LeBron James Outlines What Made San Antonio Spurs Hard to Beat, 'You Got Pop...'

Before LeBron James and Stephen Curry became the perennial NBA playoff matchup, James squared off against the San Antonio Spurs three times in the Finals, beating them only once in 2013.

Between Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, and later Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs were able to exert two-way dominance, sweeping James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 and posting the biggest points differential in NBA Finals history in 2014.

James recently revealed what made the Spurs so hard to play against during their dynasty.

“When you play the Spurs, not only are you trying to defeat the Hall of Fame players, you’re also trying to defeat the Hall of Fame coach,” outlined LeBron James on his Mind the Game podcast.

Regardless of whoever James was trying to beat, Popovich was standing on the sidelines, orchestrating the Spurs with precision rarely seen on an NBA court. He approached the game like no coach ever has, leading to unparalleled success.

“Was Pop a spy in the military?” asked Steve Nash. “He spoke Russian. He came from the Air Force Academy. I think he was on his way to be an agent for the United States government. And you’re trying to win a basketball game against him.”

Popovich did in fact serve in Turkey and Eastern Europe, as well as some other places he may or may not be allowed to talk about. It is rather odd that he found a career as a basketball coach, which was likely never the plan.

“You look to the sideline, and you got Pop over there, and he’s like, he’s like on the floor as well, but standing on the sideline,” James continued. “They’re not going to beat themselves. You know that. So you’re already mentally drained before you even get into it. It’s like you start to put more pressure on yourself, saying we’ve got to play perfect basketball.”

During the clinical 2014 NBA Finals, the Spurs beat the Miami Heat by 19, 21, and then 17 points to close out the series in five games. In the final three games, the Spurs averaged 157 more passes than the Heat per game.

It’s impossible to outrun the basketball, and James had no answer for the greatest coach in NBA history.

Check out the Inside the Spurs home page for more news, analysis, and must-read articles.

LeBron James Outlines What Made San Antonio Spurs Hard to Beat, ‘You Got Pop…’

Tags: