LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Criticism of President Trump’s leadership is a long-standing practice for Gregg Popovich. You expect it almost by now when the San Antonio Spurs coach gives an interview.
That it was quite a curveball when Popovich, on his last night in the NBA bubble, decided to imitate Trump instead.
“That’s bad news,” Popovich said, insisting with outrage that San Antonio’s run of 22 consecutive playoffs had not just stopped.
“That’s totally false news,” Popovich continued. “A lot of guys have told me that the region is not over. I talk to people all the time. They call me. She tells me, ‘Pop, the streak didn’t come. It did not. ‘I do not know where to get this game. ‘
The San Antonio striker was killed Thursday – before the team even took to the floor in a possible 118-112 loss to the Utah Jazz. Earlier victories by the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns had eliminated the Spurs from the ranks of the season, leaving them one key away from a new league record for consecutive playoff appearances. However, Popovich felt loose enough after San Antonio was brought close to his season after his first postseason free since 1996-97 to see a playful side that he only occasionally reveals in his often tight interactions with the news media.
Of greater importance, Popovich also gave a strong indication that he intends to coach the Spurs next season, despite the finish of 32-39 and his status, at 71, as the league’s oldest coach.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Asked Popovich.
On elimination day at the NBA bubble for five teams, it could therefore be argued that no one, not even the Cinderella Suns, could claim the kind of upbeat offense that San Antonio surprisingly managed. Phoenix went a spotless 8-0 in their seeding games, the best in the bubble, but the Suns also had to suffer through the pain of Portland’s 134-133 escape against the Nets in Thursday’s late game. The Trail Blazers’ victory sent them into Saturday’s Western Conference play-off round against Memphis by the narrowest margins – ahead of heartbroken Phoenix.
The Spurs, on the other hand, arrived in Florida on July 9 without the injured former All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and were convinced that there was no way they could turn their 22 consecutive trips to the postseason into 23. “No shot , “said Popovich.
Popovich thought so little of San Antonio’s chances that he responded to the injury loss of two more starters (Trey Lyles and Bryn Forbes) by handing over a notebook to Patty Mills, his trusted reserve guard, and Mills an assistant coach. to make for five of the team’s eight games here. The Spurs won 5-2 before losing the insignificant Utah game on Thursday.
In his frequent interviews with reporters over the past month, Popovich has developed a consistent routine. He would make almost daily statements to push for social justice and mark voter repression to “ensure that momentum continues” for players and coaches who decide to capitalize on the NBA’s high-profile platform to resume their messages about systemic to reinforce racism. He would also repeatedly say that the development of young players from San Antonio was his only interest on the court.
When the stay from San Antonio was officially over, it sounded certain that all the recent conversations surrounding the team about Popovich were rekindled by the advancement of younger players like Derrick White, Lonnie Walker IV, Dejounte Murray and Keldon Johnson.
“I’m more excited about it than what you’re talking about today,” Popovich said of his team’s player development gains. He claimed that San Antonio’s 22 post-seasons in a row, starting with Tim Duncan’s selection with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft, “did not come to mind.”
The Spurs and the Suns, because they were in the race with Portland for a play-in spot until the end, were scheduled to fly home Friday. Thursday also marked the final taste of the bubble for Washington, Sacramento and New Orleans and their award-winning rookie Zion Williamson.
The Wizards picked up, after a 0-7 launch, their first win by defeating Boston in the midday tipoff and, thanks to such an early start, had landed at Dulles Airport at 7.30pm. The Kings were the next to go, followed by the Pelicans, who qualified as the undisputed disappointment of the bubble.
With Williamson seen in a mask as a spectator in front of the stands, New Orleans lost in Orlando in a 21-hour tipoff, and was then forced to make a direct late flight home after the game. League rules stipulated that for safety reasons, the Pelicans could no longer stay on campus once they were eliminated.
The NBA has invited 22 teams to Walt Disney World to begin its coronavirus-interrupted season with a format that critics insisted was purely designed to pave the way for Williamson and the Pelicans to knock Memphis out of the playoffs. Seven of the Pelicans’ eight games were selected here for national television broadcasts; New Orleans went 2-6 and finished essentially 21st.
As a result, a difficult off-season for Pelicans management has arrived. There is widespread belief in NBA coaching staffs that executive vice president of basketball services, David Griffin, has already decided he wants to replace Coach Alvin Gentry – provided that property is ready to overcome the estimated $ 5 million that ” t remain on Gentry’s contract for next season. Williamson also seemed to recognize that playing at his reported weight of 285 pounds could have been a factor in the myriad injuries that limited him to 24 of New Orleans’ 72 games as a rookie. He said after Thursday morning’s practice game that his focus of the season will be “get my body where it needs to be.”
Popovich, of course, has a license in San Antonio to coach for as long as he wants, and he left the impression that he wants to stay. It is unclear if his planned performance to coach the United States at the Tokyo Olympics next summer will happen, after this summer’s Games have been postponed, but continuing with the Spurs makes sense on several fronts.
Further solidification of Duncan’s Spurs post would be a Popovich priority, before making his expected move into a Red Auerbach-style oversight role. Continuing to coach in the NBA also gives Popovich maximum volume on his megaphone for social justice. Some who know him well even believe that he is more willing to try to pass on to his dear friend Don Nelson for the career record in victories in the regular season than he would ever leave. Nelson’s lead is down to 58 wins.
It’s safest to say that Popovich has coached so well for so long then modern coaches typically last that he deserves to go out in a much more traditional setting – meaning with real fans and admirers allowed into the building.
“It really is an unbelievable run,” said Mark Cuban, whose Dallas Mavericks have had a fierce regional rivalry with Popovich and the Spurs almost from the moment Cuban bought his team in January 2000.
Expressing doubts that any future direct franchise could match San Antonio’s 22 consecutive playoff appearances, Cuban said, “Great – there’s no other way to describe it.”
