“It starts with Peter at the top, where
he lets us do our jobs right down to the training room, the scouting area, the
management, the whole deal. And everybody knows that, everybody in here knows
they have a piece of this thing. But I’ve never been more proud of a team nor
have I ever gotten as much satisfaction from a season in all the years I’ve
been coaching. To see the fortitude you guys displayed coming back from that horrific loss last
year and getting yourself back in position and doing what you did in the
finals, you’re really to be honored for that. I can’t tell you how much it
means. Thank you very much for everything you’ve allowed me to do.”
With that, the 2014 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs and
their steadfast coach Gregg Popovich signed off on another Championship, their
fifth in the last 17 years. His post game soliloquy wasn’t the stuff of
Hemingway or Shakespeare, but it typifies the logic and the ideals of the man,
the coach, Pop.
Why is he so successful?
NBA teams usually have two buses per team when going
to arenas on the road. The first bus has rookies and bench players, who
struggle to find minutes, riding on it 3 hours before the game and the starters
and high minute players are on the second bus 2 hours before the game. Pop
decided to buck NBA tradition, something he does quite regularly actually. The
Spurs have just one bus. It’s how he thinks a team should travel.
A
tenet of Spurs basketball is the idea of “Good to Great.” In it, Pop gets
players to buy into the idea that great shots are better than good ones and
players must train themselves to make the extra pass without any regard for
their own statistics, egos, etc. Many a player has come and gone through the
Spurs organization that haven’t bought into this premise but his team first
mentality is how the Spurs won the NBA title last month.
Players describe
him as demanding but fair. He doesn’t treat every player the same but he does
treat them fairly. He is without filters and doesn’t warm to a media that trolls
the waters of inane questions for the rare controversial sound bite. He is
short and curt in many interviews and sometimes comes off on-air as a jerk.
Something his wife chides him for but doesn’t seem to faze Pop. He is who he
is, genuine, 100% real.
He is great with
people. He remembers player’s families and spouses and details of their lives,
something that players see and appreciate. Sure, he’ll get on his players at
times, but there is never a doubt that Pop cares for his guys or wants what’s
best for them, a palpable trust. “Relationships with people are
what it's all about.” Pop says. “You have to make players realize you care
about them. And they have to care about each other and be interested in each
other. Then they start to feel a responsibility toward each other. Then they
want to do for each other.”
In an industry of
players going to the highest bidders and owners stockpiling talent to bypass
the idea of player development, Pop and the Spurs front office have kept three
core players together since MTV introduced ‘The Osborne’s’. Adding a smaller
piece to that core makes it easier for everyone to adapt, which would explain
why San Antonio has been in the playoffs the last 17 years in a row and has won
at least 60% of its games every season over that stretch, the best run in
professional sports over that time period.
Pop had to compete
for playing time at the Air Force Academy and it bolstered his competitiveness
and drive. When he would point out to
his college coach how well he had played in that day’s practice, his coach
simply told him, over and over, “Shut up and play.”
He has tasted
failure and knows what humble means, going 2-22 his first season as a college
coach and losing to a team that gained national attention by dropping 310
straight conference games.
He took a sabbatical into
his college coaching career to intern with Larry Brown at Kansas. He learned
much from his time with Brown and his growth mindset is still a staple of what
makes Pop so successful. He listened to his players when they approached him
about their being able to fulfill other roles on the team and adapted his team,
using those suggestions, to make them better. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t
his idea, it just mattered if it worked or not. In his coaching staff, yes men
are not welcome and new ideas are encouraged and expected.
Current Golden State
Warriors Coach Steve Kerr told about his run in with Pop when he was out of the
rotation and sulking. Instead of ignoring Kerr and yelling and screaming, Pop
simply said, “Your body language is terrible. I know you're not playing, but
you're a pro who's always handled yourself well, and now you're not. It doesn't
look right, and I need you on the bench.” Kerr appreciated the honest wake-up
call and returned to the bench, gladly.
Pop will also make the culture surrounding
his team fun. “One of the ways you do that is let them think you're a little crazy,
that you're interested in things outside of basketball.” He says. “Are there
weapons of mass destruction? Or aren't there? What, don't you read the papers?
You have to give the message that the world is wider than a basketball
court."
He’s also an outside the box thinker in a
sport where xeroxing the personnel and playbook of the championship flavor of
the month is the status quo. The Spurs were the quintessential defensive
equivalent of a wall through most of the mid to late 2000’s but a slew of international
youth, surrounding his core, gave his team a chance to out run and gun teams
the last few years. A bad one minute of basketball in game 6 of the 2013 NBA
Championship cost his team a chance to repeat this year. He learned from his
mistakes and let his horses run this year, played the bench more but never wavered
in his expectations of them and they delivered in the most crucial time of the
season. The San Antonio bench outscored Miami’s reserves by 76 points over the
5 game series; Trust and faith.
Why is Pop so successful? Because he is a
coach, the kind of coach we should aspire to be with the responsibilities and
attributes that the best in our profession hold up for us to follow.
Thanks Pop.
