It’s not really the topic that bursts San Antonio fans the most, but when it comes to rolling out some good news, you have to allow yourself. Gregg Popovich might well coach his final season at the helm of Spurs this year, but it wouldn’t be as sure and certain as many people would let it appear. Pop still present two years? The trail is real.
Unbeatable, inimitable, immortal, untouchable. Words fail us when it comes to evoking Gregg Popovich at Spurs, an association so strong and obvious that one would almost end up believing that a bottle opener and the aperitif are less related. Pop in San Antonio is a bit like Drucker on Sundays, Monday’s rendezvous on TrashTalk, and the Kings absent from the Playoffs. There are things like that, well it’s not moving. But if sport has shown us that people can seem eternal, life has often reminded us that everything has an end. And yes, there will be an end of the Popovich adventure in the Texan city, one day or another. However, for two or three years now, the same sigh emanates from every corner of the basketball world when the new NBA season comes up.
So… is this the latest from Pop?
Too old, too tired, too damaged, too much whatever you want, the same arguments are made but Gregg continues to lead Spurs and pass on his passion. Because yes, this is about passion. As Pop has hammered for years, the day he no longer feels up to a challenge, the day he feels the flame is extinguished, there he will retire. But the years may pass, the excitement is intact. Same mouth, same gimmicks to get kicked out of the match in order to motivate the troops, same legendary press conferences, same end-of-game hugs with players he knew rookie and have almost 20 years of experience today ( hello LeBron). The train is moving forward, and routine requires, new season requires, the same question came up on the table.
So… is this the latest from Pop?
Faced with this new question, many are those who pointed out the Olympic gold medal finally won with Team USA, so a kind of loop finally come full circle. Finally, there it is, after the NBA titles and those of Coach of the year, Pop also put the star-spangled banner at the top so… it’s good! It’s good, isn’t it? Can he go, is he going to go? The last elements given by Zach Lowe ofESPN in his record 100% Spurs will calm or reassure some.
According to several sources, Spurs refused transfer offers in exchange for several 1st rounds of Draft. By choosing to keep the LaMarcus Aldridge – DeMar DeRozan axis, the franchise appeared to indicate that it would refuse to begin a rebuild before Gregg Popovich retired.
But while no one is really sure what Popovich will do after this season, several sources who know the coach well have preferred to warn that they would not be at all surprised if Pop returned to San Antonio to coach the 2022 season – 23. Popovich is 26 wins away from Don Nelson’s all-time regular-season winning record, but he’s not currently extending his career just for the sake of breaking that record.
The most commonly mentioned heirs behind the scenes of the League and in the coaching circle today: Will Hardy, longtime assistant in San Antonio who now reports to Ime Udoka in Boston, Brett Brown, and Manu Ginobili who recently joined Spurs as an adviser. Becky Hammon will also be in the dance, accompanied by mysterious contestants and other members of the Spurs family created by Pop. Ginobili’s appetite for coaching is difficult to gauge to this day. And University of Kansas coach Bill Self isn’t as much in the rumor as it used to be.
As this good Julien Lepers would say, he stays ! At last, he stays this season and maybe he will stay next season. So yes, as discussed at length here, there is an all-time record reaching out to Pop and he’s not going to hesitate to go get it. An all-time record of regular season wins, all with one single franchise. Frankly, that is legendary stuff that will become untouchable, in the same category as Wilt Chamberlain’s records to name but one. In the current era? Spend more than 20 years in the same franchise? And to chain the victorious seasons? It’s dead. But as Lowe points out, Gregg does not extend the adventure for this.
Already, and as your dear minions pointed out in the Spurs preview, Pop is under contract in San Antonio until the end of the 2022-23 NBA season. It is therefore not a handcuff on his wrist, he who has the freedom to leave tomorrow if he wishes given the work provided in his franchise of always, but it is a contractual aspect to be kept in mind because Popovich is rather the type who likes to honor that sort of thing. Also, and as Lowe details well above, it’s not as if the succession is clearly secured. Hardy has gone to Boston to join Udoka, Borrego is having fun in Charlotte, Ginobili is to see, Duncan said thank you no thank you, and Hammon has done several interviews in other franchises. If there’s one thing Popovich won’t want to do, it’s to leave with the house burning behind him. This is not how he acts, how he acted, and how he would like to act. So the next few months will certainly serve as a test to see who would take the coach’s place, a seat on which to sit with difficulty given the historical weight of the predecessor, and Pop will be able to adjust better at the end of next season. Maybe for a little last, or maybe not.
Yes, there is a storyline in which Gregg Popovich is coaching his final season in the NBA. But there is an equally likely scenario, and that is to see Pop honor his contract and land an all-time record on the road. Do we want more? Yes, and with a smile.
Source : ESPN
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