Gregg Popovich
I don’t know if it’s the magic of the mullet or what, but Gregg Popovich is turning in one of his best coaching jobs – which is saying a lot. I’ve never been good at predicting coach of the year awards, but having that conversation without bringing up Popovich would be a mistake.
Let’s just do the math. The Spurs were projected to finish outside of the playoff picture, they don’t have an All-Star, they have only one player averaging 20 points per game (DeRozan – and he’s cutting it close at exactly 20.0 PPG), one of their most valuable players, Derrick White, has only played 8 games, their second-highest-paid player, LaMarcus Aldridge, has missed time with a hip injury, and they’ve had to be flexible recently with their roster due to NBA health and safety protocols. All of that and the Spurs are 18-14 and sitting as the 7th seed in the Western Conference.
And for extra credit, Popovich has had to marry two groups of players as mentioned above, the old guys and the young guys, which is no easy task. Older players in the NBA have different motivations than younger players trying to make their way into the league. Both groups have good reasons for having different motivating factors, but for Popovich to find a way to build a culture that allows both groups to get what they want has been very impressive.
The odds of the Spurs winning a playoff series are low and Popovich is already one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, but it’s hard to think of many seasons where he’s done a better job than this one given the circumstances.