For the first time in nearly 30 years, the San Antonio Spurs are kicking off a new era.
On May 5th, Cinco de Mayo was usually the cause of the celebration in San Antonio, and the tone of the victory capital performance center, The Rock, was very calm.
Since suffering a mild stroke on November 2nd, legendary head coach Greg Popovich will address the media, but will introduce him to his handpicked alternative, Mitch Johnson.
Popovich was adjacent to legendary players Manu Zinobili and Tim Duncan. Pop jokes that they have not left his side since his stroke, but it is said to have come out of love, but gets more “recovery.”
Despite his humorous sprinkling of his remarks, it was clear that even though Popovich physically took over as “El Jeff,” the president of the basketball business, he still had a long way to go in his recovery.
The next chapter of San Antonio Spurs basketball is continued to be written by Popovich.
Popovich has won 1,589 games more than anyone else in his 29 seasons leading the Spurs, earning a handful of Championship rings and three Coach of the Year awards. He also coached Team USA with gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Popovich boasts the biggest coaching resume in NBA history, but he never trusts the Spurs’ achievements.
“We’ll sit down, he pours wine and says it every time,” Steve Kerr said. Athletic. “This is Tim Duncan.”
When someone else lists the reasons for the Spurs’ decades of success, Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobilli and David Robinson certainly get their credit, but Pop has always been at the center of it.
He would only oppose it.
There have been 303 coaching changes through Popovich’s NBA coaching tenure, which began in 1996. Since 1996, 138 different men have led the NBA teams, but the Spurs did not need to undergo a change in coaching. Popovich gave the torch to Mitch Johnson, who has been the staff assistant since 2019, in many dignity and circumstances.
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The Spurs are a rare NBA team with a clear set of values. They are based on trust, discipline and putting your team above you.
Popovich and Robinson have instilled these values in all players suitable for silver and black.
But more than anything else, Popovich uttered a backward view behind the locked room. Basketball is just a game, at least for NBA coaches, and the people playing it are more important than winning or losing.
I realized that thinking can lead to winning.
The Spurs were looking for coaching candidates that could continue their legacy, but it wasn’t long.
“We are grateful for the kindness of Pop, the way we think about service and the huge impact on so many people,” said Peter John Holt, owner of Spurs. “Another thing that is a very clear contributor to our culture is the belief that it is rooted in our proud heritage, but we don’t want to see it. Today represents our journey and the exciting next chapter of our culture.
Remove the coat and fill in the shoes Popovich left behind is a nearly impossible task for Mitch Johnson, and he seems to know that.
In the court, his priorities remain the same as Popovich in his last two seasons. Wenby has revealed that he has full trust in the Spurs front office, and as a generation of young talent, the Spurs are doing everything they can to maximize him.
Duncan, Parker, Ginobilli and Kawi Leonard all provide blueprints on how to get the most out of elite players, and Johnson hopes the tone remains the same.
“We feel we’re grabbing the direction we’re heading, and we want to be able to do that,” he said. “It feels like we’re trying to build on something. This is not a restart. This is not a restart. It’s a new chapter because it looks different, but the theme of the book hasn’t changed.”
The Spurs have been blessed with more continuity than any other NBA franchise at any other time. Johnson and the team that hires him hope he can meet the values instilled by his predecessors.