Is Gregg Popovich Ever Going to Retire?
Pop has been coaching the Spurs since the mid-90s and is still zestful.
Gregg Popovich became the San Antonio Spurs’ head coach back in 1996.
Though he took charge when the team was down (David Robinson suffered a season-ending injury six games in, Sean Elliot was only able to play 39 games due to injury, and the team was 3-15), he saw a lot of potential and believed he could turn them into something special.
He figured they just needed to be injected with some youth because they already had a solid -but old- core. They were a 59-win team the previous season, after all.
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So, to acquire youngsters, the Spurs tanked. They won a total of 20 games in 1996-97 and ended up coming in third last in the NBA.
And despite not having the best odds at the first overall pick, they got really lucky and got the first-overall pick. They used it to draft a 21-year-old power forward from Wake Forest named Tim Duncan and this was the beginning of the Spurs Dynasty.
With Duncan (and eventually Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker), the Spurs won a total of five championships in the span of 15 years. They were pretty much winning every other season in the 2000s.
However, key players got old and started to leave, and their dynasty slowly crumbled into what it is today: a rebuilding team.
But even though the Spurs are in rebuild mode, Popovich, who hasn’t coached a losing team in a while, is still excited about constructing a winning team:
And this is why I think he isn’t going to retire until he builds another Spurs Dynasty, which is highly probable.
Currently, San Antonio is near the bottom of the league. They are third last, with just the Detroit Pistons and Houston Rockets having fewer wins than them.
The good thing about this is that they’ll have a really good chance at getting the first overall pick, which I would think they would use to draft French phenom Victor Wembenyama.
But even if they don’t get that pick, there are other really talented players in the top 5 -Scoot Henderson, Amen Thompson, Brandon Miller, to name a few- that they could draft and that Popovich can develop into a star.
Additionally, the Spurs already have some good young players rostered, such as Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Jeremy Sochan, who just need more experience.
So, if they draft well and the young core gets quality playing experience, the Spurs are going to be a really good team in a few seasons.
Once that happens, Popovich can pass them on and retire on a winning note (which I think is what he wants to do).