The legendary coach Gregg Popovich bows out – Liberation

He was the thinking head at the origin of the advent of San Antonio Spurs. The one who breathed the win in a franchise accustomed to defeats. The one without whom the spurs dynasty version Tony ParkerTim Duncan, Manu Ginobili would probably not have marked the NBA as much at the turn of the 2000s, and until 2014, the date of their ultimate title.

Gregg Popovich, the coach who was thought eternal on the bench of the Texan franchise, will leave his post after 29 seasons, the Spurs announced on Friday, and it is a whole part of the history of the NBA which faints suddenly.

« Although my love and my passion for the game remain intact, I decided to leave my duties as main coach »said « Coach Pop », 76, quoted in a press release from the franchise. « I will be forever grateful to the players, the staff and the fans who allowed me to remain their chief coach to the Spurs and I am happy to have the opportunity to continue to help our organization, our community and our city which are so important to me. »

Friday’s announcement was feared. She intervenes after a long period of vagueness, Popovich having been put at rest for an stroke in November, leaving the reins of the team to his former assistant Mitch Johnson, confirmed in the process at the head of the team. Especially since he had known another medical alert in April.

The imprint left by Popovich in the large league is colossal. The native of Indiana has marked the history of the NBA by having remained at the head of the Texan team since 1996, record longevity. The following year, he began to shape the imperial Tim Duncan. French followers then saw him win Tony Parker and watch at the beginnings of the diamond Victor Wembanyama. « Coach, thank you for your wisdom, for your leadership, for the environment you have created … more importantly, because you are an incredible person that we can draw inspiration from. It was an honor to be one of these 29 seasons ”also praised « Weby » on his networks.

Before his arrival on the Spurs bench, the Texan franchise was just a second zone team, without relief, in the virgin track record. With « Pop Coach », San Antonio now has five titles (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), the last four with Tony Parker. He won 1,422 games at the head of the Spurs, a record. « Pop coach has deeply marked the Spurs family and basketball »said in tribute the president of the club, Peter J. Holt. « Titles and distinctions are not enough to translate the influence he may have had on so many people. »

The septuagenarian leaves a lasting inheritance in the approach of the game, having formed dozens of coaches and hundreds of players. It was he who launched the pioneer Becky Hammon, the first woman to coach an NBA team. At the start of the current season, four of the NBA coaches had already worked under the orders of Popovich.

All were able to confront, beyond injunctions and precepts, with a certain vision of basketball, human, and world. Sometimes funny and brilliant, often grumpy and sarcastic, Popovich sometimes sketched a little smile at the end of the exercise he hated the most: responding to journalists. Nothing amused him as long as seeing their livid mines after having abused them. He paid for example the extravagant costumes of his « Favorite victim »the late Craig Sager. The day when the journalist came up again emaciated after treatment against cancer, « pop » hugged him and showed his real, warm, human, before recovering: « Now ask your two stupid questions ».

« Having a sense of humor is enormous for me because I think people who have no self -mockery, who do not appreciate funny moments, will not be able to give everything for a group »explained in 2015 the one who shaped Tony Parker, drafted at 19, in his own style, pushing him very early after himself. “During one of his first training sessions, I had brought a few guys to get into it. I wanted to see what he had in his stomach. He impressed me. So, I said to him, ball in hand:  » It is yours, find solutions, I will love you and yell at it at the same time  » ‘he summed up. This did not prevent French people from considering him subsequently as a second father.

His legendary gauge, appeared beyond basketball, Popovich does not chew his words when it comes to evoking Donald Trump, « liar »,, « racist »,, « pathetic ».

Confronted with the challenges of reconstruction after the pensions of its stars, in the mid -year of the 2010 years, Popovich struggled to keep a competitive team. Spurs have just missed the play-offs for the sixth consecutive season. But they advanced in their reconstruction around the Jewel Victor Wembanyama and by recruiting in February the All-Star leader of’Aaron Fox. The Texans also saw their background Stephon Castle be elected best rookie (beginner) of the year at the start of the week.

What augur a new golden era? Popovich will have laid the foundations. The rise of San Antonio programmed for the next seasons will be under the control of Mitch Johnson, 38, who had joined the Spurs in 2016. He was the deputy of Popovich for six seasons. For Popovich, the story does not stop there, however: it will become president of the Basketball operations of the Spurs. The NBA is far from being done with him, and vice versa.