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After nearly 30 years as the San Antonio Spurs' head coach, Gregg Popovich is stepping down, which has prompted numerous fans, media members, and players to respond, including current Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan.
Sochan, who has played for Popovich and the Spurs since being drafted in 2022, showed his appreciation for his former coach with a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Love you Coach Pop! ❤️”
The Spurs selected Sochan with the ninth pick in the first round of the 2022 draft, and he instantly became a subject of attention for Popovich, who, in Sochan's second season, anointed the 6-foot-8 player San Antonio's starting point guard. Sochan struggled adjusting to the role, and he and Popovich received criticism for the “experiment,” but Popovich stuck with it for months, and Sochan ultimately averaged 3.4 assists per game for the season as a result.
Sochan also benefited from Popovich at the free-throw line. In December 2022, after finding success with Spurs assistant Brett Brown during one-handed shooting drills, Sochan was encouraged by Popovich to shoot free throws with just one hand. Through the first 24 games of his career, Sochan shot 42.9% from the free-throw line. From that point on, Sochan made more than 78% of his free-throw attempts as a rookie, bringing his season average to 69.8%. While his numbers dipped below 70% this past season, Sochan shot 77.1% from the line during the 2023-24 season.
While only 21 years old, Sochan has been a key part of the Spurs' rebuild over the past few years. He was named to the All-Rookie Second Team in 2023 and has started nearly 150 games in his career.
As for Popovich, 76, his transition away from coaching and becoming the team's president ends a more than 50-year coaching career. Popovich began coaching at Air Force, his alma mater, in 1973 as an assistant. In 1979, he landed his first head coaching job at Pomona-Pitzer, a Division III school in California, and has since served as an assistant for the Kansas Jayhawks, Golden State Warriors, and Spurs.
Popovich, who worked as a Spurs assistant coach for four seasons from 1988 to 1992, returned to San Antonio as the team's general manager and vice president in 1994. He named himself the team's head coach 18 games into the 1996-97 season and served in that role until today, despite health issues forcing him to take a leave of absence starting in November 2024.
In his 29 seasons as the San Antonio head coach, Popovich won a league-record 1,422 games, as well as five NBA championships, which is tied for the third-most all-time.
