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A known disciplinarian and an excellent basketball mind, Gregg Popovich wasn't always the genius that many have credited with the longtime excellence the San Antonio Spurs have displayed throughout his two decades of service to the team.
According to Hank Egan, who coached him at the Air Force Academy and also coached the Golden State Warriors‘ Mike Brown at the University of San Diego, said “Popovich was very hard to coach, Brown was very easy to coach,” according to Sirius XM NBA Radio.
Egan also assisted both of these gentleman in the NBA, having had roles with the Spurs and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the late 2000's.
While the revelation seems unlikely, there are times when the most unruly end up becoming the most disciplined, which has turned out to be the case for Pop, who used his lessons at the academy and failures at Pomona-Pitzer to craft a model of excellence with the help of a willing organization.
“When he's mad, it's always productive,” Egan said. “The effort and work he did paid off.”
His effort and work have paid off to the tune of five championships in 20 years — showing once again that diamonds start from the rough and are polished into sparkling brilliants — telling the story of a franchise that had failed to reach the highest level until he ultimately changed the culture and the results that came with it.
