Rich Eisen Reacts to Gregg Popovich Stepping Down as the Spurs’ Head Coach | The Rich Eisen Show

Uh Sham’s reporting for ESPN and its family of networks that Greg Papovich will no longer be the coach of the San Antonio Spurs and that he’s going to go fulltime into the role of team president, the uh as he refers to him appropriately, iconic Papovich, Hall of Famer, the all-time winningest coach in NBA history. He is no longer going to be the coach. And as we all know, the idea of Greg Papovich, known belovedly in the NBA circles and Spurs circles as Pop, would be the head coach to shepherd Victor Wemyama into his greatness after he did such for Tim Duncan and this franchise with the Admiral in a 29 year stretch for Greg Papovich. It was known as around the NBA circles what’s meant to be, right? It was meant to, you know, obviously many other NBA franchises would be, “What do you mean meant to be?” We would have loved to have mama, but when the Spurs wound up, it’s just like, “Oh, yeah. Here we go again.” Yep. And who better to shepherd this brilliant what looked to appear to be unicorn monstrously large man who can shoot threes, bring the ball up, play defense. Who better to show the ropes of the NBA than to this young man than Papovic? It’s only going to be one year for Greg with Victor Wanyama. As we all know, the man who’s been with this team since taking over as the interim in December of 1996 for Bob Hill, you remember after the Spurs won only three of their first 18 games. It went three and 15. Let’s go to the bench and give Greg Papovic the role. And um everyone knew him as an assistant to Larry Brown. And then he uh had a brief stint under, you know, the uh the great coach Nelson, Don Nelson with Golden State and he took over the team. And Rich, I’m old enough to remember when people were like, “Who’s Papovic? He’s the GM. like how’s I can remember there was like push back at that time of course and and then they wound up as you know not performing very well under Papovic that season to finish up and wound up with the number one overall pick and took Tim Duncan yada yada yada 22 consecutive playoff seasons later um at least 50 games in 18 straight of those years and five championships the man’s in the Hall of Fame and as we all know he suffered a stroke that caused him to sit out this year or at least hope that he could come back at some point this year after suffering a mild stroke on November 2nd. And then as Shams pointed out in his article on February 27th, he had an emotional meeting with the Spurs saying that he didn’t think he’d be returning to the coaching role this season, aiming for next season. A medical incident on April 15th at a local San Antonio restaurant caused a scare, but everybody said he’d been feeling much better and uh and had been quite present at the team facility throughout the rest of this campaign in which the Spurs made a bold move for Dearron Fox at the trade deadline and have seemingly set things up for the future for Papovic to return, but it’s not going to happen. And I I’ll just say this, what he has meant to the Spurs franchise, what he has meant to basketball as a whole, as we know, he was been he’s been the head coach of the US men’s national basketball team and for the Tokyo Olympics where the US won its fourth consecutive gold medal. He got a 5-year contract extension in 23, which made us all think that it was just going to continue on into a fourth decade on the bench for the San Antonio Spurs. But what he has meant in the other coaches he has set up for success and the other players that he has affected and whose lives he has changed and also his voice. The guy as you know suffered no fools ever. His chitchats in-game with sideline reporters are the stuff of legend. But a very, again, from everybody who’s known him, warm man, red wine lover, but a guy who will use his platform to talk about things other than basketball and talk about life, democracy, this country, what it should stand for, and just damning all the torpedoes and running out of fs to give. Uh, his voice in that role will be missed. and I I do hope he is in fact well enough to be the full-time president of this team and continue on in a capacity that does affect wins and losses more in the wins column for the San Antonio Spurs. So, just wanted to say that and wish the Spurs organization the best of luck as you know they they move into the draft lottery again with Wanyama hopefully coming back healthy and then there’s the the the idea of what they’re going to do at the coaching spot and I’m sure that will be uh addressed sooner rather than later. Catch the Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from 12 to 3:00 p.m.

Rich Eisen reacts to the announcement of Gregg Popovich stepping down as the San Antonio Spurs’ head coach.

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21 comments

  4. Not surprised by Pop's decision. Anyone who has experienced a stroke knows that he/she is even more susceptible to another stroke. Plus Nba head coaching is a stressful and emotionally-charged job. Good decision. Take care Pops.

  5. Love you Pop, glad to hear you are taking your health seriously. We have been honored to have you as our HC all of these years. Go Spurs Go!

  6. Being a Spurs fan, it was kind of expected, but I have no doubt Pop will still be involved a ton with our guys. he just wont be on the sidelines during games and going on road trips and stuff.

  7. Great man, coach and example for millions across multiple generations. As a Lakers fan I've cursed his name many times; however always paid respect to this outstanding human being.

  16. Why does Rich Eisen have another guy in the studio with him whose only job is to say, "Uh-huh," "Yeah," and "Okay" while Rich talks. Why bother at all? Why do you need to pretend like someone besides your audience is listening to what you're saying?

  17. Single greatest coach of my era, hands down. Phil doesn't even come close. The culture Pop built and the consistency in upholding that culture for as long as he did is a massive achievement. No one player was bigger than the Spurs he would say, and he meant it, and his players embraced it. As a small market franchise he built championship teams for almost 20 years through savvy drafting, player development and a little bit of luck I'll admit. And, he accomplished this under the constraints of a modest budget and a player culture opposed to signing with small market teams.

  21. A legendary coach, sad that he lost his wife in a car accident and that he had a stroke. That being said, he was way too angry all the time & I hope he finds peace

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