By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-04-17 23:39:08
圣安东尼奥——当他缓缓走过那片曾由他掌控的训练场时，这位被尊称为“老大 (El Jefe)”的男人停下脚步，向他的继任者叮嘱了几句。
名人堂成员、前马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 叫住了现任主帅米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 和首席助教肖恩·斯威尼 (Sean Sweeney)，简短交谈后，便迅速从后门离开了。
自从波波维奇在六个月前中风并于去年五月退休以来，他在球队周围的现身大多避开了公众视线。对于外界而言，这位 77 岁的传奇教练偶尔露面，简直就像目击大脚印或尼斯湖水怪一样，带有一种神秘色彩。
但马刺队后卫德亚伦·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 透露，波波维奇实际上在周三全队备战季后赛首轮对阵波特兰开拓者队的比赛时，向球员们发表了讲话。
“他是史上胜场最多的教练之一，也是冠军戒指最多的教练之一，”福克斯在周五表示，“所以，他觉得有必要过来给大家好好上一课，这再正常不过了。”
在祝贺球队取得 62 胜 20 负的常规赛战绩后，波波维奇解释了在冲击总冠军的过程中，情况将发生多大的变化。他表示，马刺队面临的最大挑战是确保无论比赛打得好坏，将他们带到今天这一步的“过程”都不能改变。
“（他传达的信息是）不要刻意去做任何与我们整个赛季所做的不同的事情，”二年级后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 说道，“我认为他只是给了我们另一个视角，让我们审视自己一直以来的表现以及我们所处的位置。所以，只需继续坚持那些让我们达到这一高度的努力即可。”
尽管波波维奇可能不常正式向全队讲话，但他一直伴随在球队左右。马刺队 CEO RC·布福德 (RC Buford) 告诉 The Athletic，波波维奇每周会有四到五天出现在训练馆，当现役球员经过健身房时，总能看到他的身影。蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 和其他马刺名宿在回城探访时，也经常会加入波波维奇的行列。
布福德认为，这反映了波波维奇多年来与球员建立的深厚纽带，这种纽带早已超越了球场。
“这就是为什么在波波维奇进行中风康复训练时，蒂姆每天都会在健身房陪着他，这并不是因为波波维奇要求他去，”布福德告诉 The Athletic，“而是因为蒂姆感受到了一种情感连接，他想以波波维奇当年支持他的方式去支持波波维奇。只要有人回到圣安东尼奥，他们都会去那儿。”
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凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 曾在波波维奇手下效力五个赛季，是目前队中资历最老的球员，他与这位塑造了他职业生涯的男人保持着密切的关系。
“他看起来状态极佳。他恢复得很好。见到他总是很开心，”约翰逊上周告诉 The Athletic，并提到他前一天刚在健身房和波波维奇聊过天。“他一直保持着联系。他时不时会给我发短信或打电话，大概每隔一天就会联系一次。”
波波维奇会关注约翰逊的情况并对他的表现提供反馈，告诉这位“年度最佳第六人”的热门人选需要在哪些方面改进以变得更好。
“但与此同时，他非常鼓励我，告诉我他为我感到骄傲之类的话，”约翰逊说，“我的意思是，他绝对还是原来的样子。他依然思维敏捷。他依然是那个波波维奇。他一点儿也没变。”
波波维奇甚至一直在指导像卡斯尔这样的球员，在波波维奇于 2024 年 11 月 2 日因中风离队康复之前，卡斯尔只在他手下打了几场比赛。
“他帮助了我以及队里的很多其他球员，让我们有了可以倾诉的对象，”卡斯尔说，“无论比赛打得顺不顺，只要你了解波波维奇，你就知道他总会告诉你最真实的情况。”
对卡斯尔而言，这意味着要屏蔽外界对最终比分或数据统计的反馈，专注于每天为比赛所做的准备工作。
“就是保持专注。不真正以结果为导向，”卡斯尔说，“只是努力遵循这个过程，并理解是什么让我们达到了这些位置。无论我们打了一场好球还是坏球，都努力以同样的方式、正确的方式去做每一件事。”
福克斯表示，波波维奇的出现并没有增加压力。球员们已经习惯了他整个赛季在球馆里进进出出。事实上，波波维奇在球队周围出现，让福克斯和球队其他成员更渴望赢得比赛。
“看到他的康复进展，看到他状态这么好，”约翰逊说，“说实话，这简直是最大的慰藉。”
由生成式 AI 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：Gregg Popovich remains constant presence around the Spurs: 'He looks amazing'
Gregg Popovich remains constant presence around the Spurs: ‘He looks amazing’
SAN ANTONIO — As he slowly made his way across the practice court where he used to be in charge, El Jefe stopped for a brief moment to say something to his successor.
Gregg Popovich, the Hall of Fame former Spurs coach, grabbed current head coach Mitch Johnson and associate head coach Sean Sweeney, said something briefly, then was swiftly on his way out the back door.
Since Popovich retired last May after suffering a stroke six months prior, his presence around the team has largely stayed out of public view. To the outside world, the occasional sighting of the 77-year-old coaching legend has been treated as if he were a mythical presence, just beyond a footprint of Bigfoot or a splash from the Loch Ness Monster.
But Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox revealed that Popovich actually addressed the team Wednesday as they began preparing for a first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“He’s one of the winningest coaches ever, one of the coaches with the most rings ever,” Fox said Friday. “So it’s only right that he felt like he needed to come in and preach to the choir.”
After congratulating the group on its 62-20 regular season, Popovich explained how much things are about to change as they begin a run at a championship. He said the Spurs’ biggest challenge is to make sure that, whether they have a good or bad game, the process that got them to this point doesn’t change.
“(His message was) not to really do anything different from what we’ve been doing all season,” second-year guard Steph Castle said. “I think he kind of just gave us another perspective on how well we’ve been playing and the position we’ve put ourselves in. So, just keep doing what we’ve been doing to get in those spots.”
Though Popovich may not formally address the team often, he has continued to be a presence with the team. Popovich has been in the gym at the practice facility four to five times a week and is a fixture in the workout room as current players pass through, Spurs CEO RC Buford told The Athletic. Tim Duncan and other Spurs legends often join Popovich when they are in town visiting.
Buford sees this as a reflection of the bonds Popovich built with his players over the years, which go well beyond the court.
“It’s the reason why, with Pop’s stroke rehabilitation, Tim’s in the gym with him every day, and that’s not because Pop is telling him to be there,” Buford told The Athletic. “It’s because Tim feels the emotional connection to want to be there in the ways that Pop was there for him. Anytime people are in town, they’ll be in there.”
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Keldon Johnson, who played five seasons with Popovich and is the longest-tenured current member of the team, maintains a close relationship with the man who shaped his career in San Antonio.
“He looks amazing. He’s doing great. It’s always good to see him,” Johnson told The Athletic last week, noting that he just talked to Popovich in the gym the day before*.* “He stays in touch. He texts me or calls me from time to time, probably every other day.”
Popovich checks in with Johnson to provide feedback on his play, telling the Sixth Man of the Year hopeful what he needs to work on to get better.
“But at the same time, he’s very encouraging, telling me that he’s proud of me and things like that,” Johnson said. “I mean, he’s definitely still himself. He’s still sharp. He’s still very much Pop. He has not skipped a beat at all.”
Popovich has even been mentoring players like Castle, who only played a few games under him before the coach stepped away to recover from a stroke on Nov. 2, 2024.
“He’s helped me and a lot of the other guys on the team, just having somebody to talk to,” Castle said. “Whether games are going good, games are going bad, just knowing Pop, he’ll always tell you the real.”
For Castle, that meant blocking out external feedback from whatever the final score or stat line may be and focusing on the work he does every day to prepare for games.
“Just keep in my head. Not really going off result-based things,” Castle said. “Really just trying to use the process and understanding what got us in those positions. Whether we had a good game and bad game, just trying to do everything the same way and the right way.”
Fox said that Popovich’s presence does not add pressure. The players have grown accustomed to him being in and out of the building throughout the season. In fact, Popovich’s presence around the team makes Fox and the rest of the team want to win even more.
“Just seeing how he’s progressing, seeing how well he’s doing,” Johnson said. “It’s just the ultimate satisfaction, honestly.”
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic