Tony Parker 'Surprised' Gregg Popovich Still Coaching Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are set to begin their 27th consecutive NBA season with Gregg Popovich as head coach — marking the longest coaching tenure in NBA history with one team.
The Popovich era has been filled with significant success for the Spurs. He has a 2,045-1,344 regular season record (.657) and has been the coach for five successful championship runs. He is set to be 74 in late January but is still coaching despite the team being in a rebuild.
In an interview with Insider, former Spurs star Tony Parker jokingly says he doesn't understand why Popovich is still coaching the Spurs. Popovich is someone that enjoys traveling and could be doing that instead of coaching a rebuilding NBA team.
"I always joke with him: The hell are you doing? You should travel the world. Enjoy it," Parker said. "Especially him: He loves the world, he loves traveling. And because of that, I'm very surprised that he's still doing what he's doing."
Given all of the success that Popovich has achieved, Parker is surprised that he isn't enjoying his retirement instead of coaching.
"I don't know the purpose of it, you know what I mean? To be with all those young guys but I'm like, I guess he's super passionate," Parker said.
Despite the clear reality of the Spurs' situation, Popovich remains passionate about coaching. Some questioned whether he would want to head a rebuild. Spurs GM Brian Wright recently told SiriusXM NBA Radio that doing so will help to establish the organization in a new era.
"It just gives us different avenues to continue to build our team," Wright said. "You have to try to do what's best for your organization at the time but we think in this one what it allowed us to do was open up different pathways to build."
There has been speculation that the 2022-23 season could be Popovich's final as the Spurs' head coach. It remains to be seen what the legendary coach's plans are, but one thing remains clear: His coaching will be important in establishing winning habits in the team's young players.
Losing is not something the organization has grown accustomed to, but ahead of a loaded draft class, it could ultimately pay off significantly. With talents like Victor Wembenyama and Scoot Henderson among others, the Spurs could land the star that Popovich sees the team lacking.
