-
Michael C. Wright
It is not expected that the coach of the Hall of Fame of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich, returns this season, and his future of the NBA is uncertain when he recovers from a stroke suffered in November, the sources of the league told Shams Charania de ESPN on Saturday.
The last development provides a closure during what has become a difficult season for San Antonio, which on Thursday announced plans to close the superstar of the Victor Wembanyama franchise after he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in the right shoulder.
Popovich and Wembanyama have been in close contact in recent days, sources told Charania. The coach has been practical to communicate and provide guidance following the diagnosis of Wembanyama.
“It is wild to think about the circumstances and situations we have passed as a team this year,” said Spurs, Chris Paul, after Wembanyama’s last medical setback, which is a form of blood clot in his shoulder . “But I think you know when situations occur in your family that somehow, somehow, brings you closer.”
Popovich is the most winner of the NBA with 1,390 regular season victories and another 170 in the postseason to go with five championships. On November 2, he suffered what the team called a “slight blow” before a confrontation against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
San Antonio transferred the Mitch Johnson assistant to the role of a chief coach interim, and has published a 21-27 record to lead the young Spurs.
Popovich, who has trained the Spurs since the 1996-97 season, turned 76 in January and is the oldest coach in the NBA history. In 2020, he spent the previous record held by Hubie Brown, who was 71 when he trained his final game with the Mephis Grizzlies.
When the club first appointed the Chief coach of Johnson, he did it with plans for Popovich to finally return. Popovich issued a statement in December thanking the community, the organization of the Spurs and friends for their effusion of support.
“No one is more excited to see me return to the bank than to talented people who have been leading my rehabilitation process,” Popovich said jokingly in the statement. “They have quickly learned that I am less than trained.”
Throughout his absence, Popovich, who also serves as president of the team, has remained in contact with Johnson, as well as with the Spurs players, providing support and opinions on play plans to attack opponents .
Johnson mentioned in January that Popovich is “giving praise and cursing everything at the same time.”
The CEO of the Spurs, RC Buford, the closest confidant of Popovich and the architect of most franchise title teams, said in January that the coach was “attacking his rehabilitation.”
“The same resistance that has shown in the course of our career as a coach, is approaching his return in his rehabilitation in an incredibly unique way,” said Buford. “The relationships he has had with the former players and the care they share with him are incredible, and his improvement continues.”
In addition to its success in the NBA, Popovich has shone on the international stage, training US basketball in 2021 to a gold medal at Tokyo Olympic Games.
“It’s not a person to fill pop shoes at this time. It’s a town,” said General Manager Brian Wright 11 days after Popovich’s stroke. “We have all joined. We are all playing our roles in that part, and we will continue doing that. It is what he would want.”
