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NBA coaches like San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich were born to be coaches. Something clicks in their souls when they realize why they exist. They are the fabric of sports and, by extension, life. The great ones transcend the sport in which they teach, and in Pop, as his NBA success winds off into where he can metaphorically view the Alamo sunset, is it time for the San Antonio Spurs' brass to search for Gregg Popovich's replacement despite all he's done for the city, the organization and society at large?
The rise of the San Antonio Spurs
Larry Brown was head coach of the Spurs, and after Gregg Popovich served as a volunteer assistant in 1986-87 when Brown was at Kansas, he hired Popovich as an assistant in 1988-89. After moving over to the Golden State Warriors as an assistant in 1992, Gregg Popovich returned to San Antonio in 1994-95 as Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations/General Manager.
In 1996-97, Gregg Popovich returned to the court and became the San Antonio Spurs head coach. He went 17-47 that year. The next season, the San Antonio Spurs won/lost record was a stellar 56-26. The Spurs beat Phoenix in a first-round best-of-five 3-1 before losing to the Utah Jazz in 4-1 in the Western Conference semis. The Jazz were coming off an NBA Finals loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and represented the Western Conference again in the1998 season vs. those Bulls. The help David Robinson needed came as the first pick in the NBA draft in eventual Hall of Famer Tim Duncan.
The 1998-99 NBA lockout year saw the San Antonio Spurs go 37-13, lose just two games in the NBA playoffs and win the first of five of Gregg Popovich's NBA championships.
Getting the most out of his guys
Coach Popovich believes if you go just a little bit extra to develop relationships with players, you'll get the most out of them because they'll want to play for you. Look at San Antonio Spurs timeouts: coaches are off somewhere on the floor discussing who knows what, while the players are figuring it out themselves. Popovich is known to take suggestions from his players and do what they want to do out of timeouts. It galvanizes the team and gives major confidence in those pressurized spots. He's not a general but a teacher of life and men.
X's and O's
Listen when Popovich says the phrase. He says it differently. O's and X's is the grammatically correct way of saying the phrase - which brings about the point of how technically sound Gregg Popovich's coaching is. He wins by being the most prepared team, and believes O's and X's are overemphasized. It's immaterial what plays are called, and if his players aren't prepared, he's failed them. Accountability, character and honesty is how he builds his teams.
Accountabilty serves as a purpose. He wants players to feel the pain of a big loss and to understand why they lost. Character makes the man understand his responsibilities to the team and himself; honesty in the disappointment of a loss is how players learn from the losses. So while every game is won by the execution of plays, if a player is above board in his character and understanding of how Gregg Popovich wants him to process what happens before hitting the court, the chances of winning are driven demonstrably higher.
The San Antonio Spurs legendary coach called Tim Duncan a sweet and kind wise ass, and says that Duncan's leadership with the San Antonio Spurs was different than, say, an Avery Johnson who talked to the opposition the entire game. Duncan did it more clandestine by example and even encouraged his teammates with physical touch at times that Pop understood as good energy, bringing the team closer and more comfortable with each other to win games.
The three-point shot
Gregg Popovich is known to hate the three-point shot because he doesn't think it's good basketball. As the world becomes better at the sport, he'd rather utilize what's available inside the three-point line to win ball games by player movement, consistent execution in passing and defense and very direct honesty getting straight to the point when teaching his players. He believes the long range shot is a novelty or a lottery and is a carnival type of exercise, yet he has to take advantage of the shot, and the San Antonio Spurs were routinely at the top of the league in three-point shooting, yet not lately.
The Olympics
Gregg Popovich took over for Mike Krzyzewski in 2016 after the USA won the gold medal in Rio. The San Antonio Spurs head coach won his gold medal earlier this summer when the USA beat France 87-82 in an Olympics where the roster was highly scrutinized after a few exhibition losses. Pop is being replaced by someone yet to be named.
As the world is catching up to the skills and fundamentals of basketball stateside, having such a great coach like Pop has to smooth out the entire process of building a team that competes against the world has to be something Grant Hill and USA Basketball will seek to replicate.
Is it time for the San Antonio Spurs to begin looking elsewhere to secure the future of the franchise
The San Antonio Spurs haven't been relevant since the Golden State Warriors swept them in the Western Conference Finals in 2017. Over that span, the San Antonio Spurs are 160-147. Some coaches would be satisfied with a record over .500 at any time during their career, yet this is Gregg Popovich we're talking about. He is about precision and preparation in the moment, so losing is not a goal.
Pop is one to not have any goals. The joy in the work leading to victory is the goal. Excellent player development aside, Gregg Popovich himself realizes professional sport is a results business, and resting on the laurels of five championships doesn't seem like it's in Pop's character. His overall record of 1310-653 unquestionably makes him a top-five NBA coach of all-time, and arguably the best coach the sport has ever seen because of his approach. He's won NBA Coach of the Year three times, took the San Antonio Spurs to 22 straight playoff seasons from 1998-2019, and is as spirited in the San Antonio community as any coach across sports.
He is unapologetically outspoken regarding issues of race and prejudice, and when he's no longer an NBA head coach, his excellence of character, esteem and success will thoroughly be missed.
CEO of San Antonio Spurs Sports and Entertainment, R. C. Buford, who Popovich has known since the 80's, may have a difficult decision to make if one of the greatest coaches doesn't decide to take matters into his own hands and walk away into the San Antonio Spurs sunset. While it's never a bad thing to allow such a legend to leave any game on his own terms, if Buford is simply about winning the change will have to be made. If it is all about character building, motivation, getting to know people and creating generational success, Pop you can coach until the statue that will be erected in your image greets San Antonio Spurs fans before every future Game 7 in the AT&T Center. On those occurrences, and as that 7 year old girl walking by your statue asks her parents who you are, they'll only smile and respond with: "That's Pop."
Is there anything left to be said?
Guess the Lakers players!
