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San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan and head coach Gregg Popovich have had one of the more humorous player-coach relationships in NBA history. So with Duncan on the doorstep of NBA immortality, why should things be any different?
Duncan was nominated as a finalist for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, but Popovich is only keen on voting for him if he steps his game up in his assistant role with the Spurs:
Gregg Popovich, on Tim Duncan's Hall of Fame candidacy: “I think a lot will have to do with how he does as an assistant the next few months. If the record turns around, I’d vote for him for sure.”
— Jeff McDonald (@JMcDonald_SAEN) December 20, 2019
Popovich hired Duncan to join his staff this past July.
“Coach Pop” may seem like a snarky or overly sarcastic old man sometimes, but he does have genuine love for Duncan, as he outwardly expressed prior to Timmy's jersey retirement in 2016 (via former ESPN and current New York Times NBA writer Marc Stein):
As the San Antonio Spurs prepare to retire Tim Duncan's No. 21 jersey Sunday night, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has described Duncan as “like my son.”
“I love him dearly,” Popovich told ESPN's SportsCenter in an interview earlier this week.
The finalists for the Class of 2020 will be announced during All-Star weekend in Chicago.
Duncan is all but a shoe-in to get elected in 2020. He joins Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh as the likely headliners for the Class of 2020, with other players like Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, Mark Eaton and Buck Williams earning their first nominations.
Former NBA stars Chauncey Billups, Mark Jackson, Tim Hardaway, Ben Wallace, Chris Webber, Richard Hamilton and Marcus Camby joined the ranks of those that have been nominated multiple times.
