By Baxter Holmes | ESPN, 2025-05-06 20:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
早在2014年 亚当·肖华(Adam Silver)升任NBA总裁之前，他曾担任NBA娱乐公司总裁八年，负责联盟的营销和制作部门，负责监督电影、纪录片、精彩片段等等。
他的任期跨越了20世纪90年代末到21世纪00年代中期这八年，这段时间正好是迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)率领的芝加哥公牛王朝的结束，以及沙奎尔·奥尼尔(Shaquille O’Neal)和科比·布莱恩特(Kobe Bryant)在洛杉矶湖人队时代的崛起和陨落。
仅凭这两条故事线，肖华的部门就拥有了大量引人入胜的素材来帮助推广这项运动：全球巨星、主要市场、超乎寻常的戏剧性。但与此同时，一支不具备这些特征的球队却成为了联盟中不可忽视的力量：由一位名叫格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)的口齿伶俐的前空军学员执教的小市场球队圣安东尼奥马刺队。
肖华告诉ESPN，在20世纪90年代末的一天，他办公室的电话响了，电话那头是1996年成为马刺队主教练的波波维奇。
肖华说，ABC刚刚播出了一段马刺队季后赛的宣传片，其中突出了一名球员，波波维奇打电话来表达他的不满。
“他对我大喊大叫！”肖华说。“他的意思是，你从来没有经营过一支球队，根本不知道即使是对你来说似乎很小的问题，也可能会破坏我球队的化学反应。”
肖华绝不是第一个，也绝不是最后一个感受到波波维奇怒火的人，他的怒火曾倾泻在马刺队的球员和工作人员、NBA裁判、联盟官员、记者以及任何其他进入他臭名昭著的视线范围内的人身上。但多年以后，肖华反思了波波维奇想要表达的观点。
“这表明了波波一直以来的信念，即没有哪个球员比球队更重要，以及赢得总冠军所需的专注和对细节的关注，”肖华说。“而且以典型的波波风格，他从不为他的球队所取得的成就，或他在培养一代又一代球员和教练中所扮演的角色而寻求赞扬。他以诚实和谦逊的态度领导球队，这是他作为联盟主教练近30年来取得非凡成功的很大一部分原因——尽管在必要的时候，他当然可以非常直接。”
波波维奇作为马刺队主教练的29年生涯于上周五正式结束，这位76岁的名人堂成员、五次NBA总冠军得主、联盟历史上胜场最多的教练宣布，他将专注于担任球队篮球运营总裁的角色。此前，他在11月中旬中风，之后米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)取代了他，先是临时担任，然后在上周五接任永久职位。
在他卸任之际，波波维奇对这项运动的影响仍然不可磨灭。他带领一支又一支有争冠实力的球队，而其他球队则起起落落，他带领马刺队史无前例地连续22次进入季后赛。他帮助建立了一个国际球探体系，远远早于这种做法变得司空见惯。他赢得了比美国历史上任何运动的任何教练都多的比赛，并获得了更多的荣誉和赞扬。他建立并领导了一种令人敬佩的文化，这种文化在小市场圣安东尼奥持续了几十年。篮球界以及其他行业的数十支球队和高管都试图效仿它。
他开始了战略性地让球员轮休以延长职业生涯的潮流——早于“负荷管理”成为全联盟趋势的几年。他建立了一棵树——或者更准确地说，是一片森林——他的教练和管理层门徒已经遍布NBA的各个角落。
虽然他不愿意承认这一点，但他愿意公开谈论种族、多元文化以及他对比赛之外的热情，这激励了一代人也这样做。
消息传来后不久，敬意和回忆如潮水般涌来，每一个都为这位NBA最不可思议和最持久的人物之一的整体形象增添了更多的质感和色彩。
在对波波维奇一生中的教练、球员、高管和联盟官员的采访中，许多人都在努力充分把握这位标志性教练对联盟的意义——他们说，他的影响如此深远，以至于似乎超出了人们当时的视野。
但许多人热衷于追溯他的职业生涯轨迹，以及它与他们自己的职业生涯的交织方式，以及在他看来，他留下了什么。
“他对我们比赛的影响比任何人都大，”前杜克大学和美国国家队教练迈克·沙舍夫斯基(Mike Krzyzewski)告诉ESPN。
金州勇士队主教练史蒂夫·科尔(Steve Kerr)说，他曾在圣安东尼奥为波波维奇效力过三个赛季：“我认为每一个遇到他的人都会在余生谈论他。”
1966年秋天， 在科罗拉多斯普林斯空军学院的一个体育馆里，汉克·伊根(Hank Egan)担任鲍勃·斯皮尔(Bob Spear)的助理教练，当时几个月前刚从印第安纳州梅里尔维尔高中毕业的波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)和一群其他新学员走了进来。
“我们试图找出谁能做什么，”伊根告诉ESPN。“他很有活力。”
6英尺3英寸的波波维奇是一位来自铁锈地带的儿子，他的父亲是塞尔维亚人，母亲是克罗地亚人。他在高中二年级时被高中篮球队开除，但在高年级时，他带领梅里尔维尔海盗队得分（场均15分），并被评为印第安纳州东北部卡卢梅特联盟的全明星。
他全面发展——是演讲和辩论队、学生会和国家荣誉协会的成员。他获得了篮球、棒球和越野赛的运动字母。在学院里，伊根立即看到了波波维奇是多么的聪明、有竞争力和有动力。
波波维奇在他最后两个赛季为校队效力，并在高年级时担任球队队长。在波波维奇在那里的时候，他们会谈论未来，寻找一种让波波维奇留在比赛中的方法，即使不能成为一名球员。
“他一开始就想找工作，”伊根说。“他没有问我他是否能做到；他告诉我他要做什么。”
伊根让波波维奇坐下。“这并不光鲜，”他告诉他。“它是有回报的，但并不光鲜。”
伊根继续说道。这项工作既是关于人，也是关于篮球。他一次要离开亲人几个星期。这是一个艰难的行业——残酷、无情。伊根警告他。不会有很多钱。波波维奇告诉他，他不在乎。“他不是为了钱而来的，”伊根说。“他是为了学习这个行业而来的。”
伊根之前也讲过这个道理。它吓退了很多人。但波波维奇并没有动摇：他想加入。
但在他的教练生涯真正开始之前，波波维奇仍然渴望打球。
1970年，他随美国武装部队全明星篮球队在东欧各地巡回演出。1972年夏天，美国奥运选拔赛在空军学院举行，正如ESPN在2016年报道的那样，当时在美国奥运选拔委员会任职的杰克·赫伦(Jack Herron Jr.)极力确保波波维奇收到邀请。名人堂教练拉里·布朗(Larry Brown)刚刚退役，并接任了ABA卡罗来纳美洲狮队的主教练，他参加了训练，并第一次看到了波波维奇，他是争夺12个名额的56名球员之一。“他真的、真的很有运动能力，”布朗说。“真的、真的很有竞争力。你现在看到他了吗？还是一样。”
波波维奇在一支由印第安纳州教练鲍勃·奈特(Bob Knight)执教的选拔赛球队中效力，但没有进入最终名单。（“我为此烦恼了近50年了，”赫伦在2016年告诉ESPN。“格雷格应该在那支球队里。”）
两年后，布朗成为丹佛掘金队的主教练，并在1975年，波波维奇也参加了他们的试训。
“我裁掉了他，”布朗笑着说。
当时，波波维奇也在学院担任伊根的助理，他的教练生涯正处于起步阶段。
但布朗始终记得波波维奇，当他在1986年成为堪萨斯大学的主教练时，他打电话给当时在洛杉矶郊外的三级联盟项目波莫纳-皮策学院担任主教练的波波维奇。布朗告诉他，他希望波波维奇休一个学术假，并以志愿助理教练的身份加入著名的堪萨斯捷鹰队。
波波维奇同意了。在布朗的带领下，这个团队包括波波维奇未来在圣安东尼奥的前厅合作伙伴R.C.布福德(R.C. Buford)、未来的名人堂教练比尔·塞尔夫(Bill Self)和未来的NBA教练阿尔文·金特里(Alvin Gentry)。
“波波是一位杰出的贡献者，”布朗说。“我毫不怀疑他会成为一名伟大的教练。他关心孩子们。他想学习。他不怕分享他认为正确的事情。我们都从他身边受益。”
在堪萨斯大学待了一个赛季后，波波维奇回到了波莫纳-皮策学院。一年后，在1988年6月，布朗再次打来电话。布朗被聘为马刺队的主教练，他想知道波波维奇是否愿意加入他的教练组，担任助理教练。
“如果你看看波波在波莫纳-皮策学院的记录，那并不出色，”布朗说。（球队在他执教的第一个赛季的战绩是2胜22负，但在1985-86赛季，他带领鼠尾草鸡队获得了68年来的第一个联盟冠军。）“但事实上，你必须执教三级联盟的孩子和学院里的球员，从一开始你就处于劣势。你必须把所有的时间都花在培养球员上。我认为这是他最伟大的天赋之一。他让他周围的人，他所执教的人变得更好。”
39岁的波波维奇在学院执教了六年，在波莫纳执教了九年，他接受了布朗的邀请。
“很明显，这是从NCAA三级联盟到职业联赛的巨大飞跃，”波波维奇在1988年告诉《洛杉矶时报》。“可能有一万人想要这份工作，还有50个[布朗]认识的人，他可以问他们。但他问了我。所以得到这份工作真是太荣幸了。
“这是一个很大的飞跃，我很高兴，”波波维奇说。“但与此同时，我吓坏了。”
布朗观察到，波波维奇对球员的要求很严格，但他知道如何保持平衡。
“他最大的优势是他明白执教和批评的区别，”布朗说。“对于他来说，他可以批评你，但你知道他关心你。这是我一直坚信的事情。任何职业中最伟大的领导者都关心他们所领导的人，而他们所领导的人也知道这种关心是真诚的。我认为这很难。”
布朗补充道：“当球员们知道你关心他们，并且是真心关心的，我不在乎是谁，他们几乎会为你做任何事。”
波波维奇带着他的妻子和两个孩子从加利福尼亚搬到了圣安东尼奥——并开始了他在马刺队的任期，除了1992年至1994年在勇士队担任助理教练的一段短暂的时间外，他的任期将持续近三十五年。
1999年1月， 在同意与马刺队达成先签后换的协议后，科尔发现自己身处圣安东尼奥波波维奇的办公室里。在乔丹退役后，公牛队正在解散他们的王朝，科尔已经随队赢得了三个总冠军。与此同时，波波维奇还没有赢得任何冠军。“他当时还不是‘波波’，”科尔告诉ESPN。“他当时是格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)。”
“我立刻喜欢上了他。我们现在所了解的关于他的一切在当时都是真实的，”科尔说。“他有一种独特的能力，可以与任何背景、任何球员、任何在他身边的人建立联系，他可以与他们产生共鸣。”
这是一个因NBA停摆而缩短的赛季，直到2月5日才开始。在蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)和大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)的带领下，马刺队的开局很慢，战绩为6胜8负。
“据一些报道，[波波维奇]当时坐在火山口上，”科尔说。“我记得他如何很好地在球队面前处理这件事，只是不太关注这些，而是让我们专注于如何变得更好。他非常火爆，比十年后更火爆，我想说，因为那是一个不同的时代。那是一个不同的时代，而且从来都不是针对个人的，但非常有竞争力，非常火爆，非常爱表现，而且不怕批评蒂姆·邓肯(Tim Duncan)、大卫·罗宾逊(David Robinson)和我们其他人。但他有一种独特的方式来做到这一点，让你之后仍然爱他。”
马刺队在那一年赢得了他们的第一个总冠军，并在整个过程中，他开始公开表现出他的推卸责任的习惯，指出能够选中罗宾逊，后来又选中邓肯是多么的幸运。
“我知道菲尔[杰克逊(Phil Jackson)]很出色，我知道波波也很出色，而且你必须有天赋，”科尔说。“但我喜欢波波的谦逊。这始终是他个性和价值观的重要组成部分。他的“锤击岩石”的座右铭实际上是关于谦虚的。当你想到它时，你可以连续击打那个东西99次，但第一百次[才能将它劈开]。这是“稳扎稳打才能胜利”。波波的一切都是基于价值观的。他知道自己是谁。他知道他想让他的球队成为什么样的人。而且一切都很合适。一切都完全合理。”
这些价值观有很多，但科尔特别指出了两个。
“他愿意就社会问题发表意见，”科尔说。“特别是在现在。”
这是第一点。
科尔说，几十年来，运动员和教练一直在就这些问题发表意见，但通常他们都是黑人，无论是比尔·拉塞尔(Bill Russell)、吉姆·布朗(Jim Brown)、穆罕默德·阿里(Muhammad Ali)还是其他人。科尔说，一位年长的白人教练这样做是不同的。在这方面，在波波维奇之前还有其他人——北卡罗来纳大学的迪恩·史密斯(Dean Smith)和加州大学洛杉矶分校的约翰·伍登(John Wooden)。但名单并不长。
“他是一位非常独特的美国爱国者。”科尔说，“许多在政治光谱另一端的人会对这一点提出异议，但我认为你无法反驳它。他曾在空军服役，他会告诉你，这是他一生中最重要的经历，无论是在将他培养成一个人方面，还是在他的世界观、人生观、对人、道德和其他一切方面。然后，他利用这段经历，不仅成为了一名教练，还抱怨着他所服务的国家的政治。”
科尔说，第二点是波波维奇对运动科学和健康的兴趣和开放态度。科尔说，他是第一个有策略地让球员轮休的人。
这是一项昂贵的策略。2012年，由于马刺队在全国电视转播的比赛中将首发球员送回家，联盟对马刺队处以25万美元的罚款，但波波维奇并没有退缩。
“联盟必须明白，我们所做的事情的科学性比过去复杂得多，我们绝对延长了人们的职业生涯，”他在2017年告诉《圣安东尼奥快报》。“所以，这是一个权衡：你是想在这场比赛中看到这个人，还是想在他职业生涯的剩余三年里看到他们？你想看到他通过季后赛，因为他没有受伤吗？”
多年后，“负荷管理”诞生了，这个术语和这种做法，尽管有规则的变化和来自联盟本身的抵制。科尔说，这场运动都指向了波波维奇。
“NBA的轮休——都是他做的。”
在2004年奥运会 美国队获得铜牌后，太阳队资深高管杰里·科朗吉洛(Jerry Colangelo)知道变革是必要的。美国队的表现令人感到国家尴尬，远远偏离了之前每四年都获得金牌的球队所设定的标准。而这场失利对波波维奇来说尤其刺痛，他作为助理教练之一亲眼目睹了这一切。
因此，在2005年6月，在成为美国队新任主管两个月后，科朗吉洛在芝加哥的意大利裔美国人体育名人堂聚集了这项运动的杰出人物。任务是寻找一位新的主教练，他能够恢复美国队作为全球篮球霸主的地位。
在一间会议室里，科朗吉洛看着所有从20世纪60年代开始参与美国队的教练。他看着在过去奥运队中效力过的球员。“迈克尔·乔丹(Michael Jordan)们、杰里·韦斯特(Jerry West)们，”他告诉ESPN。
科朗吉洛展示了一块写着大学教练和职业教练的板子。在大学名单的首位是杜克大学的迈克·沙舍夫斯基(Mike Krzyzewski)。在NBA教练名单的首位是波波维奇，他曾是布朗手下2004年教练组的一员。房间里的人达成共识：这两个人是最好的候选人。
科朗吉洛首先给波波维奇打了电话，以评估他的兴趣。
“在我看来，他没有表现出太大的热情，”科朗吉洛说。“首先，那是他的性格，我不太了解，其次，他仍然为前一年的经历感到痛苦。
“然后，当我给K教练打电话时，他几乎要从电话里跳出来了。他充满了兴奋和热情。所以那时我做出了决定。我会和K教练见面。我们在拉斯维加斯的一家餐厅共进晚餐，到晚上结束时，我基本上已经下定决心是他了。但我认为无论如何我都不会出错。”
科朗吉洛公开解释了他的决定，提到了与波波维奇那次毫无激情的电话。
“这真的让他很不高兴，”科朗吉洛说。“他给我寄了一封信。我没有批评他。根本不是那样的。但看到这样的事情，那样的提及，让他很伤心。虽然我们在一起多年，但我们没有任何关系。”
沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)在2008年和2012年带领美国队获得了金牌，他的教练组包括一些来自大学和职业联赛的人，但不包括波波维奇。
然后在2015年，随着沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)将在明年夏天里约奥运会后退役成为美国队教练，科朗吉洛想要一个继任者。他给波波维奇打了电话。两人在北加州卡梅尔谷的伯纳杜斯旅馆见面，靠近科朗吉洛在那里的家。
“我们只需要一起吃午饭，花几个小时在一起，我们就把一切都解决了，”科朗吉洛说。“他确实想多考虑一下。”
波波维奇之后给他打了电话。
“如果你需要我，”他告诉科朗吉洛，“我就加入。”
这是波波维奇在过去50年里一直试图实现的荣誉——将他对比赛的热爱与他对国家的热爱结合起来。而这一次，他将领导它。
第二年夏天在拉斯维加斯，波波维奇和沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)在美国队工作人员在永利酒店的晚餐中第一次打破了面包。
当他们共用一张桌子时，他们在体育界的发展道路惊人地相似。
两人都来自中西部。两人都曾就读于军校——波波维奇在空军学院，沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)在陆军学院。两人都曾在鲍勃·奈特(Bob Knight)手下打球——沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)在陆军学院，波波维奇在1972年奥运选拔赛。两人都在几十年里执教过相同的球队，并始终保持着争冠实力。两人都对食物和葡萄酒有着极大的热情。
然而，尽管存在着相似之处，以及他们之间遥远的相互尊重，但波波维奇和沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)从未在一起相处过太多时间。
“我认识他，”沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)告诉ESPN，“但我们并不亲近。”
然后，他们坐在拉斯维加斯，开始交谈。
“就像他们认识了一辈子一样，”科朗吉洛说。
“我想我们都在等待成为亲密的朋友，”沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)说。
多年来，沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)一直是波波维奇的忠实仰慕者，尽管是从远处。
“我一生都在研究领导力，”沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)说。“我在[杜克大学]任教，并在全国各地就领导力，团队合作进行演讲，在认识他之前，我钦佩他的领导力。”
他看到波波维奇如何与他的球员建立深厚的关系，他如何与罗宾逊和邓肯合作，并建立一个他们一起比赛并相互补充的体系，年长的罗宾逊指导年轻的邓肯，而不是两人相互竞争。他看到多年来，球员们如何接管波波维奇试图建立的文化的所有权——“马刺的方式”如何成为老将向新球员确认的理想。他看到波波维奇的球队如何分享球权，他如何管理阵容。
这些理想中的许多都与沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)在杜克大学的理想相呼应。
“他对我们比赛的影响比任何人都大，”沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)说。“他可能是最独特的教练——职业、业余。他和任何人都一样出色，但我认为你不能像他一样。他做了很多事情，很难相信一个人能做到所有这些事情。”
当波波维奇在拉斯维加斯参加美国队训练营时，两人在那里见了面。沙舍夫斯基(Krzyzewski)知道作为美国队主教练的压力。
“除非你坐在那个位置上，否则你不知道那种感觉，”他说。“每个人都在告诉你这肯定会成功，等等，但它不是肯定会成功。”
他相信波波维奇可以应付它。他是对的。
在比赛中最负盛名的全球舞台上，波波维奇在2021年东京奥运会上带领美国队获得了金牌。在金牌赛之后，一场以87-82战胜法国队的比赛，报复了小组赛阶段的失利，科朗吉洛和波波维奇找到了彼此。波波维奇知道这一刻意味着什么——对他，对他的国家，对美国队。
“波波感到非常轻松，”科朗吉洛说。“我认为，他在冠军赛中感受到了难以置信的压力。当比赛结束后，我和他拥抱了，这是一个非常激动人心的时刻。”
布朗喜欢 讨论他名人堂教练生涯的核心原则之一，在他于2023年以82岁高龄辞去孟菲斯大学顾问职务之前，他的教练生涯持续了近六十年：为其他教练提供机会。
“你应该回报社会，”布朗说。“这是关键。”
这是一位教练除了胜负和其他荣誉之外可以留下的东西。当布朗回顾自己的职业生涯时，这也许是他最欣赏的成就——波波维奇是其中几个受益者之一。
当布朗评估波波维奇的职业生涯时，他欣赏他的前助理是如何实现并优先考虑同样的成就的，也许在NBA历史上是无与伦比的。
在整个联盟的阵容和组织中，都可以找到马刺队的门徒，无论是在教练组、前厅还是在许多其他篮球运营部门。朝任何方向扔一块石头，总会有人在某个时候经过波波维奇在圣安东尼奥的项目。
犹他爵士队的威尔·哈迪(Will Hardy)、休斯顿火箭队的伊梅·乌度卡(Ime Udoka)、科尔、亚特兰大老鹰队的奎因·斯奈德(Quin Snyder)和密尔沃基雄鹿队的道格·里弗斯(Doc Rivers)都与波波维奇和马刺队有联系。
在总经理方面，俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的萨姆·普雷斯蒂(Sam Presti)和布鲁克林篮网队的肖恩·马克斯(Sean Marks)都是马刺队的校友。还有无数其他的助理教练、前厅高管、球探和篮球运营人员，他们早期的简历都包括在圣安东尼奥的停留。
但当科朗吉洛审视今天的比赛时，他考虑到了波波维奇遗产的另一个方面——一个不同的优先事项，但毫无疑问地改变了比赛。
“他在欧洲球员方面遥遥领先于大多数联盟，”科朗吉洛说。
早在20世纪60年代，国际球员就被选入NBA，但这样做的情况很少见，而且经常受到严格审查。然而，马刺队开创了后来成为现代潮流的先河。他们找到了未来的名人堂成员，马努·吉诺比利(Manu Ginobili)，一位阿根廷后卫，在1999年以总第57顺位（倒数第二顺位）被选中，以及托尼·帕克(Tony Parker)，一位法国控球后卫，在一年后以第28顺位被选中。
随着时间的推移，马刺队继续大力投资于海外国际球探，他们的更衣室里有不同的文化、背景和语言，包括来自澳大利亚、中国、土耳其、塞尔维亚、意大利和尼日利亚的球员。
马刺队赢得的比赛越多，其他球队就越是效仿他们，试图从世界各地找到他们自己的隐藏宝石。
当2024-25赛季开始时，在开幕夜的阵容中，有125名国际球员——约占NBA的四分之一——来自43个不同的国家。过去六届NBA MVP奖项都授予了在美国境外出生的球员，这一趋势肯定会在今年继续，所有三位决赛选手——丹佛掘金队的尼古拉·约基奇(Nikola Jokic)（他将冲击他的第四个MVP）、俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大(Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)和密尔沃基雄鹿队的扬尼斯·阿德托昆博(Giannis Antetokounmpo)——都来自其他国家。
“世界各地都有球员，而美国这里的人们只是没有意识到这一点，或者不尊重这一点——或者两者都有，”波波维奇在2023年说。“在80年代，当我成为一名助理教练并过来寻找这些球员或考察他们时……我就像一个在糖果店里的孩子。那个时候有很多伟大的球员。”
当然，马刺队仍然处于领先地位，法国的维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)是2023年的状元，代表着球队和联盟的未来。
在旧金山大通中心 金州勇士队上周五以令人沮丧的比分输给休斯顿火箭队的比赛后，金州勇士队前锋德雷蒙德·格林(Draymond Green)坐在赛后讲台上，谈论了这场失利及其对季后赛的影响。
但无论勇士队的比赛多么重要，它都显得微不足道。那天早上，马刺队宣布波波维奇将卸任主教练一职。
德雷蒙德·格林今晚谈论格雷格·波波维奇时情绪激动。
— Josh Paredes (@ Josh810) May 3, 2025
对于格林来说，这个消息打击很大。他在东京奥运会期间曾接受过波波维奇的执教，两人建立了深厚的友谊。在输给休斯顿火箭队之后，格林非常渴望向这位伟人表达敬意，以至于他打断了一位记者的提问，并开始解释波波维奇对他来说意味着什么。
像许多其他人一样，格林试图揭开波波维奇经常被人所知的坚硬外表，而是揭示隐藏在下面的人性和慷慨。
“他是最不可思议的人之一，”格林开始说。“你知道，你会看到这堵墙……
“你问一个愚蠢的问题，他会打击你，”他说。“它只是表现得好像他是一个卑鄙的老人。而他完全相反。就像，完全相反。你最想和睦相处的人。他非常关心别人。”
他停顿了一下。
“我很幸运，也很荣幸有机会和他一起度过一个夏天，为他效力，”格林说，他的声音开始哽咽。
格林透露，他把自己在2021年金牌赛中穿的鞋子送给了波波维奇，并说波波维奇在勇士队下次对阵马刺队时穿了它们。格林说，从那以后每一次拥抱都意义重大。
“今年与马刺队比赛真令人难受，环顾四周却看不到他，”他说。“而且知道我再也不会有那个机会了，我只是希望最后一次在赛前在场边拥抱他。……我知道我听起来好像他已经死了——他没有。
“他对这个联盟意义重大，对我也意义重大。”
格林再次停顿，整理了一下情绪。
“干得漂亮。”
点击查看原文：Inside Gregg Popovich's unparalleled NBA legacy San Antonio Spurs
Inside Gregg Popovich’s unparalleled NBA legacy San Antonio Spurs
YEARS BEFORE RISING to the post of NBA commissioner in 2014, Adam Silver spent eight years as the president of NBA Entertainment, where he helmed the league’s marketing and production arm, charged with overseeing films, documentaries, highlight reels and more.
His tenure spanned eight years in the late-1990s through the mid-2000s, a stretch bookended by the end of the Chicago Bulls’ dynasty under Michael Jordan and the rise and fall of the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant era with the Los Angeles Lakers.
With those two storylines alone, Silver’s department lacked little in the way of compelling material to help grow the game: global superstars, major markets, outsized drama. But at that same time, a team that featured none of those characteristics emerged as an inescapable force upon the league: the small-market San Antonio Spurs, coached by a sharp-tongued former Air Force cadet named Gregg Popovich.
One day in the late 1990s, Silver told ESPN, the phone rang in his office – and Popovich, who became the Spurs’ coach in 1996, was on the other end.
ABC had just broadcast a promotional spot for a Spurs playoff game that featured one player above everyone else, Silver said, and Popovich had called to make his displeasure known.
“He yelled at me!” Silver said. “His point was you’ve never run a team and have no idea how even what seems like a small issue to you could disrupt the chemistry of my team.”
Silver was hardly the first, or the last, to feel Popovich’s wrath, one that was unleashed on Spurs players and staff, NBA referees, league officials, reporters and anyone else who entered his infamous crosshairs. But Silver, years later, considered the point Popovich sought to make.
“It spoke to Pop’s enduring belief that no individual player is bigger than the team, and the intensity and attention to detail necessary to win championships,” Silver said. “And in typical Pop fashion, he never sought credit for what his teams accomplished or the role he played in developing generations of players and coaches. The way he led with honesty and humility is a big part of his extraordinary success as a head coach in this league for nearly 30 years – although he certainly can be very direct when need be.”
Popovich’s 29-year run as the Spurs’ head coach formally ended Friday, when the 76-year-old Hall of Famer, five-time NBA champion and league’s all-time winningest coach announced his transition to focusing on his role as the team’s president of basketball operations. His decision came after he suffered a stroke in mid-November, after which Mitch Johnson replaced him on the sideline, first on an interim basis, then taking over the permanent job on Friday.
As he steps away, Popovich’s impact on the game remains indelible. He led a sustained run of title-contending teams while others rose and fell, coaching the Spurs to an unprecedented 22 straight playoff appearances. He helped build an international scouting operation long before doing so became commonplace. He has won more games and has received more accolades and acclaim than perhaps any coach of any sport in American history. He built and led a revered culture that lasted decades in small-market San Antonio. Dozens of teams and executives across the basketball landscape – as well as businesses outside it – have tried to emulate it.
He began the charge to strategically rest players to prolong careers – years prior to “load management” becoming a leaguewide trend. He established a tree – or, perhaps more accurately, a forest – of coaching and front office disciples who have branched into every corner of the NBA.
And while he’d be loath to admit it, his willingness to speak openly about issues of race, multiculturalism and his passions away from the game inspired a generation of others to do the same.
Soon after the news arrived, tributes and memories flowed like a deluge, each one adding more texture and color to the overall portrait of one of the NBA’s most improbable and enduring figures.
In interviews with coaches, players, executives and league officials from throughout Popovich’s life, many struggled to fully capture what the iconic coach has meant to the league – so far-reaching is his impact, they said, that it seemed beyond the scope of immediate perspective.
But many were keen to trace the arc of his career, the ways in which it intertwined with their own, and what, to them, he leaves behind.
“He impacted more people in our game than anybody,” Mike Krzyzewski, the former Duke and Team USA coach, told ESPN.
Said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played under Popovich for three seasons in San Antonio: “I think everybody who’s come across him will talk about him for the rest of their lives.”
IN THE FALL of 1966 in a gym at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Hank Egan was serving as an assistant coach to Bob Spear, when Popovich, who had graduated months earlier from high school in Merrillville, Indiana, walked in with a group of other fresh cadets.
“We were trying to find out who could do what,” Egan told ESPN. “And he was feisty.”
A rust-belt son of a Serbian father and Croatian mother, the 6-foot-3 Popovich had been cut from his high school team as a sophomore but as a senior had led the Merrillville Pirates in scoring (15 points per game) while being named a Calumet Conference all-star in northeast Indiana.
He was well-rounded – a member of the speech and debate team, student council, and National Honor Society. He lettered in basketball, baseball and cross country. At the academy, Egan immediately saw how smart, competitive and driven Popovich was.
Popovich played for the varsity team his final two seasons, captaining the team as a senior. And throughout Popovich’s time there, the two would talk about the future, for a way for Popovich to remain in the game, even if it couldn’t be as a player.
“He came out of the chute looking for a job,” Egan said. “He didn’t ask me if he could do it; he told me what he was going to do.”
Egan sat Popovich down. “It’s not glamorous,” he told him. “It’s rewarding, but it’s not glamorous.”
Egan continued. The job is as much about people as it was about basketball. He’d be away from loved ones for weeks at a time. It’s a tough business – cutthroat, relentless. Egan warned him. There wouldn’t be much money. Popovich didn’t care, he told him. “He wasn’t in it for the money,” Egan said. “He was in it to learn the business.”
Egan had given this lecture before. It had scared many straight. But Popovich didn’t waver: He wanted in.
But before his coaching career began in earnest, Popovich still aspired to play.
In 1970, he barnstormed across Eastern Europe on the U.S. Armed Forces all-star basketball team. In summer 1972, the U.S. Olympic trials were held at the Air Force Academy, and, as ESPN recounted in 2016, Jack Herron Jr., then on the 1972 U.S. Olympic selection committee, pushed to make sure Popovich received an invitation. Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who had just retired from playing and taken the job as the head coach of the ABA’s Carolina Cougars, attended the workouts and saw Popovich, one of 56 players vying for 12 spots, for the first time. “He was really, really athletic,” Brown said. “Really, really competitive. You see him now? The same way.”
Popovich played on a trials team coached by Indiana coach Bob Knight but didn’t make the final roster. ("I’ve been aggravated about this for almost 50 years,‘’ Herron told ESPN in 2016. “Gregg belonged on that team.”)
Two years later, Brown became the Denver Nuggets’ coach and, in 1975, Popovich tried out for them, too.
“I cut him,” Brown said with a laugh.
By then, Popovich was also serving as an assistant under Egan at the academy, his coaching career in its infancy.
But Brown always remembered Popovich, and when he became the head coach at Kansas in 1986, he called Popovich, who was then the head coach at Pomona-Pitzer, a Division III program outside of Los Angeles. Brown wanted Popovich to take a sabbatical season, he told him, and join the vaunted Jayhawks as a volunteer assistant coach.
Popovich agreed. That staff under Brown included Popovich’s future front office partner in San Antonio, R.C. Buford, future Hall of Fame coach Bill Self, and future NBA coach Alvin Gentry.
“Pop was a tremendous contributor,” Brown said. “There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be a great coach. He cared about kids. He wanted to learn. He wasn’t afraid to share what he felt was right. We all benefited by having him around.”
After one season at Kansas, Popovich returned to Pomona-Pitzer. A year later, in June 1988, Brown called again. Brown had been hired to be the coach of the Spurs, and he wanted to see if Popovich would join him as an assistant on his bench.
“Pop didn’t have a great record at Pomona-Pitzer if you look at it,” Brown said. (The team went 2-22 during his first season, but, in 1985-86, he guided the Sagehens to their first conference championship in 68 years.) “But the fact that you have to coach Division III kids and guys at the academy, you’re at a disadvantage right from the beginning. You’ve got to spend all your time trying to develop players. And I think that’s one of his greatest gifts. He makes people around him that he coaches better.”
At 39, and having coached for six years at the academy and nine more at Pomona, Popovich accepted Brown’s offer.
“Obviously, this is a quantum leap from the NCAA Division III to the pros,” Popovich told the L.A. Times in 1988. "There were probably 5,000 people who would have wanted the job and 50 other people [Brown] knows whom he could have asked. But he asked me. So to get offered the job is quite flattering.
“It’s a pretty big leap, and I’m delighted,” Popovich said. “But at the same time, I’m scared to death.”
Popovich coached players hard, Brown observed, but he knew how to strike a balance.
“His greatest strength is he understood the difference between coaching and criticism,” Brown said. “With him, he could get on you, but you knew he cared. It’s something I always believe in. The greatest leaders in any profession care about the people they lead and the people that they lead know the caring is genuine. And I think that’s tough.”
Brown added, “When players know you care and genuinely care, I don’t care who it is, they’ll do almost anything for you.”
Popovich moved from California to San Antonio with his wife and two children – and began the start of his tenure with the Spurs, which, minus a short stint as a Warriors assistant from 1992 to 1994, would stretch almost three and a half decades.
IN JANUARY 1999, Kerr found himself in Popovich’s office in San Antonio, after agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal with the Spurs. Kerr had won three consecutive championships with the Bulls, who were dismantling their dynasty following Jordan’s retirement. Popovich, meanwhile, hadn’t won any. “He wasn’t ‘Pop’ yet,” Kerr told ESPN. “He was Gregg Popovich.”
“I instantly liked him. Everything that we know about him now was true then,” Kerr said. “He has this unique ability to connect with people of any background, any player, any person near him, he can relate.”
It was an unusual season shortened by the NBA lockout, and it didn’t begin until Feb. 5. The Spurs, with Tim Duncan and David Robinson, started slowly, posting a 6-8 record.
“By some accounts, [Popovich] was on the hot seat,” Kerr said. “I remember how well he handled that in front of the team, just not paying much attention to that and just getting us focused on how to get better. He was incredibly fiery, more so than a decade later, I would say, because it was a different era. It was a different time and never personal, but incredibly competitive and fiery and demonstrative and not afraid to light into Tim Duncan, David Robinson, the rest of us. But he had a unique way of doing it where you still loved him afterwards.”
The Spurs went on to win their first championship that season, and throughout the run his habit of deflection began to publicly emerge, pointing to the good fortune of having drafted Robinson, first, and later Duncan.
“I know that Phil [Jackson] was brilliant, and I know that Pop is brilliant and you have to have the talent,” Kerr said. “But I love Pop’s humility. It has always been a huge part of his persona, his values. His ‘Pound the Rock’ motto is all about modesty, really. When you think about it, you can keep hitting that thing 99 times, but it’s the hundredth [that splits it]. It’s ‘slow and steady wins the race.’ Everything with Pop was values-based. He knew who he was. He knew who he wanted his team to be. And it all fit. Everything made perfect sense.”
Those values were many, but Kerr singles out two.
“His willingness to speak up on social issues,” Kerr said. “Particularly now.”
That was No. 1.
Athletes and coaches have spoken out on such issues for decades, Kerr said, but often, they’ve been Black, whether Bill Russell, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali or others. For an older White coach to do so, Kerr said, is different. There were others who came before Popovich on that front – Dean Smith at North Carolina and John Wooden at UCLA. But the list isn’t long.
“He’s a very unique American patriot.” Kerr said, “A lot of people who are on the other side of the political spectrum, they would take issue with that, but I don’t think you can argue it. He served in the Air Force, and he will tell you that was the most important experience of his life in terms of developing him as a person and his worldview and outlook on life and people and morality and everything else. And then he used that experience to not only become the coach he became, but also to complain about the politics of the very country that he served.”
The second, Kerr said, was Popovich’s interest in, and open-mindedness toward, sports science and health. He was, Kerr said, the first to strategically rest players.
It was an expensive strategy. In 2012, when the Spurs were fined $250,000 for sending their starters home ahead of a nationally televised game in Miami, Popovich didn’t flinch.
“The league has to understand that the science of what we do is a whole lot more sophisticated than it used to be, and we have definitely added years to people,” he told the San Antonio Express-News in 2017. "So, it’s a tradeoff: Do you want to see this guy in this one game, or do you want to see them for three more years of his career? And do you want to see him through the playoffs because he didn’t get hurt?
Years later, “load management” was born, the term and the practice, despite rule changes and resistance from the league itself. The movement, Kerr said, all points to Popovich.
“Rest in the NBA – that was all him.”
AFTER TEAM USA’S bronze medal finish in the 2004 Olympics, longtime Suns executive Jerry Colangelo knew change was necessary. Team USA’s showing had been a national embarrassment, far afield from the standards set by previous iterations that delivered gold every four years. And the loss was particularly stinging for Popovich, who saw it up close, as one of its assistant coaches.
So in June 2005, two months after becoming Team USA’s new director, Colangelo gathered the game’s luminaries at the Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Chicago. The mission was to find a new head coach who could restore Team USA atop its place as the dominant global basketball power.
In a conference room, Colangelo looked at all the existing coaches who had played a part in Team USA dating back to the 1960s. He looked at players who had played on past Olympic teams. “The Michael Jordans, the Jerry Wests,” he told ESPN.
Colangelo displayed a board with college coaches and professional coaches. On the top of the college list was Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. On the top of the list of NBA coaches, there was Popovich, who had been part of the 2004 staff under Brown. There was consensus across the room: Those two were the best candidates.
Colangelo called Popovich first, to gauge his interest.
“In my mind, he didn’t demonstrate a lot of enthusiasm,” Colangelo said. "First of all, that was his personality, which I didn’t know well, and, secondly, he was still hurting from the experience of the year before.
“Then, when I called Coach K, he almost jumped through the phone. He was full of excitement and enthusiasm. And so that was when I made the decision. I would meet with Coach K. We had dinner in Las Vegas at a restaurant, and by the end of the evening, I had basically made up my mind it was going to be him. But I felt I couldn’t go wrong either way.”
Colangelo explained his decision publicly, mentioning the uninspiring phone call with Popovich.
“That really upset him,” Colangelo said. “He sent me a letter. I didn’t knock him. It wasn’t that at all. But it hurt him to see anything like that, that kind of a reference. And although we were in the presence of each other for a number of years, we didn’t have any relationship.”
Krzyzewski coached Team USA to gold medals in 2008 and 2012, with a coaching staff that featured some from the college and pro ranks, but not Popovich.
Then, in 2015, with Krzyzewski set to retire as the Team USA coach the next summer after the 2016 Rio Olympics, Colangelo wanted a successor. He called Popovich. The two men met at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley in Northern California, near Colangelo’s home there.
“All it took was us getting together over lunch and spending a few hours together, and we patched everything up,” Colangelo said. “And he did want to think about it a little bit.”
Popovich called him after.
“If you want me,” he told Colangelo, “I’m in.”
It was an honor Popovich had spent the better part of the past 50 years trying to achieve – merging his love of the game with his love of country. And this time, he’d be leading it.
The next summer in Las Vegas, Popovich and Krzyzewski broke bread for the first time during a Team USA staff dinner at the Wynn hotel.
By the time they shared a table, their paths through the sport were eerily similar.
Both hailed from the Midwest. Both had attended service academies – Popovich the Air Force, Krzyzewski the Army. Both had played under Bob Knight – Krzyzewski at Army, Popovich at the 1972 Olympic Trials. Both had coached the same teams across decades, sustaining title-contending excellence throughout. Both had tremendous passions for food and wine.
And yet, despite the corollaries, and the distant mutual respect between them, Popovich and Krzyzewski had never spent much time together.
“I’d known him,” Krzyzewski told ESPN, “but we weren’t close.”
Then, they sat down in Las Vegas and talked.
“It was like they’d known each other forever,” Colangelo said.
“I think we were both waiting to become close friends,” Krzyzewski said.
Krzyzewski had been a keen admirer of Popovich for so many years, albeit from afar.
“I’ve always studied leadership my whole life,” Krzyzewski said. “I teach [at Duke] and I speak around the country on leadership and teamwork and, before I knew him, I admired his leadership.”
He saw how Popovich developed deep relationships with his players, how he worked with Robinson and Duncan and built a system where they played together and complemented each other, with the elder Robinson mentoring the younger Duncan, rather than the two competing against each other. He saw how, over the years, players took ownership of the culture that Popovich was trying to establish – how “The Spurs Way” became an ideal that veterans affirmed to new players. He saw how Popovich’s teams shared the ball, how he managed lineups.
Many of these ideals mirrored Krzyzewski’s at Duke.
“He impacted more people in our game than anybody,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s probably the most unique coach ever – pro, amateur. He’s as good as anybody, but I think you can’t be like him. He did so many things that it’s hard to believe one person could do all that.”
The two met in Las Vegas when Popovich was in town for Team USA’s training camp. Krzyzewski knew the pressure of the position as Team USA’s head coach.
“Unless you’re sitting in that seat, you don’t know how it feels,” he said. “Everyone is telling you it’s going to be a sure thing and all that, and it’s not a sure thing.”
He believed Popovich could handle it. And he was right.
On the game’s most prestigious global stage, Popovich coached Team USA to gold in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. After the gold medal game, an 87-82 win against France, avenging a loss in the group phase, Colangelo and Popovich found each other. Popovich knew what the moment meant – for him, for his country and for Team USA.
“Pop felt very relieved,” Colangelo said. “He felt incredible pressure, in my opinion, in the championship game. When it was over, he and I embraced, and it was a very emotional moment.”
BROWN LIKES TO discuss one of the core tenets of his Hall of Fame coaching career, one that stretched nearly six decades before he stepped down from an advisory role at the University of Memphis in 2023 at age 82: providing opportunities to other coaches.
“You’re supposed to pay it forward,” Brown said. “That’s the whole key.”
It’s what a coach can leave behind beyond wins, losses and other accolades. And as Brown looks back over his own career, it’s perhaps the achievement that he appreciates most – with Popovich serving as one of several beneficiaries.
And as Brown evaluates Popovich’s career, he appreciates how his former assistant has achieved and prioritized the same, perhaps to a degree unparalleled in NBA history.
On rosters and in organizations throughout the league, Spurs disciples can be found, whether on coaching staffs, in front offices or in numerous other basketball operations departments. Throw a rock in any direction, and there’s someone who, at some point, passed through Popovich’s program in San Antonio.
Utah’s Will Hardy, Houston’s Ime Udoka, Kerr, Atlanta’s Quin Snyder and Milwaukee’s Doc Rivers all have ties to Popovich and the Spurs.
In terms of GMs, Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti and Brooklyn’s Sean Marks are both Spurs alums. And there are countless other assistant coaches, front office executives, scouts and basketball operations staffers whose early résumés included a stopover in San Antonio.
But as Colangelo looks at the game today, he considers another aspect of Popovich’s legacy – a different priority, but one that unquestionably changed the game.
“He was way ahead of most of the league regarding European players,” Colangelo said.
International players have been drafted into the NBA dating back to the 1960s, but doing so was rare and often heavily scrutinized. The Spurs, however, pioneered what would soon become the modern trend. They found future Hall of Famers in Manu Ginobili, an Argentine guard taken 57th overall – the next-to-last pick – in 1999, and Tony Parker, a French point guard taken 28th a year later.
As the years progressed, the Spurs continued to heavily invest in international scouting abroad, with their locker room featuring different cultures, backgrounds and languages, including players from Australia, China, Turkey, Serbia, Italy and Nigeria.
And the more the Spurs won, the more other teams copied them, trying to find their own hidden gems from across the world.
When the 2024-25 season tipped off, there were 125 international players – roughly a quarter of the NBA – from 43 different countries on opening-night rosters. The past six NBA MVP awards have been bestowed to players born outside the U.S., a trend that is guaranteed to continue this year, with all three finalists – Denver’s Nikola Jokic (who is going for his fourth), Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo – coming from other countries.
“There were players all around the world, and people here in America just didn’t realize it or respect it – or both,” Popovich said in 2023. “In the '80s, when I became an assistant coach and came over to find these players or to scout them … I was like a kid in a candy store. There were so many great players in that time.”
The Spurs, of course, remain at the forefront, with France’s Victor Wembanyama, the first pick in 2023, representing the future of the franchise and the league.
AFTER A DEFLATING Game 6 loss to the Houston Rockets at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green sat on the postgame dias, addressing the defeat and its playoff ramifications.
But for as important as the Warriors’ game might’ve been, it felt insignificant. That morning, the Spurs announced Popovich was leaving his post as coach.
Draymond Green got emotional talking about Gregg Popovich tonight. https://twitter.com/Josh810/status/1918546204952019197/video/1
— Josh Paredes (@ Josh810) May 3, 2025
For Green, the news hit hard. He had been coached by Popovich during the Tokyo Olympics, and the two had developed a bond. And after the loss to Houston, Green was so eager to pay his respects to the man that he cut off a reporter’s question and began explaining what Popovich meant to him.
Like so many others, Green sought to demystify the hard exterior for which Popovich has often been known, and instead reveal the humanity and generosity that lies beneath.
“He’s one of the most incredible human beings,” Green began. "You know, you get this wall that everyone sees …
“You ask a dumb question, he’s going to crush you,” he said. “It just appears as if he’s this mean old man. And he is the complete opposite. Like, complete opposite. The nicest person you ever want to be around. He cares about people so much.”
He paused.
“I was lucky enough and honored to have the opportunity to spend a summer with him and play for him,” Green said, his voice starting to break.
Green revealed that he gave Popovich the shoes he wore in the gold medal game in 2021 and said Popovich wore them the next time the Warriors faced the Spurs. Every hug since then, Green said, meant even more.
“It sucked playing against the Spurs this year, to look over and not see him there,” he said. "And to know that I’ll never get that opportunity again, I just wish I had one last time to go hug him on the sideline before a game. … I know I sound like he’s dead – he’s not.
“He’s meant so much to this league, and he means so much to me.”
Green paused again, gathering himself.
“Job well done.”
By Baxter Holmes | ESPN, via ESPN
