
the Galaxy for unspecified finan-
cial considerations.
Martins, 28, will address an ur-
gent need for defensive midfield-
ers in the wake of injuries to Rus-
sell Canouse and Chris Durkin and
a red-card suspension to Júnior
Moreno. Both Canouse and Durkin
will miss several weeks; Moreno
will return next week.
Boateng, 25, is a speedy winger
who has appeared in 21 matches
this season, making seven starts.
United also made deals with
Minnesota and Portland involving
allocation money and roster slots
but no players.
With the transfer and trade
deadline approaching Wednesday
night, United was also in negotia-
tions to purchase Argentine wing-
er Mateo Garcia, 22, from Spanish
club Las Palmas. (He was on loan
with Aris in Greece last season.)
The price tag is up to $3 million,
one person familiar with the situa-
tion said.
MLS clubs are able to sign free
agents until the Aug. 30 roster
freeze, keeping in play someone
such as Argentine midfielder Yam-
il Asad, who played for Atlanta and
D.C. before returning home this
past winter.
Long term, D.C. has had prelimi-
nary contact with agents for two
high-profile players: Italian for-
ward Mario Balotelli (Olympique
Marseille last season) and German
midfielder Mesut Özil (Arsenal).
No d eal would be possible until t he
winter; b oth would cost a fortune.
One of Özil’s representatives is
scheduled to meet with D.C. offi-
cials in Washington next week, a
person close to United said.
United officials said they did not
want to comment on the player
search.
Asked about Rooney’s legacy
here, Olsen said: “I don’t k now yet.
This isn’t finished. His chapter
here is not finished.... It’s his
responsibility to finish his chapter
in a way we know he can.”
[email protected]co nsiderations came into play, s ay-
ing: “It was one of the factors, of
course. It was something we
looked at. It was that, and it was
obviously an opportunity to start
at a big club coaching and working
under [Derby Manager] Phillip
Cocu as w ell. When I sat down and
looked at it, I just felt at this stage
in my career it was the right time
and opportunity to take it.”
Derby plays in the division
known as the Championship and is
aiming to gain promotion to the
Premier L eague after 12 seasons in
the second division. Rooney, who
has shared his desire to enter the
coaching ranks when he retires,
will play for and assist Cocu, a
former Dutch star.
United Coach Ben Olsen said, “I
have no doubt he is the type of guy
— and he has the type of character
— to see this season out in the right
way.”
Midfielder Paul Arriola said:
“It’s like when someone is leaving
the company but they still tell you
they’ve got six months left. Yo u
kind of appreciate them more.
That’s h ow I hope the team reacts. I
know Wayne is going to be giving
his all. He i s a winner and wants to
end his D.C. career on a high note.”
Since his arrival last summer on
a free transfer from Everton of the
Premier League, Rooney has post-
ed 23 goals and 14 a ssists in 43 MLS
matches. His impact on the club,
though, was immeasurable as he
provided a performance and mar-
keting jolt coinciding with the
opening o f Audi Field in July 2018.
Defender Steve Birnbaum
called Rooney’s departure “devas-
tating. We a re losing a great player,
an all-time player, someone who
came to this club and really lifted
us up and propelled us into the
playoffs last year.”
Family issues have caused dis-
ruptions along the way. Two weeks
ago, Rooney skipped a match at
Atlanta t o join his family vacation-
ing in England. At the time, club
officials said, he was also dealing
with minor injuries and needed a
break from game action. But it was
about more than his physical well-
being, multiple people said.
Behind the scenes, United be-
gan to prepare for his possible de-
parture. To provide long-term cov-
er — and to bolster the struggling
attack this season — the club
reached a deal to acquire Ola
Kamara from Chinese club Shen-
zhen for about $2.5 million. A for-
mal announcement of the move isUnited (9-7-9, 36 points) advance.
This week, while a Derby execu-
tive met with D.C. officials in Wash-
ington and Rooney flew to England
for talks with his future employers,
United’s effort to persuade him to
stay t hrough next season failed.
Rooney is slated to rejoin Unit-
ed on Wednesday for conditioning,
then train as normal Thursday
ahead of Sunday’s showdown with
fellow international star Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and the LA Galaxy at
Audi Field.
“Football is a game where op-
portunities come up,” Rooney said
in a phone interview from Derby,
where he completed paperwork
and conducted a news conference,
“and as a player you have to make
those decisions, which aren’t al-
ways easy and won’t please every-
one. I just hope everyone respects
the decision and understands it is a
step toward the next chapter in my
career in football.”
The possibility of an immediate
transfer to England was still in play
until Monday night, but United
wanted to retain Rooney for the
playoff push. Besides, the optics of
an abrupt move would not have
reflected well on anyone involved,
except m aybe Derby.
Rooney said he wanted to com-
plete his sterling tenure in proper
fashion.
“I started the season with D.C.,
and I made it clear I wanted to end
the season with D.C.,” he said. “For
the players, for the fans, it’s i mpor-
tant I give everything to help go as
far as we can.”
The move, multiple people close
to the situation said, was prompt-
ed by his wife’s desire to live full-
time again in England and be clos-
er to extended family. The couple
and their four children have been
living in Bethesda after they spent
their entire lives in the
Manchester-Liverpool area. Derby
is about 9 0 miles southeast of
Liverpool.
“A fter speaking to Wayne and
understanding his difficult situa-
tion of being so far away from his
family, we have accepted that this
is the best decision for all parties,”
United co-chairmen Steve Kaplan
and Jason Levien said in a state-
ment. “Wayne is an exceptional
leader and one of the most iconic
players to play the game, s o we look
forward to his continued contribu-
tions to the team this season.”
Rooney acknowledged familyROONEY FROM D1BY BEN GOLLIVERlas vegas — Before USA Bas-
ketball took the court at UNLV
to begin preparations for the
upcoming FIBA World Cup,
Gregg Popovich hosted a private
meeting for players and coaches
at the Wynn Hotel on Sunday
night.
The Air Force Academy g radu-
ate and longtime San Antonio
Spurs coach addressed the na-
tional team about its dual duties:
to carry on the gold medal streak
launched by his successor, Mike
Krzyzewski, and to properly rep-
resent the United States on the
global stage.
“We can’t fix the divisiveness
in our country,” Popovich told
reporters Monday, summarizing
his message. “But what we can
do is be a great example of how
people can come together for a
common goal and achieve it. It’s
our responsibility to not only
become the best team we can be,
but it’s the way we conduct
ourselves with USA on our
shirts. We’re representing a lot of
people.”
Popovich’s patriotic framing,
and his allusion to the current
political climate, were remind-
ers that the first USA Basketball
team of the Donald Trump era
will be led by two vocal critics of
the president. In addition to
Popovich, who is never s hy a bout
sharing his opinions, assistant
coach Steve Kerr has taken ex-
ception to Trump’s rhetoric and
policies.
The men are such frequent
commentators on the current
administration that they have
been hailed as “resistance” l ead-
ers and have inspired unofficial
“Popovich/Kerr 2020” campaign
T-shirts.
In various interviews, Pop-
ovich has called Trump a “soul-
less coward,” a “pathological
liar” and a “bully” who “brings
out the dark side of human
beings” and is “unfit intellectual-
ly, emotionally and psychologi-
cally” t o hold his office.
Kerr has urged lawmakers to
“call out the president for his
racist tweets” about four con-
gresswomen last month. And
when Trump disinvited the
Golden State Warriors from
making the customary White
House trip to honor their 20 17
title, Kerr said that many people
in his organization “struggled
with the idea of spending time
with a man who has offended us
with his words and actions time
and again.”
It remains to be seen whether
USA Basketball, w hich adopted a
buttoned-up style throughout
Krzyzewski’s tenure, will b ecome
embroiled in political antago-
nism or opt for a nonconfronta-
tional approach under its newcoaching regime.
There is no shortage of poten-
tial flash points, including the
ongoing immigration debate
and a possible trade war with
China, which coincidentally will
host the World Cup from Aug. 31
to Sept. 15. USA Basketball will
sidestep one potential land
mine: It historically has not
made White House visits to
celebrate FIBA tourney wins.
If Kerr’s Twitter a ccount is any
indication, USA Basketball has
hardly instituted a gag order on
political expression. Kerr, whose
father was shot and killed in
Lebanon in 1984, responded to
recent mass shootings in Te xas
and Ohio with a string of postsadvocating for stricter gun con-
trol a nd slamming S enate Major-
ity Leader Mitch McConnell
(R -Ky.) for his inaction on the
issue. He also shared videos and
articles critical of Trump.
Earlier this summer, similar
provocations put Trump at odds
with soccer star Megan Rapinoe,
who made headlines when the
U.S. national team member said
she wouldn’t attend a White
House ceremony to celebrate a
Women’s World Cup victory.
Trump responded by saying that
Rapinoe, who has knelt during
the national anthem to protest
police brutality, “should never
disrespect our Country, the
White House, or our Flag, espe-
cially since so much has been
done for her & the team.”
Kerr said that the women’s
soccer team — which won gold in
France despite the back-and-
forth with Trump and a legal
battle with the U.S. Soccer Feder-
ation over wages — was an
“inspiring” model for USA Bas-
ketball because they “[brought]
out the great spirit and energy
among fans.”
“I’m proud to represent my
country and do it with this group
in a positive, classy way,” he said.
“We have a chance to do some-
thing that’s very unifying.”
USA Basketball training camp
opened on a diplomatic note,
with a joyous Popovich bound-
ing around the gym to offer
instructions to players and to
chide reporters. He said he had
been consumed with World Cup
planning since he was named
Krzyzewski’s successor in 2015,
and that his central concern was
building internal chemistry ca-
pable of matching international
rivals who have “played together
for so long.”
On the court, as in politics,
Popovich sought unity.
“The [international] teams
are even better than they were
[at the 2016 Rio Olympics], and
they’re deeper,” h e said. “ They a ll
have more NBA players than
they had three years ago. It’s a
big challenge.
“We’re looking for guys who
are competitive [and disci-
plined]. Guys who will fall in
love with each other and have
empathy, s o they feel r esponsible
to each other and depend upon
each other.”
[email protected]Popovich and Kerr hope U.S. team is unifying force
United is left with void to fill
ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
USA Basketball head coach Gregg Popovich, right, and assistant
Steve Kerr have not been shy about expressing their opinions.Coaches want success
at basketball World Cup
to bring people togetherWizards add another
executive from Clippers
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Wizards chairman Ted Leonsis, right, has revamped the front
office, taking cues from a team in Los Angeles that he respects.Simpson will oversee
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