For years, there was much speculation about the upcoming retirement of Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich's retirement is only a matter of ‘when', not ‘if', as the longtime San Antonio Spurs coach is approaching his mid-70s. But just this past offseason, Popovich, in the face of all those rumors, inked a five-year extension with the Spurs, staying with the team he's been at the helm of since 1996 as they usher in a new era led by Victor Wembanyama.

While having the opportunity to coach Wembanyama is good enough reason to make any coach stay, it seems like Popovich has a far simpler reason for sticking around. After all, the extension he signed with the Spurs will pay him around $80 million during that span.

“Money. Money, money, money,” Popovich answered when asked what his main reason is for continuing his illustrious coaching career, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Of course, this is just Pop being Pop. Gregg Popovich has always had a deadpan comedic streak, and this is just another instance where we can see the Spurs coaching legend's hysterical sense of humor.

Behind every good joke, however, is some semblance of truth, and it's hard to see how the $80 million the Spurs put on the table didn't sway Popovich's decision towards staying. But in the end, Popovich revealed the deeper rationale in his quest for greater coaching glory. The Spurs head coach said that there's not quite a thrill that matches competing in the NBA, and that his goal now, in his 28th year of coaching and beyond, is to help his players become the best version of themselves — on and off the court.

That is a noble goal, and one that should remind everyone that the coaching job goes beyond succeeding on the court. Even during the 2022-23 season, a campaign in which the Spurs won just 22 games — the third-worst total in franchise history — Gregg Popovich seemed happy guiding his team's youngsters in their path to improvement. And for Victor Wembanyama's sake, he could not have asked for a better mentor as he tries to live up to the immense NBA Draft hype.