Peak 'Road Pop' performance features coach not ready to slow down

While Saturday's Hall of Fame induction ceremony brought some cathartic closure to the Big 3 era, Gregg Popovich seemed like someone still ready to burn the candle at both ends.

Photo courtesy of NBA TV

There was a feeling of finality over the weekend, though it wasn’t as thudding as it was cathartic. For all intents and purposes, Tony Parker donning his orange Hall of Fame jacket with the help of Ronny Turiaf and Boris Diaw marked the end of the Big 3’s era — at least from the storytelling side of the ledger. The Spurs, on the other hand, see things a little differently.

San Antonio will almost assuredly recognize Parker’s induction at a home game next season, but other than that, the ceremonies, speeches, and all other formal post-retirement parties have ended, and so has an incredible three-summer run for the organization. Tim Duncan took his place in the Hall of Fame in 2021, Manu Ginobili in 2022, and now Parker’s had his chance at nationally televised recognition as part of one of the greatest trios to ever play the sport together. It’s likely going to be a while before we see another Spur speak into a microphone in Springfield, Mass., but the last three years have given San Antonio a chance to celebrate off the court while its team has struggled on it.

Still, as mentioned previously, the Spurs don’t see the final Big 3 enshrinement as the end of anything. Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News spoke with SS&E CEO R.C. Buford over the weekend for his Sunday column, for which Buford commented, “I don’t know that we look at it as starting a new chapter.”

Perhaps it’s semantics, or maybe just what the eye of the beholder views in a certain light. But given the continuity of the San Antonio organization, as well as the real presence its retired players have around the program following their playing days, it’s probably easier for the group between those walls to view what they’ve put together as a story that’s still being written. Both Duncan and Parker swing by the practice facility whenever they’d like, and Ginobili is there every day as a special advisor working with players. But the real reason the Spurs are still the Spurs is not just that Buford and all the former players still feel great responsibility toward the franchise, but that the man in charge is still as committed as ever.

The endlessly energetic Gregg Popovich had his showman hat on Saturday night, displaying a type of range we’ve only seen in bits and pieces over the years. He transitioned seamlessly from shushing a rowdy audience member (who obviously obeyed), to speaking about how he grew to love the game and where he was taught discipline, to thanking everyone who impacted and influenced his life, to giving a rare glimpse of his typically private family life, and even to blowing through music that tried to play him off and sending Ahmad Rashad backstage until his speech was officially over. He was in his element — one that many outsiders may not have known was part of his very being.

On Saturday night, he was peak “Road Pop,” a phrase folks who have been covering the team for many years have coined to describe the different person he becomes at press conferences when he’s away from the boring monotony of home base. He gets tired of answering the same questions from the same people 100 times a year in San Antonio, and oftentimes the abruptness of his interviews in what was formerly known as the AT&T Center made that crystal clear. (It’s always great when a former player or coach working in broadcasting is in the room, because he lights up in a way he does not when he sees our faces for the umpteenth night in a row.)

But put Pop on a stage in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, with a massive media throng awaiting one of its only chances during any given season to talk to the winningest coach of all time, and he will put on a show. Talk to him in a small room in the bowels of a small-market arena with only a handful of reporters, and he’ll be personable and conversational. Interesting places, new faces, and fresh lines of questioning give him reason to actually enjoy fulfilling his media duties.

And yet, who we saw during the induction ceremony wasn’t only a man who’d been waiting for this “unimaginable” honor for years, or who was ready to open up about his life and that of his family, or who was ready to put on the ultimate “Road Pop” performance. He seemed like someone who doesn’t feel as though he’s finished with the job. There may have been a feeling of Big 3 finality as Parker took his place of honor alongside Duncan and Ginobili while their newly minted Hall of Fame coach spoke, but Pop’s engines were still clearly running hot. They have been since the Spurs’ final game in Dallas last season.

You may hear remarks out there, whether serious or not, that Pop is sticking around because the team landed Victor Wembanyama, or that a five-year, $80 million contract is enough to keep anybody from calling it quits. But while none of that hurts matters — he’s joked (or more accurately, half-joked) about the money being the reason he’s still coaching — it’s doubtful Pop’s return was contingent on where the team selected in the NBA Draft.

During exit interviews on the final day of the season, he went on about his excitement for the lottery, the draft process, getting his guys back in the gym, primary focuses for next season, and the types of improvements he wanted to see from individual players. By the end of that presser, it didn’t feel like there was a need to ask whether he was retiring (though that question had already been asked many times in the days and weeks prior). Any betting man would’ve listened to him speak and wager this was a coach who was ready to do it all over again whether Wemby was in the fold or not.

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Pop’s energy is infectious. The induction ceremony provided evidence of that, and it was something his players attested to all of last season. They loved playing for him and they loved learning from him, both on and off the court. But while this is still very much a developing team, and even though the “soft” version of Pop (relatively speaking) is likely here to stay, the tides are about to turn now that they’ve won the offseason’s grand prize. The basketball is going to get serious sooner rather than later and the adjustments are coming, both from a personnel and tactical standpoint.

One of Pop’s greatest traits over the course of his career has been his ability to shift focuses and approaches. Depending on how you define eras in the NBA, he’s transitioned through at least three stylistic sea changes — from the days of two big men, to the league-wide uptick in pace and pick-and-roll, to the wide-open, floor-spacing, 3-point chucking game you see today. Now he’s got a different task in front of him: converting his young roster from a group of kids learning the NBA game to one that has to go out and step on opponents’ necks.

The Spurs love the players they have in that locker room, and drafting Wemby provided a talent spike that was as needed as daily water intake. But they are not battle-tested, and it’s been several years since the 74-year-old coach has had to morph into Playoff Pop, which is a different animal than the patient teacher he’s become in recent seasons. This isn’t to say the competitive juices aren’t still flowing — he said during his Hall of Fame media session it was the competition that’s kept him coming back — but there’s still a lengthy runway ahead before this team is truly ready for takeoff.

We can throw out somewhat educated guesses based on historical timelines of rebuilding teams, but it’s impossible to pinpoint when this group is going to be ready to compete for a title. And while San Antonio has always preferred continuity in its roster-building strategy, one can’t simply assume the team’s primary core will be the same in four years as it is now. Basketball is too unpredictable, and the NBA landscape can change drastically with one single move or, unfortunately, one single injury.

And in the same vein, it’s impossible to know who will be coaching the team when it’s time to win. But health permitting, it wouldn’t be surprising if the loyal Popovich honors the full five-year contract, and one would expect this team will be setting its sights on the playoffs within the next couple of seasons when the education process hits the steep part of the learning curve. It remains to be seen whether or not he intends to spend all five seasons on the bench or potentially move fully into the role of team president (a title he already holds), but it appears as though Pop is at least going to be around to see this rebuild through to the end.

More than once he’s referred to himself and his peers in the NBA coaching fraternity as “sick puppies” because of the love they have for this oftentimes life-consuming occupation. Even at his age, Pop has said all along he’s got no interest in skipping steps in his players’ developmental process, and his exuberance and clear excitement for the immediate future and beyond paint the picture of a man who’s still ready to burn the candle at both ends.

Pop’s self-imposed timeline has remained consistent: The day he wakes up in the morning and doesn’t feel like going to work is the day he’ll know it’s time to retire. But at the moment, he seems about as happy as he’s ever been to clock in and continue writing the Spurs’ story.

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