By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-28 15:46:57
2023年4月6日，星期四，德克萨斯州奥斯汀的穆迪中心，马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇在下半场比赛中注视着他的球队迎战波特兰开拓者队。最终马刺队以129-127击败了开拓者队。
休斯敦电——2016年夏天，米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 来到圣安东尼奥。这位来自西雅图、年仅29岁的年轻人，渴望加入马刺队的教练组，开启他在NBA的第一份工作。
埃米·乌度卡 (Ime Udoka) 一看到这个新人，就知道来了个可以“练手”的对象。
当时，乌度卡已在格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的教练席上担任了多年的助教，他迫不及待地想看到约翰逊在场上证明自己。当然，是网球场。
在乌度卡的记忆中，两人之间持续的网球对抗几乎是一边倒。
“我每次都赢他，”乌度卡说。
将近10年后的这个周三，这两位昔日的网坛对手再次交锋，这一次他们的身份是NBA主教练——约翰逊率领的马刺队在丰田中心对阵乌度卡执教的休斯敦火箭队。
对他们任何一人来说，执教这样一场比赛时，都很难不想到自己的那位老领导。
周三是波波维奇的77岁生日，他已远离了曾经热爱的战术围圈、更衣室和教练会议。然而，这位名人堂成员的影响力依然在整个NBA联盟中回响。
除了约翰逊和乌度卡，还有犹他爵士队的威尔·哈迪 (Will Hardy) 和新奥尔良鹈鹕队的詹姆斯·博雷戈 (James Borrego)，他们是波波维奇那一度枝繁叶茂的教练树上，最新结出——也很可能是最后一批——的硕果。
这四人都在2016年担任过马刺队教练组成员。此外，亚特兰大老鹰队的奎因·斯奈德 (Quin Snyder) 和纽约尼克斯队的迈克·布朗 (Mike Brown) 也都曾在马刺队任职。
“我每天都会想起波波，”博雷戈说。“‘波波会怎么做？’我的很多决策都会回到这个问题上。”
2024年10月31日，波波维奇带领马刺队在犹他以106-88击败了哈迪执教的爵士队。
谁也没有料到，这竟会是他长达29个赛季执教生涯的最后一场比赛。两天后，在主场迎战明尼苏达森林狼队的赛前几小时，波波维奇不幸中风，最终导致他从教练岗位上退休。
约翰逊临危受命，接替了这位NBA历史胜场数最多的教练，他先是担任代理主帅，随后被正式任命。在NBA，努力传承波波维奇执教遗产的教练远不止他一人。
“我认为很少有人能像他那样对我的生活产生如此深远的影响，”博雷戈说道，他在威利·格林 (Willie Green) 于11月被解雇后成为鹈鹕队的临时主教练。“他触动了无数人的生命，我就是其中之一。”
博雷戈的职业生涯始于2003年马刺队的录像分析室，他此前还曾在奥兰多魔术队担任过临时主教练，并在夏洛特黄蜂队担任过正式主教练。
那时候，大家甚至不叫他詹姆斯。由于博雷戈长得像单口喜剧演员兼电视明星雷·罗马诺 (Ray Romano)，波波维奇就叫他“雷”。
“我仿佛还能听到波波在大喊：‘雷，过来。你的录像剪好了没？’”博雷戈说。
哈迪在2010年以视频实习生的身份加入马刺队，并很快在队内获得晋升。2016年，当哈迪从球员发展组被提拔到教练席时，马刺队聘请了约翰逊来接替他的位置。
“威尔对我来说，就像一个无穷的智慧和经验源泉，”约翰逊说。“他帮助我避免踩雷，熟悉那些不成文的规定和潜规则，我怎么感谢他都不为过。在我刚来的时候，他是不可或缺的一部分。”
如果说约翰逊和乌度卡是在网球场上结下友谊，那么他和哈迪则是在篮球场上一拍即合。在助教们的5对5队内对抗赛中，两人喜欢分在同一队，他们的球风相得益彰。
约翰逊是位传球第一的控球后卫，而哈迪则自称是个“球霸”。一场又一场比赛下来，这对组合都希望能好好教训一下另一位爱喷垃圾话的常客——未来的名人堂成员蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan)。
“我们是绝佳搭档，”约翰逊说。“我们喜欢对蒂米（邓肯的昵称）喷垃圾话。”
野球场上的邓肯，可不是那个凭借扎实基本功和一手擦板绝活一路走进斯普林菲尔德名人堂的艺术家。
“他是个痴迷于挡拆外切、疯狂出手三分的家伙，”哈迪说。
约翰逊迅速证实了哈迪的说法。
“他（邓肯）就在两个三分线之间来回跑，命中三分，然后不停地喷垃圾话，”约翰逊回忆道。
2018年，随着博雷戈前往夏洛特，这个团体开始分崩离析。2021年夏天，乌度卡被任命为波士顿凯尔特人队主教练，哈迪也追随他成为首席助教。
当哈迪在2022年得到犹他爵士队的主教练职位时，波波维奇的执教基因已在他身上根深蒂固。哈迪牢记着一条波波维奇式的箴言：你执教的是人，而不仅仅是球员。
“当一个教练还年轻时，总想找些实实在在的东西来证明自己的能力，”哈迪说。“我想这就是为什么你会看到有些人对暂停后战术（ATOs）之类的东西如此着迷，因为他们想说：‘看，我设计的这个战术多酷。’”
哈迪说，那不是波波维奇的风格。
2023年3月29日，星期三，AT&T中心，比赛结束后，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇与犹他爵士队主教练威尔·哈迪致意。爵士队以128-117击败了马刺队。
“波波会第一个告诉你，那都是些花里胡哨的东西，”哈迪说。“这跟执教的本质毫无关系。你要做的是执教‘人’。这份工作更多关乎领导力，而非战术本身。”
当然，这并不是说某些战术布置毫无意义。有时候，它们可能意味着一切。
“有时候当我带队对阵米奇时，我们中的一个或两个都会打一个波波以前用过的战术，以此向他和我们共同度过的时光致敬，”哈迪说。“我们不会大张旗鼓地宣扬，但我们彼此心知肚明。”
上周的一天，博雷戈进行了一次时光穿梭之旅。
那天是鹈鹕队即将在霜冻银行中心挑战马刺队的前一天。博雷戈将训练安排在了马刺位于“马刺路1号”的旧训练馆，那是在2023年“胜利资本表演中心”启用后球队便弃用的地方。
“我一走进那里，仿佛瞬间回到了23岁，”博雷戈说。“那里的气味把我带回了旧日时光。”
博雷戈在球馆、更衣室和旧的影音室里徜徉，沉浸在回忆之中，感叹自己是多么幸运，能够成为波波维奇麾下那支马刺队所建立的伟大事业的一部分。
接着，当他探头望向那间旧录像分析室时，他瞬间又变回了那个“雷”。
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich reacts after a call by the official, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich celebrates Friday, Mar 11, 2022 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio after winning his 1,336th game to give him the most all-time regular season coaching wins in NBA history.
New Orleans Pelicans head coach James Borrego returns the ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs in San Antonio, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, center, poses with San Antonio Spurs and Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich, right, and Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, left, after receiving his USA team gold medal prior to the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich (left) talks with Assitant coach Mitch Johnson (right) as they watch their team from the stands as they play against the Portland Trailblazers during the 2023 NBA Summer League games in Las Vegas on Sunday, July 9, 2023. Blazers defeated the Spurs, 85-80.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson signals to his team as they play against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026.
Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka talks to players on the court during the second half of their NBA game with the San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. The Spurs beat the Rockets 109-106.
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。
点击查看原文：Spurs great Gregg Popovich's coaching legacy lives on in retirement
Spurs great Gregg Popovich’s coaching legacy lives on in retirement
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich watches his team during the second half against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas, Thursday, April 6, 2023. The Spurs defeated the Trail Blazers 129-127.
HOUSTON — Mitch Johnson arrived in San Antonio in the summer of 2016, a fresh-faced 29-year-old from Seattle eager to join the Spurs coaching staff and get started on his first NBA job.
Ime Udoka took one look at the new guy and saw fresh meat.
A long-standing assistant on Gregg Popovich’s bench at the time, Udoka couldn’t wait to see Johnson prove himself on the court. The tennis court, that is.
The way Udoka remembers it, the pair’s running racket rivalry was all 30-love.
“I beat him every time,” Udoka said.
Nearly 10 years later Wednesday, the two former tennis adversaries squared off again as NBA head coaches, as Johnson’s Spurs faced Udoka’s Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.
It would be difficult for either man to coach in such a game without thinking of their old boss.
Popovich turned 77 on Wednesday, away from the huddles and locker rooms and coaching meetings he once loved. Yet the Hall of Famer’s presence still reverberates throughout the NBA.
Along with Utah’s Will Hardy and New Orleans’ James Borrego, Johnson and Udoka are among the most recent — and likely final — crop of fruit to fall from Popovich’s once verdant coaching tree.
All four were members of the Spurs’ coaching staff in 2016. Atlanta’s Quin Snyder and New York’s Mike Brown also once spent time under the Spurs’ employ.
“I think of Pop every day,” Borrego said. “What would Pop do? A lot of my decision-making goes back to that.”
On Oct. 31, 2024, Popovich led the Spurs to a 106-88 victory over Hardy’s Jazz squad in Utah.
Nobody could have known it would be the final game of his 29-season career. Two days later, in the hours leading to a home game against Minnesota, Popovich suffered a stroke that eventually led to his retirement from coaching.
Johnson was saddled with the unenviable task of taking over for the NBA’s all-time winningest coach, first on an acting basis and then permanently. He is not the only coach in the NBA striving to carry on Popovich’s legacy.
“I think there’s very few people that have impacted my life the way he has,” Borrego, who became the Pelicans’ interim coach after Willie Green was fired in November. “He’s touched so many lives, and I’m one of them.”
Borrego, who has also been an interim coach in Orlando and full-time head coach in Charlotte, got his start in the Spurs’ film room in 2003.
Back then, he wasn’t even known as James. Popovich called him “Ray,” thanks to Borrego’s resemblance to stand-up comedian and television star Ray Romano.
“I can still hear Pop yelling. ‘Ray, get over here. Where are you with that film?’” Borrego said.
Hardy joined the Spurs as a video intern in 2010 and quickly matriculated up the organizational chart. When Hardy was promoted from the development staff to a bench role in 2016, the Spurs hired Johnson to replace him.
“Will was an infinite source of wisdom and experience for me,” Johnson said. “His helping with not walking on landmines and (following) unwritten laws and lays of the land, I could never thank him enough. He was an integral part for me early on.”
Whereas Johnson bonded with Udoka on the tennis court, he and Hardy hit it off on the hardwood. The two enjoyed playing on the same side in the assistants’ 5-on-5 pick-up runs, where their games dovetailed nicely.
Johnson was a pass-first point guard, Hardy a self-described ball hog. Game in and game out, the duo hoped to serve comeuppance to another smack-talking regular, future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan.
“We were a good fit,” Johnson said. “We liked to talk trash to Timmy.”
The pick-up version of Duncan was not exactly the fundamentals-first bank-shot artist who forged his way to Springfield.
“He was a pick-and-pop, 3-point launching pig,” Hardy said.
Johnson is quick to corroborate Hardy’s story.
“He would just run 3-point line to 3-point line and drill threes and talk trash,” Johnson said of Duncan.
The band began to break up in 2018, when Borrego departed for Charlotte. In the summer of 2021, Udoka was named the head coach in Boston, and Hardy followed to become his lead assistant.
When Hardy earned his own head coaching job in Utah in 2022, Popovich’s coaching DNA remained ingrained. One Popovichian mantra Hardy holds close: You coach people, not players.
“When you’re young as a coach, you’re trying to find tangible things to prove you know what you’re doing,” Hardy said. “I think that’s why you see people become obsessed with ATOs (after timeout plays) and things like that, because it’s like, ‘See look at that cool thing I did.’ ”
That wasn’t Popovich’s style, Hardy said.
San Antonio Spurs head coachGregg Popovich is greeted by Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy at the end of the game. Utah Jazz defeated the San Antonio Spurs 128-117 on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at the AT&T Center.
“Pop would be the first person to tell you that’s all B.S.,” Hardy said. “It has nothing to do with it. You’re trying to coach people. It’s a job more about leadership than it is about coaching.”
That’s not to say certain play calls mean nothing. Sometimes, they can mean everything.
“Sometimes when I coach against Mitch, one or both of us has run one of Pop’s old plays kind of as a tribute to him and our time together,” Hardy said. “We don’t make a big deal out of it, but we know what’s going on.”
One day last week, Borrego took a trip back in time.
It was the day before the Pelicans were to face the Spurs at the Frost Bank Center. Borrego scheduled a practice in the Spurs’ old facility at 1 Spurs Way, the one the team abandoned with the opening of the Victory Capital Performance Center in 2023.
“I walked in there, and I was 23 years old,” Borrego said. “The smell of it took me back to those days.”
Borrego wandered around the gym and the locker room and the old theatre room and soaked in how lucky he had been to have been a part of what the Spurs had built under Popovich.
Then he poked his head into the old film room, and instantly became Ray again.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News