By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-12 14:16:19
资料图——2021年9月27日，星期一，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 在圣安东尼奥举行的球队媒体日上微笑。（美联社照片/Eric Gay，资料图）
在胜利资本训练中心 (Victory Capital Performance Center)，当格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 观看马刺队投篮训练和正式练习接近尾声时，他很少形单影只。
在周二上午的赛前走位演练中，NBA年度最佳第六人凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 走上前去与他交谈。新秀卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 也是如此。
“等我们结束这些，我会过去和他聊一会儿，”前锋德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 告诉记者。
对于一支正陷入与明尼苏达森林狼 (Minnesota Timberwolves) 激烈对峙的次轮系列赛的球队来说，马刺队非常庆幸能拥有这位五届NBA冠军教头作为宝贵的资源支持。
对于约翰逊、布莱恩特和瓦塞尔这些季后赛新人来说，情况尤其如此。
“你面对的是史上最伟大的教练，他能坐在这里告诉你他经历过的一切或他的所见所闻，”瓦塞尔说，“这是无可比拟的。”
现年77岁的波波维奇在2024-25赛季进行到第五场比赛时突发中风，随后于2025年5月正式从教练岗位退休。这位NBA史上胜场数最多的教练目前仍担任球队的篮球运营总裁。
瓦塞尔表示，波波维奇在西部半决赛期间为球队提供的帮助并不局限于与球员的个人交流。
格雷格·波波维奇在今天马刺对阵森林狼的第五场比赛前的投篮训练中与球员们交谈 pic.twitter.com/pJSS9Gyb09
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) May 12, 2026
“他帮了大忙，”瓦塞尔说，“在录像分析课上，他提供了很多帮助。他拥有如此深邃的智慧，这些是你不能视作理所当然的。你必须学会提问，而他总能帮你解惑。”
瓦塞尔拒绝透露球队从这位名人堂成员那里得到的“反馈”细节。
“我不能泄露波波教练所有的秘密，”瓦塞尔说，“他教了我们很多，比如要更有身体对抗性、做好准备、用双脚起跳打球。目前我只能说这么多。”
瓦塞尔表示，波波维奇为球员个人提供建议的多少“取决于具体情况”。
“他与每个人都有交情，而且每个人的关系都略有不同，”这位职业生涯第六年的球员说道，“他可能会和我聊很久，因为他当了我很长时间的教练，而相比之下，他与某些人的关系可能还没到这一步。”
2026年4月26日星期日，在摩达中心 (Moda Center) 举行的对阵波特兰开拓者 (Portland Trail Blazers) 的NBA季后赛首轮第四场比赛开始前，现居西雅图的马刺队终身粉丝克里斯·斯维达 (Chris Sveda) 举起一件印有前马刺主教练格雷格·波波维奇照片的衬衫。
瓦塞尔说，在与波波维奇的任何对话中，你总能期待得到诚实的回答。他从不粉饰太平。
“他会告诉你真相，而这正是你需要听到的，因为周围可能会有很多废话，”瓦塞尔说，“但你需要听真话，需要了解实际情况，他肯定会做到这一点。”
瓦塞尔被要求分享他从波波维奇那里得到的最好建议，无论是关于篮球还是生活。
“这是一个非常好的问题，”他说，“在篮球方面，他总是向我强调要更有对抗性、更有侵略性，并且要尊重比赛。这是一件大事，尊重比赛，不要把这一切视为理所当然。”
“在生活方面，他教了我很多场外的东西，无论是关于家庭还是回馈社区，他总是把这些放在首位，我为此非常感激他。”
马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 和他的许多球员一样也是季后赛的新面孔，他在季后赛开始时曾表示，他会向波波维奇寻求建议。
在波波维奇中风后，39岁的约翰逊在2024-25赛季担任马刺队的代理主教练，随后马刺队正式任命他为波波维奇的接班人。约翰逊在波波维奇麾下担任了几个赛季的助理教练，他称波波维奇为自己的恩师。
“对我来说，他显然是反馈、想法和创意的持续来源，也是我可以请教的人，所以我知道我会继续这样做，”约翰逊在谈到波波维奇时说道。波波维奇执教过284场季后赛，在NBA历史上排名第二，仅次于菲尔·杰克逊 (Phil Jackson) 的333场。
约翰逊称赞波波维奇在为他和他的教练组提供咨询时，能够做到点到为止而不强加干涉。
“他做得非常好，分享了他拥有的许多智慧和经验，同时也允许我们这个团队以及我个人去独立经历这一切，”约翰逊说，“我们球队今年的历程与之前的任何一支球队都不同。这与他带过的许多球队经历季后赛时并无二致。虽然有很多相似之处，但没有两支球队是完全一样的。对我来说很幸运，他在这些方面把握得非常好，设定了一个极佳的平衡点。”
“我计划在接下来的几周内肯定会再和他进行一些交流。”
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：How Gregg Popovich has aided Spurs in their playoff clash with Wolves
How Gregg Popovich has aided Spurs in their playoff clash with Wolves
FILE - San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich smiles during the NBA basketball team’s media day, Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Gregg Popovich rarely sits alone when he watches the Spurs toward the end of their shootarounds and practices at the Victory Capital Performance Center.
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Keldon Johnson stopped by for a chat at Tuesday morning’s walk-through. So did rookie Carter Bryant.
“When we’re done with this, I’m going to go talk to him for a little bit,” forward Devin Vassell told reporters.
For a team involved in a hotly contested second-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Spurs are grateful they have the five-time NBA champion coaching legend available to them as a valuable resource.
That’s especially true for playoff newcomers like Johnson, Bryant and Vassell.
“You’re talking about the greatest coach pretty much of all time to be able to sit here and tell you the experiences he’s been through or what he’s seen,” Vassell said. “That’s second to none.”
Popovich, 77, retired from coaching in May 2025 after suffering a stroke five games into the 2024-25 season. The NBA’s all-time winningest coach remains the team’s president of basketball operations.
Vassell indicated the assistance Popovich has provided the team during the Western Conference semifinals hasn’t been limited to just individual conversations with players.
Gregg Popovich talked with players during shootaround today ahead of the Spurs Game 5 versus the Timberwolves pic.twitter.com/pJSS9Gyb09
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) May 12, 2026
“He helps out a lot,” Vassell said. “The film session, he helped out a lot. He just has so much wisdom, and that’s just stuff you can’t take for granted. You got to be able to ask questions and he’ll be able to help you out.”
Vassell declined to go into detail about the “feedback” the team has received from the Hall of Famer.
“I can’t give away all coach Pop’s secrets,” Vassell said. “He gives us a lot, but just being more physical, being ready, playing off two feet. I’ll just say that for now.”
Vassell said how much advice Popovich offers players individually “depends on the situation.”
“He has a relationship with everybody and everybody’s relationship is a little bit different,” the sixth-year pro said. “He might talk to me for a while because he’s been my coach for a long time compared to somebody who he might not have the same relationship with.”
Life-long San Antonio Spurs fan Chris Sveda, who lives in Seattle, holds up a shirt with a picture of former Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich before the start of Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
What can always be expected in any conversation with Popovich is honesty, Vassell said. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything.
“He’s telling you the truth and that’s what you need to hear because there’s a lot of BS that might go around,” Vassell said. “But you need to hear the truth, you need to hear what’s going on, and he’ll do that for sure.”
Vassell was asked to share the best advice he ever received from Popovich whether it be in basketball or life.
“That’s a really good question,” he said. "Basketball-wise, he always just preached to me about being more physical and being the aggressor and respecting the game. That’s one big thing, respecting the game and not taking any of this for granted.
“And just with life, he’s taught me so much stuff off the court, whether it’s family or giving back in the community, he’s always had that at his forefront and I appreciate him for that.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, a newcomer to the playoffs like so many of his players, said at the start of the postseason he would lean on Popovich for advice.
The Spurs named Johnson, 39, as Popovich’s successor after he served as the Spurs acting coach in 2024-25 following the stroke. Johnson calls Popovich his mentor after serving several seasons under him as an assistant coach.
“He’s, for me, obviously a constant resource of feedback and thoughts and ideas and someone I can ask questions to, so I know I will continue to do that,” Johnson said of Popovich, whose 284 playoff games coached ranks second on the NBA’s career chart to Phil Jackson’s 333.
Johnson praised Popovich for counseling him and his staff without being intrusive.
“He’s done a great job of sharing a lot of wisdom and experiences he’s had and then also allowing the group and us and myself to go through it on our own as well,” Johnson said. "Our team has a journey we’ve been through this year that is not the same as any team before us. No different than his many, many teams that went through it. There were a lot of similarities, but not one was the same as the other. Fortunately for me, he’s kind of really set the tone of a really good balance of all that.
“And I plan to definitely have some conversations with him in the next couple of weeks.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News