San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is soon become the fourth 70-year-old coach in the history of the league, but remains undecided about coaching the Spurs beyond this season, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Popovich, who will turn 70 on Jan. 28, joining Bill Bertka, Hubie Brown and Larry Brown as the only coaches to work in the league at that age. He is in the last season of a five-year contract extension he signed following San Antonio's most recent championship in 2014.
“I don’t know the answer,” Popovich said when asked about his plans of coaching next season following a 105-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Popovich said he has discussed the different possibilities for his future with the team with president and longtime front office partner R.C. Buford.
“He’ll coach as long as he wants to coach,” said Buford.
Popovich has already committed to spending the next two summers coaching the Men’s National Basketball Team for USA Basketball, which will take place at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The Spurs coach already got wheels in motion for his national team duties with the call-up of 35 players to a Las Vegas training camp this summer, giving him an idea of who his cogs will be once competition rolls on.
Popovich will have some tough shoes to fill, replacing Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski as the head coach after taking the job in October 2015, prior to Team USA's gold-medal run at the Rio Olympics in 2016 under Krzyzewski, who coached the team through three Olympic stints.
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