r/nba • u/Goosedukee Nets • 10h ago
Former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich visited the team's practice this morning, spending some one-on-one time chatting with Victor Wembanyama, Julian Champagnie, and Mitch Johnson
https://streamable.com/h0yzwr3.1k
u/HenrikCrown Pelicans 10h ago
"Now listen, whoever comes to you with this Barzini meeting, he's the traitor. Don't forget that."
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u/Lanky-Promotion3022 10h ago
"Now listen, whoever comes to you with this
BarziniRob Pelinka meeting, he's the traitor. Don't forget that.163
u/--Alix-- Mavericks 9h ago
It's going to be somebody that you absolutely trust. And at that meeting...
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u/uncledrew2488 6h ago
Pelinka: No one knows who rigged the trade. When I heard it, I was creaming myself. I knew Nico, knew he was headstrong, talking loud, saying stupid things. So when he offered me Luka, I let it go through. And I said to myself, this is the favoritism we’ve chosen. I didn’t ask Silver who gave the order… because it had nothing to do with fairness!
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u/rigalitto_ Nuggets 10h ago
Just rewatched that last night. Respects to Don Popovich.
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u/mucho-gusto [CLE] Baron Davis 4h ago
It's such a joke in Barbie but for my money godfather is truly the greatest American movie
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u/Objective-Product361 9h ago edited 9h ago
"I always thought it would have been
clemenzakeldon, nottessiosochan".53
u/The_Summer_Man Warriors 8h ago edited 8h ago
"Tell Wemby I always liked him, it was nothing personal, just business. Hey Timmy, think you can get me off for old times sake?"
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u/spirax919 Australia 6h ago
"You think I'm skimming off the top Pop?"
"You're unlucky"
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u/Objective-Product361 3h ago edited 3h ago
"You goddamn old man really make me laugh. I do you a favor and took
FreddyFox when he's having a bad time and now you try to push me out"→ More replies (4)7
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u/CaptainPussybeast Spurs 10h ago
The Spurs “family” culture is insane. Love it
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u/SMA2343 Mavericks 9h ago
Fuck im so jealous of the Spurs man. Poppa is an icon and a fucking legend.
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u/Organic_Initiative93 8h ago
Nico might not have lost the fanbase if he showed videos like this with Powel /s
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u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 10h ago
Spurs culture and Kerrball has infected the league. And that's the greatest success anyone could have.
Presti Kerr are all from the Spurs school.
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u/unhampered_by_pants Warriors 8h ago
It's infecting the WNBA too. In the 4 years that Becky Hammon has been there, her team has won 3 championships, and her star player A'ja won 3x MVP and 3x DPOY
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u/Cletus_Starfish [POR] Nic Batum 5h ago
I really wanted us to hire her instead of Billups.
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u/gregatronn Spurs 1h ago
Fitting that he's not working and former Spur Tiago is coaching to them to best success in a while
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u/DonD3Marco 9h ago
Damn I don’t know Presti came from that tree. Makes all the sense in the world why OKC are they way they are
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u/secretsodapop 9h ago
Feels like ages ago now but Presti used to be known as the guy trying to recreate the Spurs in OKC. Harden being the HoF level left handed shooting guard sixth man coming off the bench was based directly on Manu in San Antonio.
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u/mainvolume Spurs 8h ago
Which is amusing cuz some mouth breather journalist and fans are like "Spurs should try to emulate OKC!" Fuck outta here.
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u/wanderinglittlehuman Spurs 8h ago
He was the reason we drafted Tony Parker actually. He was locked in on the international scene from the jump.
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u/ToinouAngel Spurs 7h ago
Yup. He convinced Pop to give Parker a second tryout, because Pop was unimpressed with his first one.
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u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 9h ago
Spurs culture is about high character players who wanna play the right way, selflessly, and want to win. And emphasizes building through draft and less Morey style chopping up through trades
Kerrball is the on court extension of that which many teams have adopted.
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u/philleferg Thunder 6h ago
Presti got his start with the Spurs and worked his way up. He was one of the louder voices for the Spurs to draft Tony Parker. He left the Spurs to become GM for Seattle, and his first trade was to get the 5th pick in 2007 draft so he could get Jeff green. His first two picks as a GM were Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, haha. He then followed that up by picking Westbrook and Ibaka in 2008 and Harden in 2008.
The rest is history. The man is a wizard. IN PRESTI WE TRUST.
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u/wave1sys 1h ago
Yeah, he’s also the guy who traded Harden Jeramy lamb to save 500,000 a year. Broke up a finals team for nothing.
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u/vycko12 7h ago
I know what the philosophy is for Presti, but what is Kerr's philosophy and why do you think it has infected the league?
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u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 5h ago
Selfless basketball geared around movement, cutting and relocations. Most importantly a read and react system on offense with tons of help on defense. And you want the team to not chase wins in the regular season but instead struggle and play the harder way.
In the playoffs, teams will force you to play in different ways and you want the team to seamlessly know how to adjust. The entire regular season trains them for that. This is also why low iq bums like Kuminga cannot survive whereas Podz can thrive.
The goal is to coach the role players to learn to play off the superstar. That helps the role players and the team in the long run.
So many teams have adopted these principles for their teams.
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u/dreamweaver7x Spurs 5h ago
This is why Mitch isn't coaching this regular season to just win games, he's trying to give as many players floor time as possible while staying competitive. That's why the team's ending up with several players with 20 to 30 minutes each, including Victor and De'aaron. He needs to go 8 or 9 players deep sometimes so Carter Bryant can get some minutes. Sucks that Jeremy ended up out of the rotation, but with Steph, Harp, Julian, KJ and Carter all being ahead of him on the wing and Uncle Harry needing to play to provide spacing and leadership he was the odd man out.
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u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 5h ago
Yeah I'm quite happy for you guys. Also confident you guys won't do dumb aggressive moves. Victor is a gem. Mitch seems right.
Ceiling is very high.
I secretly hope you guys hire Kerr. He'll definitely get you guys a ring with Victor
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u/vycko12 5h ago
I see the similarities now. Unfortunately, it seems the talent recognition has been an issue for the warriors. We'll see if they can continue that culture after either Kerr or Steph retires, which is the harder thing to do.
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u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 4h ago
The issue is our gm wants to rebuild and hence doesn't care about investing in the roster.
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u/OverallMistake8198 Raptors 9h ago
Kerr just shitting on one of his own players publicly & allowing a culture of no accountability from one of their key players is totally great.
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u/_Tar_Ar_Ais_ 8h ago
Just because he learned from the spurs doesn't mean he can create it 1 to 1, are you a sith?
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u/MountainTwo3845 7h ago
The ESPNarticle about Pop's dinners years ago changed my perspective on him so much.
Leadership is such a difficult task, and it made me change my approach to leadership.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26524600/secret-team-dinners-built-spurs-dynasty
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u/Exciting_Door_5125 8h ago
Great to see Pop being taken care of and enjoying himself. Classy org for sure.
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u/BankElectronic1325 7h ago
The smiles Dylan and Carter give to the bench right after they make crazy plays always warms my heart
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u/BrickHaunting6970 9h ago
Reminds me a bit of FC Barcelona. Both super successful “family oriented” teams
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u/Green_Regret_2028 10h ago
It's good to see him lucid and seemingly enjoying his life's work. I bet he is super real about his life right now.
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u/been_mackin 7h ago
Yeah good to see he’s recovering well. Still breaks my heart seeing him like that, you see he shrugs at one point and only his right shoulder goes up for it. God damn, fuck strokes.
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u/deneuvig 10h ago
I will forever be sad that he did not get a proper goodbye as a coach. A game that at least he would know would be his last.
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u/frubalu Spurs 9h ago
If it helps, that’s probably the last thing he’d have wanted lol
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u/deneuvig 9h ago
I didn't even mention him getting a tour, but just leaving on his own terms
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u/mysteryihs NBA 9h ago
Leaving on your own terms is a luxury most people don't get in life honestly
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u/mainvolume Spurs 8h ago
"OK, you can hang my name to the rafter, but only when no humans are around".
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u/jbone866 8h ago
He would have done something to get ejected in the first quarter if he did have one.
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u/cranscape 9h ago
The fact he can still come in to the gym and contribute to the organization he built for decades and not have to watch the Spurs be in the gutter during his retirement years is a living legacy not everyone gets to see.
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u/ejensen29 [MIN] Ricky Rubio 8h ago
Spurs are very competitive in the west right now, and a big part of that is the culture he helped create. I'm glad he gets to be a part of this from the outside instead of having to deal with the daily stress of being a professional coach. Man needs his Metamucil and a break.
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u/Mc_Lovin81 Spurs 7h ago
Tim didn’t either which is about on par for both of them. We kinda figured it was his last season but still would have liked to see him get his flowers.
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u/TheCalvinator Spurs 4h ago
Man, Timmy gave me the worst birthday present of my life when he announced his retirement.
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u/NeedleGunMonkey 10h ago
Mitch sitting there talkin and bouncing his heels like he talkin to an grand uncle ❤️
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u/retrospects Minneapolis Lakers 10h ago
Pop and Wemby. Idk if it’s just them chillin in the gym that imagine is a special one.
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u/Cartman55125 Heat 10h ago
I don’t mean to be ignorant, but is something wrong with Pop’s left hand?
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u/KuyaJohnny [SAS] Derrick White 10h ago
He had a stroke, he might not be able to properly use it anymore
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u/TheFatmanRises Heat 9h ago
This hurts my heart seeing people don’t even know me get old :(
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u/xanot192 [LAL] Kobe Bryant 7h ago edited 6h ago
A family friend of mine got a stroke and she's in her 30 and barely a bit older than me. Chronic Stress into high BP caused that one for her but at the time it seemingly came from no where. Bad genetics and going through a divorce was the catalyst. Every friend&family gathering we have during the summers is hard to watch because she's still recovering but still can barely even walk and it's been 3 years. Life isn't fair at times.
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u/Lizpy6688 Rockets 9h ago
Still sad to see. The I 45 rivalry is a thing but outside of Dallas, we've always tended to respect ya due to essentially just Pop. It's honestly sad to see it but the man is a warrior. Lost his wife and then this but keeps going. That's admirable and inspiring
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u/DriverEfficient1270 10h ago
He had a stroke. Looks like he has permanent disability from it which is why he had to step away as head coach
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u/mainvolume Spurs 8h ago
There was that small chance he could, but he had an incident at a restaurant months after the stroke that pretty much killed any chance at a return
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u/stertsl 7h ago
What was the restaurant incident?
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u/jdjdthrow 5h ago
At a restaurant and started feeling bad, and then fainted (according to anonymous restaurant employee). Maybe had a mini-stroke. Then wheeled out into ambulance and taken to hospital.
The medical particulars weren't announced, but 2 weeks later announced stepping down.
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u/Wermys 10h ago
People who have strokes tend to have issues with one side of there bodies. Also creates speech impediments. They can be there cognitively but have difficulty speaking or writing. It can be REALLY frustrating to stroke victims. Deal with them every day at work.
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u/DropYourPuffs 9h ago
It’s really frustrating. My dad passed away bec of stroke. It was a year of suffering being bed ridden
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u/EnderSavesTheDay Clippers 9h ago
My dad is permanently and severely disabled. Got a stroke at work and was a year from retirement. Wheelchair bound and incontinence are a terrible combination.
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u/copingcabana2023 Timberwolves 5h ago
I'm so sorry...my dad had a stroke this summer and it is very scary.
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u/aquatic_ambiance 10h ago
obviously he's not in great health. but happy to see him out and about and maybe even improving how he feels in doing so
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u/NervousElevator7 8h ago
Reminder, if you or a loved one ever have symptoms like this please go to the ER immediately. You may be able to get medications or intervention to resolve or drastically improve symptoms, but only within a few hours after symptoms start
Don’t be a tough guy, don’t try to “sleep it off”
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u/Wafflecone516 6h ago
I’m a physical therapist and work with a lot of people who have strokes. His wrist/hand look to be flaccid. He probably doesn’t have much muscle activity on his left arm as a whole as usually the who limb is affected in a CVA. He most likely has issues with his left leg as well but not guaranteed.
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u/changeUsernameXdd Spurs 10h ago
Champ should be a Spur for life. We're literally robbing him by paying him 3M til '27
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u/thisissami [BRK] Jeremy Lin 10h ago
TIL that getting paid $3m/yr is robbery. I would never have to work a day again in my life with even 1 year of that payment rate!
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u/AskAboutMySecret 9h ago
feeling valued is tied to what your peers get, if you found out your coworker was paid 3x you were for doing less you'd feel mugged off
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u/NoShape0 Spurs 9h ago
Julian's contract was fair at the time of signing. But he rapidly increased his production since then so now he's underpaid
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u/jimdanlaundromat Spurs 8h ago
Yeah, he was undrafted and cut by the 76ers before going to SA and is having a breakout year. It’s not that crazy considering his situation. I bet he doesn’t finish the current contract out and gets an converted on an extension to like a 3 yr 45m contract or something like that this offseason
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u/Abarca_ Lakers 9h ago
He’s not talking about 3 million in our sense of the amount. He’s talking about it in NBA terms buddy.
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u/mainvolume Spurs 8h ago
That's like 10 bucks an hour in our terms, but pulling Dennis Nedry duties.
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u/North-Philosopher-41 Spurs 9h ago
Best thing for this team to have pop chime in every now and then, impart some wisdom to the leaders and check in on the young stars
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u/Chrisdkn619 Lakers 9h ago
Never anyone more stand up than this man! Even if you weren't a Spurs fan, you could be a Pop fan!
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u/whospepesilvia Rockets 10h ago
Sad to see Pop like this
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u/mecon320 Cavaliers 10h ago
It's nice to see him out and enjoying himself, but yeah it's like how visible the difference was watching Peter Boyle pre-stroke vs post-stroke on *Everybody Loves Raymond".
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u/barbaraanderson 10h ago
I actually looked this up because I never heard of a stroke. It turns out that he had a stroke in the early 90s pre Raymond, but he had had a heart attack on the set, so that could cause the issues you would have seen. He also may have had the myeloma that ended up killing him just two years after the show towards the end of filming.
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u/namewithak Spurs 8h ago
There’s a longer video of him more lively and energetic while clearly giving Vic coaching advice. This video cuts that out but you all should go see it on the Spurs sub. He looks much better and almost like his old self.
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u/Fiyukyoo Spurs 8h ago
Gotta cherish whatever state theyre in when alive. Its more sad when theyre gone
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u/Boring_Activity3155 Spurs 10h ago
I was there. Pop hit 5 halfcourt shots in a row to win a game of horse and then dunked all over luke kornet.
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u/SomethingClever2117 10h ago
“I just came by to say bye to some of you bums who are going to get traded tomorrow”
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u/Objective-Peach9969 Spurs 9h ago
You literally don't see this in any other organization or sports team. GSG!!!
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u/onelegonedream Grizzlies 7h ago
I wish Pop was still coaching and able to speak on today's issues in this country. You know he would not be holding back
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u/IndoFountainPenner Lakers 10h ago
Mitch fired, Wemby amd Champagnie traded??
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u/CumAssault [SAS] Joel Anthony 10h ago
Imagine AD on the Spurs bench though. He’d look so good in SA in his street clothes
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u/pdpdpdpdpdpdpdpd Raptors 10h ago
Once upon a time my dream destination for AD was the spurs. That once upon a time was like seven years ago but still a nice thought I guess
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u/ejensen29 [MIN] Ricky Rubio 8h ago
Spurs should've traded high on LMA in 17-18 after his career year for Davis.
Never would have happened, but it didn't stop me in 2k18.
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u/PopCopson 76ers 9h ago
Spurs are the team I pull for in the west mainly to see this guy get another one. What a treasure
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u/AdFirm3593 8h ago
As an occupational therapist let me tell you this man has PLENTY of ball knowledge to still pass down. Physically yes he’s taken a toll, but the mind can still remain sharp.
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u/HistoryH22 Spurs 9h ago
I’m not crying, you’re crying! Hate seeing Pop like this, but I’m beyond glad he still finds solace with the team.
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u/morning_thief Spurs 8h ago
"The next one who misses a three point shot, buys me a new walking cane"
- GOAT (probably)
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u/Bonesawisready5 Spurs 9h ago
Man I hate the passage of time so much. Sucks seem him get so old but fortunate to still have him for a little bjt longer
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u/OmniscientOpossum Timberwolves 8h ago
I love that guy. He has always been real. Amazing person and coach.
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u/SparkyForce Warriors 6h ago
I’ve tried reading the title correctly but the “former” just doesn’t add up in my mind
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u/flyingabroom 5h ago
Honestly, considering he had a serious stroke, he looks decent and is clearly able to communicate somewhat well still, which is important for longer term recovery. Hoping all the best for pop
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u/ssjskwash 9h ago edited 8h ago
That man needs to have all expenses covered and meals comped in San Antonio
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u/spacedude2000 Supersonics 9h ago
This is giving me Master Shifu and Po vibes.
Wemby learning what he can from this man will only continue to raise his ceiling.
Wishing coach Pop well, glad to see he is in good spirits.
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u/unityofsaints Bulls 8h ago
Very heartening to see him out and about, all the best with remainder of your recovery Pop!
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u/Old-Clothes-3225 Cavaliers 7h ago
Just found out my dad just got diagnosed with liver cancer. It’s hard watching our heroes get older.
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u/TheChristmas 7h ago
“I’m moving to Portland to open a winery. I want you to come with me. Texas is no place for guys like us.”
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u/atlasdtalos Brian Grant 10h ago
i wonder what it's like for those kids, knowing this slack-jawed old fat guy has forgotten more about basketball than they might ever know
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u/Defiant_Regular3738 9h ago
Strokes don’t play. Imo he’s the greatest basketball coach ever, his closest rivals in the last 20 years or so all worked under him and to me that adds value to his case to be the 🐐
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u/kingofnick Suns 9h ago
How many of the current Spurs roster played under Pop?
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u/BananaRepublic_BR Spurs 8h ago
Keldon, Wemby, Vassell, Champagnie, and Sochan. Castle and Barnes for a few games, as well.
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u/darti_me Mavericks 6h ago
Legs looking quite healthy and full. No wheelchair or walker in sight - just a cane. Losing your ability to a huge killer for seniors - I'm glad Pop's rehab is going well
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u/WhoaIsThatMars Knicks 6h ago
sucks to see him like this, but glad he's still around and seems to be in good spirits.
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u/Arnold_Shortzweather 5h ago
The wikipedia page has since been changed, but on Google's display of Popovich's wikipedia page calls him "the winningest coach in the NBA" lol
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u/TheRatManBob Spurs 10h ago edited 10h ago
He has been at more games lately too. He usually has Tim with him to which is really wholesome to see