After coming up short on the playoffs a year ago and then losing DeMar DeRozan in the offseason, expectations on the outside for the San Antonio Spurs entering this year are a bit low.
The Western Conference is stacked yet again and Gregg Popovich has a young team with a lot of inexperience.
Per Zach Lowe of ESPN, despite all of that, nobody will be surprised if Pop sticks around past this year although there's some uncertainty.
No one is sure if Popovich will coach beyond this season, but several sources who know him cautioned in recent weeks that it would not surprise them if he returned for 2022-23. Popovich is 26 wins from Don Nelson's all-time record, but he is not running out the string just to claim it.
So who could potentially replace the legendary coach for the Spurs when he does call it a career? Lowe notes there are plenty of candidates.
The most common heir apparents mentioned in league and coaching circles today: Will Hardy, the longtime San Antonio assistant now working under Ime Udoka in Boston; Brett Brown; and Manu Ginobili, who rejoined San Antonio last week as an advisor. Becky Hammon will and should be in the mix along with mystery candidates and perhaps other members of the Spurs tree. Ginobili's appetite for coaching is unclear. Bill Self, head coach of Kansas, has faded out of the rumor mill.
Popovich clearly hasn't lost that edge to coach the Spurs and the hope for many is that he sticks around for quite some time to help build the franchise back up.
Follow Us
Subscribe