The Tao of Pop
HIGH STANDARDS Under Popovich, the Spurs could be creative, versatile and even unpredictable on offense, but a commitment to tough D was nonnegotiable. When he became the Spurs’ coach three decades ago, no one imagined would be one of the NBA’s defining figures. As he steps away, raise a glass—a nice Château d’Yquem, ideally—to a man whose impact goes far beyond wins and rings by Jack McCallum photograph by Greg Nelson Sports Illustrated - July 2025 THE NBA was in a transitional state when Gregg Popovich was named general manager of the San Antonio Spurs before the 1994–95 season, a transaction that was big news only in Alamo City. The holy triumvirate upon which the NBA had built its brand over the past decade was gone: Michael Jordan to minor league baseball, Larry Bird to the Celtics’ front office, Magic Johnson to a kind of purgatory owing to his HIV-positive condition. With those exits (Jordan returned for five complete seasons, as we all know, and Magic had a...