THIS is how Gregg Popovich wanted it. Even as the legendary coach of the San Antonio Spurs approached his latest milestone—the 1,000-win club of which Popovich became the ninth member with Monday night’s 95-93 win over the Indiana Pacers—the focus was on Tim Duncan.
Just as he always liked it.
When Popovich agreed to chat with USA Today Sports recently, it was only because his favorite big man was the topic du jour. Duncan is days away from making his 15th All-Star appearance, his selection as a reserve considered controversial to some, but certainly not to his gray-haired and grizzled coach known as “Pop.”
He wanted to help people understand what they might be missing, how the basic statistics—14.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks a game—don’t come anywhere close to explaining the incredible impact Duncan has had on the reigning champion’s challenging season. Popovich is always the first to tell you that he owes almost everything to Duncan, the 38-year-old who has been his partner through nearly two decades of historic success. And this season, one in which his team has won 10 of its past 13 games to improve to 33-19 (seventh in the Western Conference), is like any other in that respect.
“I’m not amazed [by Duncan] because I know what he does in the summertime, what he puts in his body with his little routines, whether he’s swimming or boxing or just using his knee brace on his knee to try to keep his extension as much as he can because one leg doesn’t work well,” said Popovich, the five-time champion whose overall record is 1,000-462 and whose winning percentage (0.684) trails only Phil Jackson (0.704) among 1,000-win coaches. “So I know all that, but still, he’s a human. He’s made up of the same stuff you and I are, and here he comes out [in a game] and I’ll think he was just Joe Blow on the court and there it is—13 points, 11 rebounds or something like that.”
In terms of two-way impact, no player at Duncan’s age or older has produced like this. It’s special stuff, the kind of play that Popovich wants the fans to appreciate like he does. Even with Popovich recently predicting that Duncan will play one more season if he keeps producing at this level, and considering his own admission that he wasn’t likely to complete the five-year contract he signed last summer, he’s well aware that their time together is nearing an end.
“I think about [Duncan retiring] every week or so, just because I try to imagine practice without Timmy walking out on the court,” Popovich said. “We have this marriage kind of relationship, where we don’t have to speak, or I’ll stick him one time or another with something [verbally] and he’ll give it right back to me. Nobody else on the team will even know what the hell we’re doing, and they’re like, ‘Those guys are weird. What the hell was that about?’ That sort of thing. But we understand it, and I’m going to miss that. He is a really intelligent—a highly intelligent—young man. And on top of that, he’s a wise-ass, which nobody really knows. He’s got a good sense of humor. I’m going to miss that dearly whenever he stops, or if I stop before him…. This year, it has come up in my mind quite often.”
That reality hangs over them in every arena, during every game, with Popovich always reminding Duncan to take it all in.
“There have been a couple times at games where I’ll say, ‘Hey Timmy, look around. What if this is the last time you’re in [that arena]?’” Popovich said. “Then he goes, ‘I’m there. I’m with you. I’m enjoying it. I’m trying to enjoy it.’
“When you’re in a season, it’s like a roller coaster. You just go and you don’t stop. I’m in a place with him where I’m saying, ‘Now remember, we did this [in the respective arena], or we did this there. Every one of these games, enjoy it. If we win by 20 or we get our ass kicked by 20, who cares? Enjoy that you were here and you were able to compete and play, because you’re going to miss it when you’re done.”
Popovich, like so many others, thought Duncan may have been done after the last season. As his Spurs made their march to the NBA Finals rematch against the Miami Heat, the pain of their 2013 ending so prevalent throughout, their leader quietly wondered whether Duncan might retire when the summer arrived.
“I kept thinking, ‘You know, whether we get it done or not, is this going to be it?’” he said. “And it would pop through my mind maybe once a month or once every three weeks or so. We didn’t dwell on it. He and I didn’t talk about it. The only time we talked about it was during the summer, after the championship.”
True to form, the Spurs’ one-of-a-kind core—Popovich, Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili—met at the team’s practice facility to discuss whether their memorable tour had run its course.
“We said, ‘Are we gonna? Are we gonna do this?’” Popovich recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Well, let’s take some time. You give me a call. I’ll give you a call.’ We went back and forth trying to decide what we felt like, and we came to the conclusion that it would almost be rude not to come back and go another year. You just have to do that. I sort of have a commitment with Manu and Tony and we all met together…. We talked about it, and I told them that I was starting to think about what I might want to do.”
To that end, Popovich can even see a scenario when he’s out of the game before Duncan. It’s unlikely, but the pull of his non-basketball interests gets stronger every year. The 66-year-old man with the Air Force Academy upbringing, a voracious appetite for reading and a well-chronicled affinity for wine has always been the worldly and cultured sort. He’s a family man, too, a father of two who has been married to his wife, Erin, for 39 years.
“There are a lot of things that I enjoy in the world, and basketball is probably not the No. 1 thing,” Popovich revealed. “It’s my job, but I don’t bleed it like a lot of people. I don’t think I’m a lifer. [ESPN analyst and former coach] Hubie Brown is a lifer. He’s a real basketball guy. For me, it’s my job. I try to do it well. I love basketball. I’m from Indiana, but I’m just not a lifer.
“There’s a nuance there, but…I can win a game and be fine, [and] I can lose a game and be fine. And I move on. I don’t get excited for the win, or deflated because of the loss. I just move on to the next day.”
While trying to enjoy every last one.
Sam Amick | USA Today
Image credits: AP