This time, Gregg Popovich didn’t have to worry about the x’s and o’s needed to beat the Knicks.
The legendary Spurs coach attended Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs on Wednesday night in San Antonio in a rematch of the championship series from 1999 that earned him his first Larry O’Brien trophy and ignited the Spurs’ dynastic era.
The ABC broadcast captured the 77-year-old Popovich, who serves as San Antonio’s president of basketball operations, sitting in a suite at Frost Bank Center.
For Popovich, this series offers an enjoyable trip down memory lane since he won the first of his five championships 27 years ago when the Spurs beat the Knicks in five games.
San Antonio also won championships under the Hall of Famer’s tutelage in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
Popovich coached some of these Spurs last year before he stepped away from his position after just five games following a health scare.
He posted a 1,390-824 record in his 29 season leading the franchise.
Popovich still stays close to the team, especially with phenom Victor Wembanyama, and helped the team upset the defending champion Thunder in the semifinals.
The former coach gave the team an earful after its Game 3 home loss to Oklahoma City, and the Spurs responded with a resounding 103-82 Game 4 win to even the series at 2-2.
The Spurs ultimately triumped in seven games to earn their first Finals bid in 12 years.
“We lost Game 3 … but that was the first time he walked into the locker room and was like, ‘Nah, that’s BS. That’s not how we play basketball,’ and obviously he had some choice words for us,” Spurs star guard De’Aaron Fox told NBC after the May 24 victory. “That was the first time all season that he came into the locker room right after a game and told us how he felt.”
The Spurs are hoping this postseason run can begin a similar dynastic era to the one Popovich oversaw, with the new core of Wembanyama and young guards Dylan Harper and Stefon Castle leading the way.
