Gregg Popovich steps aside as Spurs head coach, will transition to team president

Gregg Popovich steps aside as Spurs head coach, will transition to team president

We’ve got breaking news out of the NBA. Gregg Popovich will no longer serve as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. Popovich suffered a stroke back in November, which is the last time he appeared on the Spurs bench. The 76 year old Popovich will reportedly move from the bench to the front office in a full time role as team president. It closes the book on Popovich’s iconic coaching career in San Antonio that included five NBA titles. Since he first took the reins in San Antonio back in 1996. Very big news out of the NBA. And to discuss it, we bring in Bill writer and Brad Botkin to discuss Bill. I’ll come to you first here. Kind of feels like it’s been trending in this direction with some of the health issues that Popovich has had, but now the news is confirmed he is no longer the head coach. What are your thoughts? Yeah, Haley, you said this was certainly what everyone expected. Remarkable career, maybe the greatest coaching career in NBA history. Certainly in that conversation. And I suppose that the silver lining here, or the good news for NBA fans, for Spurs fans is that, as expected, Gregg Popovich, Popovich will remain a critical part of this organization. He was the head coach, but he also ran basketball operations. His deputy, R.C. Buford, is more or less the general manager really reported to him. So this is a structure where Popovich’s vision, where his culture, where his presence. And this is a guy who every bit created the Spurs way as much as, say, Pat Riley created what’s going on in Miami will continue for the organization. And this is something I’m told that they everybody wanted. They know with Victor Wembanyama if and when he can return from his blood clot issues, that they have an opportunity for 10 or 15 years to have another special run. They wanted Gregg Popovich, I’m told, to be a part of that. And while he won’t be coaching, there’s some hope that his presence as the head of basketball operations, as the president of this organization, will continue the winning ways that he started two decades ago. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. You know, it’s good news that that coach is, you know, in terms of life is doing okay. And can can you continue to be a part of this thing. But yeah, I agree with Bill. And everything that he’s hearing in terms of this was this was always headed here. There was there was delays in him coming back last year. There was a lot of reporting. Oh, maybe he’s going to come back now. And it kept getting extended. And you know the Spurs they seem to they have that organizational structure that that firm standing where you sub somebody in. And the machine kind of keeps running. And Gregg Popovich built that. He was a big big part of that. And so that’s a tribute to his legacy moving forward is when you put stuff in place it’s like parenting or anything else where your kids go off and they’re able to function without you is really the greatest testament to the job that you’ve done. And the way that the Spurs can transition now into this post. Popovich era with Victor Wembanyama, with Stefan Cassell, with De’Aaron Fox. They are so promising for the future and he’s still going to be around for that. And everybody’s happy about that. But it really is a tribute to the foundation that he laid and the stability that he instituted into that organization, that they are ready, that even there are some organizations where where a coach like this, of this kind of standing, it would be a major sort of seismic event. This actually for as big of a figure as Gregg Popovich has been over NBA history and certainly within the Spurs organization. This actually feels like a little bit of a blip from a basketball standpoint. Like the Spurs are going to keep going and be okay. And that’s not a knock on Coach Popovich. It’s actually a great credit to him. Yeah. We do have a statement from Popovich in a release that the Spurs put out. He said quote, while my love and passion for the game remain, I’ve decided it’s time to step away as head coach. He finished it by saying I’m forever grateful to the wonderful players, coaches, staff and fans who allowed me to serve them as Spurs head coach, and I’m excited for the opportunity to continue to support the organization. I mean, Bill, when you think about we always talk about heat culture, right? And what that looks like, but really spurs culture just as strong. And Popovich has been the leader behind all of that. How do you contextualize his legacy and what he’s been able to do? I know he’s still in the building and he’ll still have his fingerprints, but from a coaching standpoint, this is one of the greatest coaches we’ve seen coach in the NBA. Yeah, one of the greatest coaches in American sports history. And I think something that gets lost a little bit in his excellence and maybe he doesn’t get the credit for because as great as the Spurs have been and were under his watch and they were they are in San Antonio. Right. It’s not Los Angeles. It’s not Chicago during the Jordan era. It’s not what the Knicks hope will happen with Jalen Brunson. It’s a smaller city in the middle part of the country in Texas. And sometimes as media, as fans, we don’t pay enough attention. Greg Popovich created a culture of selflessness, of defense, of stars taking a back seat that was really fairly unprecedented. And certainly before this, CBA sort of squeezed at the margins and made it more, I think, reasonable for smaller markets to succeed. Tim Duncan took less money than he might have taken somewhere else and stayed for the entirety of his career. Tony Parker was a guy who was able to be the backseat, the number two, until they needed him to step up and be the best player on on a championship level team. Ginobili you just go down the list. I know Kawhi Leonard eventually left, but one of the things that other GMs always marveled about was the Spurs ability because of Gregg Popovich to have a connection with their players. And we use the word culture and we throw it around. But a culture where the people that were critical to success wanted to stay, wanted to stay in San Antonio, would take less money, would take less minutes. The last championship team for that Spurs organization, there wasn’t a single guy that played more than 30 minutes a game. They literally spread the minutes and the shine of the playing time around. And with all respect to Miami, this isn’t about taking shots at Pat Riley, but that culture in Miami obviously eventually alienated superstars. Shaq left on bad terms with Pat Riley, Dwyane Wade did the same and LeBron James did the same. And obviously Jimmy Butler just did. It was very different for Gregg Popovich, and we took for granted or maybe appreciated the winning and obviously the X’s and O’s. And he was an amazing Gregg Popovich, amazing X’s and O’s. Maestro. His ability to connect with multiple superstars until Kawhi Leonard left to get all time greats like Tim Duncan to take secondary roles, to have players understand that they weren’t always going to be the superstar, get the headlines, but they be part, as Brad, I think, put it perfectly, a machine that would win if everybody sort of bought into their role, that culture, that excellence, that connection with players. It was critical to winning five rings spread over many, many years because Gregg Popovich, on a human level and on and on, an X’s and O’s level, was as good a man manager and just moment to moment basketball coach as maybe any in the history of the sport. Well, and you can’t talk about Gregg Popovich without talking about his personality. Just very right to the point. Doesn’t really fluff a lot. He tells you what’s exactly on his mind. So we’ll miss that of course, as well, Brad, when we turn our attention forward and we’ll be talking about this all day long. So there’s so many different ways to hit this. But going forward, something you talked about was the current roster, right. Wemby and Stefan Cassell back to back rookie of the year. They added De’Aaron Fox. Where does this where do the Spurs go next here. How do they sort of bounce back after losing such a key piece of their roster from the sidelines anywhere they want? They are one of the few teams who everything is at their disposal. It could not be brighter for the Spurs. You know Bill and I thought Bill just just put the legacy. Those are tough, tough things to surmise. And for Bill to put that together right there I thought that really explained what Gregg Popovich did. And that should continue again, that foundation that they laid. So all these players, they have these great players in place. They have great young players really, really good. Then they have a guy right smack dab in the middle of his prime in De’Aaron Fox. So they have timelines going that they can go out and compete next year. Assuming that Victor Wembanyama comes back and is healthy, and they also have a timeline put together where they have all these draft picks stowed away. They have the young guys in Castle and women, they have trade assets potentially. And a guy like Keldon Johnson, Jeremy Sohan, they have a lot of pieces that they can pull, a lot of different levers to go out and make sure that they build a competitive team for the next decade plus around Victor Wembanyama, they could not be set up any better to score. Victor Wembanyama is just like when they scored Tim Duncan you are, and he seems to have all the makings of all those things that that Bill just talked about. Those they’re not intangible, but they’re not necessarily on court things. But when you have a superstar, the Warriors have benefited from this, from Steph Curry for years. When you have a superstar who is willing to not sort of act like a superstar who is not going to be meddling in the front office, who’s not going to be demanding trades all the time, who’s going to be the centerpiece of your franchise and your organization from a character standpoint, from a stability standpoint, they lucked into that with Tim Duncan, and they seems like he’s young, but the way he carries himself, all the things that he said, the way we seen, how competitive he is, but also the way that he’s been willing to adapt, the way he plays and learn and be coachable and all these things that you hear about Victor Wembanyama, those are traits that you can build around for the next decade plus, and the assets that they have put together. Bill talked about the second apron era. It is very, very difficult to build a team now that is top heavy with a bunch of super high paid stars. You don’t have any depth, but when they have these guys currently still on rookie contracts, they can do a lot of damage with the assets that they have piled up while they’re while their salary situation is still in a reasonable spot so they can do anything they want. You’re going to hear their name in Kevin Durant sweepstakes. You’re going to hear their name all over. They don’t have to do it. They don’t have to push the fast forward button. But they can they can do whatever they want over this next half decade. And by then, Victor Wembanyama will still only be 24 years old, so they could not be in a better spot. And again, I give a lot of that credit to the foundation that Greg Popovich laid. Haley, I’m glad you referenced Greg Popovich, Orneriness, because I experienced that firsthand several times. And the first time that I ever met Greg Popovich, I flew to San Antonio specifically to meet coach. I had the most viciously brutal interaction with any. He went at me and you, you feel that, right? And your first interaction is, oh my gosh. And then you get to know the guy and he’s he’s a great guy, but he he holds sway. He holds sway in those interviews. It will be famous. He’ll sway with those players. And he’s always held sway in that organization. And Brad’s right now that he holds sway and he always has. But now that his his utter focus, his laser focus will have to be on the operation side, now that he’s not coaching, he has this plethora of options. He and Brad’s right. Fast forward button, pause button. You know, two time speed, half speed. He gets to decide. I think one really fascinating part of this news is that all of these assets, all of these choices, whether or not to sort of let this cook a little bit the way the Thunder did last year didn’t make a huge move the way the rockets did at the trade deadline, or whether to go for Kevin Durant or Giannis becomes available. Make a move for Giannis or whoever is out there. All of that now falls, falls utterly and totally to Gregg Popovich. And Popovich is very legacy conscious. Like all greats. He’s remarkably competitive. And this isn’t going to be if I know him. You know, to the degree that I do a semi-retirement, he’s not going to try to focus on how to build a winner for the next ten years in a different role. And I’ll be fascinated to see how Popovich answers the question that that Brad just, I think, very smartly put to us, what is the approach that Gregg Popovich wants to take in trying to play out over a two year timeline, a five year timeline, a seven year timeline? It’s up to him now. Yeah, it is still just, you know, to your point, the orneriness all of the iconic moments over the years, it still doesn’t contextualize how much he has meant to this sport. So we will certainly continue the conversation. Guys, we appreciate the time. I’m sure Bill Reiter and John Gonzalez will have a lot more to talk about on the Beyond the Arc podcast. Big news here. Gregg Popovich, no longer the head coach of the Spurs, he will stay in the front office as the president of basketball operations. But over 1400 wins in t

Bill Reiter and Brad Botkin join CBS Sports HQ to discuss Gregg Popovich stepping down as Spurs head coach and transitioning into team president.

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