{"id":2257,"date":"2026-05-31T19:09:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T19:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2026-05-31T19:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T19:09:56","slug":"victor-wembanyamas-respect-for-gregg-popovich-is-clear-and-pop-was-vital-to-spurs-nba-finals-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2257","title":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama’s respect for Gregg Popovich is clear. And Pop was vital to Spurs’ NBA Finals run"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
FILE – With the help of former players Manu Ginobili, back left, and Tim Duncan, right, former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, center, introduces Mitch Johnson, left, as the new head coach of the San Antonio Spurs NBA basketball team, in San Antonio, May 5, 2025. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay, File)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama barely could get the words out.<\/p>\n

The question, a few minutes after he and the San Antonio Spurs won the Western Conference title and earned the right to go to this year\u2019s NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks, was about his relationship with former coach Gregg Popovich and what this playoff run likely means to the winningest coach in league history.<\/a><\/p>

Read more Acu\u00f1a powers Braves past Reds 5-2 with 2 more homers as Atlanta hits 40 wins<\/a><\/p>\n

And Wembanyama paused, clearly emotional, before starting his answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what it means for him,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cThat\u2019s a guy who\u2019s got more experience as a coach than almost anybody and has been through so many things in his career and so many things right now as \u2018El Jefe.\u2019<\/a> He goes through some things we can\u2019t even imagine. So, I need to call him. I need to see him. I need to talk to him because there\u2019s no way I can understand right now how he feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

The official title for the 77-year-old Popovich is President of Spurs Basketball. Unofficially, the Basketball Hall of Famer may as well be coach emeritus \u2014 still regularly seen at practices in San Antonio, still seen at games, sometimes walking with the assistance of a cane. He\u2019s still in the ears of players and coaches, even visiting the locker room after the Spurs lost Game 3 of the West finals to Oklahoma City for a bit of a pep talk and bit of a chewing out, depending on perspective.<\/p>\n

But really, he\u2019s El Jefe. The boss. It\u2019s what he announced himself as when he retired last year, speaking publicly for the first time since the November 2024 stroke that essentially ended his coaching career and led to Mitch Johnson getting the job on basically a couple hours\u2019 notice. He came out for that event in a jacket, then opened it to display the shirt with \u201cEl Jefe\u201d on the front.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou talk about the greatest coach pretty much of all time to be able to sit here and tell you the experiences that they went through or that he\u2019s been through or that he sees,\u201d Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s second to none, honestly. He helps out. He helps out a lot. … He just has so much wisdom and stuff that you can\u2019t take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Game 1 of the Knicks-Spurs series is Wednesday in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Knicks coach Mike Brown saw first-hand how Popovich operated the Spurs; he spent three years as an assistant coach under him in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Brown still has family members living in San Antonio \u2014 causing him to joke a few days ago that a Knicks-Spurs matchup in the NBA Finals would save him a little bit of money because he wouldn\u2019t have to fly as many people in to see games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe still has a huge presence. He will always have a presence,\u201d Brown said of Popovich. \u201cThe job that he\u2019s done, not only on the court with that team or that organization but off the court too, is going to be imprinted for as long as the game of basketball exists. His presence is very, very much felt all the time and I\u2019ve got a lot of respect for the organization for a lot of different reasons.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Marlins place pitcher Janson Junk on the 15-day IL with shin inflammation<\/a><\/p>\n

And Popovich still commands that respect, even now.<\/p>\n

Popovich met the Spurs at the airport after they flew home from Games 3 and 4 of their West semifinal series against Minnesota a couple weeks ago \u2014 for a purpose. Wembanyama was ejected from Game 4 for a flagrant elbow he threw at Timberwolves forward Naz Reid. When Wembanyama got off the plane, Popovich was waiting. Cameras caught the exchange and it was pretty clear that Popovich was doing the talking and Wembanyama was doing the listening.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gives feedback and talks to us regularly,\u201d Wembanyama said, without disclosing what Popovich\u2019s message was that afternoon.<\/p>\n

Popovich won five NBA championships as San Antonio\u2019s coach, the first of those coming in 1999 when the Spurs beat the New York Knicks. The next era of Spurs basketball is here, with Johnson coaching, and it\u2019s an interesting coincidence that his first finals as Spurs coach is against the Knicks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fortunate my old boss is still around, and has been through this a few times,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cCoach Pop has been a resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the immediate aftermath of his biggest win yet \u2014 the one that got him to his first of what he hopes is many NBA Finals \u2014 Wembanyama simply could not wait to talk to El Jefe.<\/p>\n

When I talk to him, it\u2019s going to be only stored in my head \u2014 except if I record it in secret,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cBut I need to talk to him, so quick.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are more lessons to learn. There are four more wins to get. And Wembanyama knows that if anyone truly knows the way to those wins, it\u2019s Popovich.<\/p>

Read more Pete Crow-Armstrong homers and has 4 hits in the Cubs\u2019 6-1 win over the Cardinals<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney in Greenburgh, New York, contributed.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nba<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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