Will the San Antonio Spurs fall into irrelevance without Gregg Popovich?
As San Antonio Spurs long time head coach Gregg Popovich eyes his exit from the coaching bench, you can’t help but wonder what will lie ahead for the organization once arguably the greatest coach of all time decides to call it a career – and many believe that will happen after this season.
For what feels like the past three decades, the Spurs, in large part due to Popovich‘s impact, have been one of the most consistent and stable franchises in NBA history.
They’ve been known as smart, successful, and the blueprint for how you want to build an organizational structure, the results can’t be argued with. However, as should be the case, there will be some big questions that this franchise has to answer as soon as Pop exits stage right.
And nearly most of the questions revolve around whether the Spurs will continue to be that model of a franchise once Pop steps away. And that’s a fair question to ask. Pop has been one of the central figures in the Spurs’ organization over the past few decades.
Pop not being in the picture anymore will certainly impact the Spurs. The question is, how much will it impact the organization?
It’s certainly something that should have fans concerned. It would be one thing if we knew that Pop was going to stick around one way or another – perhaps in a lesser role within the front office. But that’s no guarantee.
There’s hope that the organizational structure and R.C. Buford could keep the Spurs as one of the best-run franchises in the league, but let’s also not downplay the role that Pop has had as the team’s head coach.
Even though over the past few years he’s been quite irrelevant due to the lack of talent he has to work with on the Spurs’ roster, he’s still been regarded as one of the best coaches in the league. And because of his pure presence on the Spurs’ staff, that respect has echoed to the rest of the organization.
There’s no guarantee that will continue to be the case once Pop retires from the Spurs. And if it isn’t the case, there’s a very real chance the Spurs can spiral into a bit of irrelevance.