NBA Rumor: Gregg Popovich Retirement?
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Popovich, who will head up Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, signed a three-year extension in April. But he’s widely believed to be taking a year-by-year approach to his late career at this point.
Popovich, who will head up Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, signed a three-year extension in April. But he’s widely believed to be taking a year-by-year approach to his late career at this point.
While the 70-year-old signed a three-year contract extension in April, he’s also widely known to be taking a year-by-year approach to this stage of his storied career. As of now, a source said Popovich has given no indication to the organization that he won’t be back next season. Yet whenever he steps away, whether it’s after he coaches Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics this summer or sometime thereafter, there’s one name that continues to come up from league sources as a possible replacement: Bill Self, the longtime Kansas coach and close friend of Spurs general manager R.C. Buford.
Self has been best friends with Buford since their college days together at Oklahoma State, and the relationship has only strengthened from there. They worked together as assistants under Larry Brown at Kansas in the 1985-86 season, and this 2003 piece from KUSports.com even indicates that it was Buford who recommended Self to Brown in the first place.
A quick note as a backdrop here: A source with knowledge of the Spurs’ thinking is quick to make it clear that this monumental choice will be, first and foremost, about what’s best for the organization and not based solely on personal relationships. Still, it’s worth monitoring and chronicling the deep ties here. What’s more, there has been one potentially significant development since Self found himself addressing these rumors when they first surfaced back in April: His program is under investigation for NCAA violations, and all of a sudden it’s fair to wonder if now might be the perfect time for him to take on a new challenge. Again, of course, that’s all depending on Pop and what he wants to do.
Robinson also said he was glad to hear that Gregg Popovich reportedly plans to return for a 24th season as the Spurs coach. Robinson said he remembers the uncertainty regarding Popovich’s future after his wife, Erin, died in April 2018. “I went to the funeral they had up at the Air Force Academy, and that’s tough, I don’t care who you are,” Robinson said. “Pop has always been a rock for this franchise and you almost never see him flinch. But I don’t care who you are, that’s a tough thing to go through, so you don’t know how people are going to react. But I think it’s been a great thing for him to coach. It’s been a new family for him. And I am happy that he is coming back. He is fantastic.”
Gregg Popovich to sign a three-year extension
Once Gregg Popovich formally commits to return for his 24th season as San Antonio Spurs coach, he’s expected to sign a three-year contract that will keep him as the highest paid coach in the NBA, league sources told ESPN.
A Popovich contract extension has been a foregone conclusion for months, but the deal won’t change the fact that he will continue taking his coaching future on a year-to-year basis, league sources said. Spurs ownership believes he’s entitled to manage his future how he wishes, sources said.
Gregg Popovich is currently negotiating a new deal to remain the coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Popovich met with the media for the final time this season on Monday afternoon and joked that he is currently in talks with three teams, the Spurs being one of them. “It’s three teams,” he said. “It’s one-third Portofino, one-third Positano, and one-third, San Antonio.”
Coach Gregg Popovich is negotiating a new deal with the San Antonio Spurs. The 70-year-old Popovich just finished his 23rd season with the Spurs. The team has made the playoffs in each of the past 22 seasons, a streak that ties for the longest in NBA history, and there was some speculation about whether he would return. He has won five NBA championships with San Antonio.
Gregg Popovich likely back next season
Mike Finger: Gregg Popovich probably will be back next season. A Spurs staffer said late Saturday night he had “no doubt.” But after he coaches Team USA this summer, a flawed team awaits, and Popovich has a decision to make.
Popovich was asked in a round-about way what his future as a head coach will be after this season. “I’m a head coach in the NBA,” Popovich responded. “I don’t think about what that means in the future.”
Jabari Young: This one from Popovich was pretty good… told he looks like he’s still enjoying himself coaching, he said “I am.” … maybe this will cool the retirement questions #Spurs @TheAthleticNBA
Anthony Slater: Warriors vs Spurs tomorrow. Steve Kerr on Gregg Popovich’s future: “I don’t get the sense he’s anywhere close to stepping down. But then again, I haven’t asked him.” Then Kerr went long on the current version of the Spurs. pic.twitter.com/NIJew5Wbly
Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs will soon become the fourth 70-year-old coach in N.B.A. history, but he remains undecided about coaching the Spurs beyond this season. Popovich, who turns 70 on Jan. 28, is in the last season of a five-year contract extension he signed after the Spurs won their most recent championship in 2014.
“I don’t know the answer,” Popovich said when asked about his plans for next season in an interview Wednesday night after the Spurs’ 105-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. Popovich said he and R.C. Buford, San Antonio’s longtime team president, have periodically discussed the club’s various options after this season. “He’ll coach as long as he wants to coach,” Buford said.
At Staples Center last week, there was a pregame conversation among some of my fellow media members about whether Popovich is still enjoying himself. There was even a suggestion that he’s mellowed over the past few seasons. His once infamous in-game interviews have seemed a bit blander and straighter of late—but, mercifully, that doesn’t mean he’s lost his lovable edge entirely. After the Spurs fell to the Lakers later that evening, someone asked Popovich what made LeBron James so hard to stop in the fourth quarter.
Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express News made the point to Pop that people care about how long he’s going to be on the sidelines, which Pop dismissed coyly as, “bologna:” You get to a certain age and everyone goes, “How long are you gonna do this?” Well, how long are you going to be doing what you’re doing? When I can’t do it anymore, or don’t wanna do it, or people don’t wanna do it with me, then I’ll stop doing it.
Few in his orbit expect Popovich to coach the Spurs beyond the 2020 Summer Olympics, and there always has been the possibility that he could spend the 2019-20 season traveling around the NBA and across the globe, preparing for his national team duties. Perhaps Popovich can have Leonard on Team USA in 2020, too, but that’s a conversation for a different day.
“It’s just that we’re all so prejudiced, it’s ridiculous,” Popovich said. “We think we’re the ones getting screwed all the time. The referees cannot win. I don’t care what happens. They will never win. Everyone is always going to bitch and moan about them, so it’s best to just play the game and don’t cry about it and move on. You never gain anything.”
September 20, 2020 | 12:22 pm EDT Update
So, I asked, how did Lakers coach Frank Vogel see it after he had watched the film? “We were definitely the aggressors in the game, and the box score I have right here has us with 28 (fouls),” Vogel said. “We got called for 28 fouls. They got called for 26.” It was a savvy stance to take, albeit oversimplified. So as Vogel left his media session to rejoin his team, I admitted to him that I hadn’t noticed that the final fouls tally was in the Nuggets’ favor. “I do my research,” he said with a grin.
When Orange County Register Lakers beat writer Kyle Goon asked Vogel about James’ shot selection this season, it was refreshing to hear a candid and fascinating response from the Lakers coach rather than something more political. James, whose midrange jumper has been so effective for so many years now, has focused more on shots at the rim and beyond the arc this season, in part because of the message being sent by the coaching staff. “It is definitely a coaching point,” Vogel said. “You know, we want to have an analytics-based shot selection mindset with our team. … It’s the free throw No. 1; layup dunk No. 2; corner 3, No. 3; arc 3, No. 4, and midrange is the fifth priority shot we could have. But I will not ever tell my team not to take midrange shots if they are open shots. The No. 1 analytic for me is ‘Are you open?’ or ‘Are you guarded?’ That applies to shots at the rim, applies to 3-point line and applies to midrange. I’ll take an open shot over any zone that you can put up the shot from, and we want to work for open shots.”
“We’re not trying to intimidate anyone,” said Rondo, who had seven points, nine assists and a plus-13 in nearly 22 minutes. “We’re just playing basketball. With the guys we have — Dwight (and his) physical ability, he’s just playing the game. No one’s out there trying to bully people. We’re playing to our strengths. “I’ve been telling (Howard) the last two weeks (that) he’s going to be our X-factor in the series. I’m very happy that he got an opportunity to come out and play and display his talent, and show how much we need him. Like I said, I told him in the Houston series, things don’t go his way sometimes but in a championship run you need all 15 guys, and that’s what we displayed (in Game 1). Coach being able to go deep in the bench, and use guys that we haven’t used last series, so it’s a testament to the management, the way we’re able to be flexible — go small, go big, and (in Game 1) Dwight Howard, especially, was great for us.”
“This has been something I’ve never dealt with. There’s a lot going on for me individually, (and) for my family. And then the rehab, just with (the coronavirus in society) and the bubble and trying to do the best that I can to not have to quarantine for many days coming back here and having to quarantine — basically taking five days off from treatment and rehab and then trying to get myself ready to play in the Eastern Conference Finals, that’s something that’s a daunting task for sure. So for me … I’ve tried to do the best I can each day with it, and not put pressure on myself and just try to help us win basketball games, honestly.”
“To be honest, I didn’t get much sleep the last 48 hours,” Brown, who clashed with Smart in the passionate locker room scene, said when asked about the recovery process for their team. “I was so antsy to get back and play basketball. I don’t think the last two games exemplify what this team is about. So, I couldn’t wait to come out and be the best version of myself and try to add to a win. And I’m glad to be a part of this team and this organization and I’m proud of how we responded. … At the end of the day, we’re a family. We represent this organization. We represent each other and we won’t ever let anything come in between that. We’ve got a tremendous opportunity and we understand that and nothing’s going to stop us from trying to maximize that.”
Back in February, Us Weekly published a story about how Vanessa had been leaning on her mother, Sofia Laine, as she grieved the loss of Kobe and hers and Kobe’s 13-year-old daughter Giannia. Laine had moved in with Vanessa at one point, but she now says her daughter has kicked her out of the Bryant home. Laine sat down for an interview with Univision that is set to air in its entirety on Monday. A preview clip, which is only in Spanish, was shared on social media. According to Erika Marie of Hot New Hip Hop, a teary-eyed Laine claims in the interview that her daughter has kicked her out of the Bryant home and demanded that she return a car Vanessa had given to her.
September 20, 2020 | 9:24 am EDT Update
Marcus Smart: Great team win Gordon’s back Fire. Enes u funny man.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens was hesitant to praise Hayward for his sacrifice partly because he learned about the revelation through the media instead of directly. “If he wants to go back for the birth of his child, that takes priority,” Stevens said. “That’s his decision and it’s, you know, I want to leave it at that. That’s his decision.”
Rachel Nichols: Hayward told me his wife Robyn isn’t in active labor yet, but she’s progressed thru enough pre-labor stages that the baby could come at any time, from tonight to the next few days. He doesn’t have his phone on the bench with him (per NBA rules) but will be checking it at the half
