J-Speaks: A Life Lost for Spurs Head Coach

This has been a season unlike any other for the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. They star two-way player in All-Star Kawhi Leonard missed all but nine games during the regular season. Their streak of 20 consecutive seasons with a winning road record and 19 straight seasons of 50-plus regular season wins was snapped. If that was not enough, they finished No. 7 in the rugged Western Conference and drew the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors in the opening round and are now down 3-0 facing elimination on Sunday afternoon. That pails in comparison to the personal loss loss their future Hall of Fame head coach sustained near the close of this week. 

Erin Popovich, the wife of Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich passed away in the middle of this week from an undisclosed illness. She was 67 years old. 

The Spurs organization made the heartbreaking news official on Wednesday. No further details were provided by the team. 

“We mourn the loss of Erin,” Spurs general manager RC Buford said in a statement. “She was a strong, wonderful, kind, intelligent woman who provided love, support and humor to all of us.” 

Coach Popovich and his now late wife Erin have two children and two grandchildren. They first met at the Air Force Academy in the 1970s when he was an assistant coach for the Falcons under head coach Hank Egan, who later became an assistant under Popovich for the Spurs. Mrs. Popovich’s father, Jim Conboy was the athletic trainer for the Academy’s basketball team. 

Popovich has been the head coach of the Spurs since 1996, leading them as mentioned earlier to five Larry O’Brien trophies. 

He ran Spurs’ practice before their Game 3 tilt with the Warriors back at home on Thursday night. 

Upon hearing of Coach Popovich’s wife passing, players and coaches amongst the other playoff teams paid their respects after hearing of the devastating news. 

“Obviously I’m a huge ‘Pop’ fan. I love Pop,” four-time league MVP LeBron James, who had 46 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals in Game 2 versus the Indiana Pacers to tie their First-Round series 1-1 said to TNT sideline reporter Allie LaForce while fighting back tears about the passing of Mrs. Popovich. “That’s such a tragedy and my best wishes go out to Pop and his family. That’s devastating news.” 

“The NBA family we all stick together. I know we compete every night, but when something like this happens it puts everything in perspective. So, I send my well wishes and my prayers up to the heavens above. I know the man above never makes a mistake, even when sometimes you have to ask why, but that’s just terrible news.” 

“Best of luck to Pop and everybody down in San Antonio. The whole Spurs family. That’s all I can say Allie.” 

Hall of Famer of the Boston Celtics and 11-time NBA champion Bill Russell sent a tweet out @RealBillRussell, “I was shocked and saddened to hear on @NBAonTNT of the passing of#ErinPopovich wife of @spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, died today. They were married for four decades. My heart goes out to him & his family. @NBA” 

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said after his team’s 102-95 loss versus the Utah Jazz in Game 2 that tied that series up at 1-1 told a story about how five years back he spent some time with Coach Popovich for three days when he was still the head man at the University of Florida and the memory that he took from that experience was how gracious he was to him. That he welcomed him with open arms, even taking him to dinner. 

Donovan also said that when he got the head coaching job with the Thunder three seasons back, Coach Popovich continued to reach out to him and when he heard the news of Mrs. Popovich’s sudden passing it was upsetting to him. 

“My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” Donovan said during his postgame presser. “I was really moved by it when I found the news out after the game was over with, and I really feel bad for him and his family, and my prayers and thoughts are with them.” 

Reigning Finals MVP Kevin Durant of the Warriors echoed the sentiments from James about the NBA being one family saying, “This game is a beautiful game. Brings people together. You build friendships from playing the game. You get so much support from so many people that you’d never cross paths with if it wasn’t for basketball.” 

“I just want Pop to know the whole NBA family is supporting him and got his back through it all,” he said. “It’s bigger than the game. It’s bigger than winning and losing. It’s about the brotherhood we built as NBA players and everybody in the NBA family.” 

The sentiments that the two most recent former MVP’s and one of the greats to ever play the game come from a place of respect for a man in Coach Popovich who was more than just a guy who coached X’s and O’s. 

Coach Popovich was a man who is one of the most philanthropic people in the world, who spends considerable amounts of time and money giving back to the San Antonio community by working with several charities and non-profits like the city’s Food Bank and Innocence Project. Popovich also has taken part in an organization called Shoes That Fit, whose aim is to deliver shoes to more than 200 students at Gates Elementary School.

To bring the kind of person Coach Popovich is into a clearer context, Hall of Famer, four-time NBA champion and NBATV/NBA on TNT studio analyst Shaquille O’Neal said during the Thursday night edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia about how when he was in high school in 1989 and the family could not afford a pair of 1918 shoes that he wanted. So, his father, the late Sgt. Harrison drove over the Spurs facility and after a conversation he had with Popovich, who was an assistant then gave him a pair of shoes to give to his son. 

Coach Pop showed graciousness in that moment even when O’Neal in his first encounter with the now Spurs head coach disrespected that day. 

“My father told me, ‘Don’t ever disrespect a military man again,’” O’Neal said his father told him. 

Even after that moment of transgression, O’Neal said that Coach Popovich was always, “Nice and gracious, and courteous,” to him from that point, through his NBA career on the hardwood and today as a media personality, and that he loves him and his family to this very day. 

“I can’t imagine what he’s going through. Married to his lovely wife for 40 years and she’s not with us anymore. My thoughts and prayers go out Pop. The Spurs organization, his grandchildren, his kids. I’m sure he’s feeling it right now.” 

Going back to the kind of coach Mr. Popovich is, TNT studio analyst Kenny Smith probably said it best that his greatness is in the fact that Popovich has created a culture of basketball that everyone emulates or tries to. That culture was created from how he runs his household and how rare it is that someone of Coach Popovich’s magnitude is different inside their home as well as outside of it. 

One big part of that culture which goes beyond basketball is that everyone matters. That regardless of your ethnicity, political affiliation or religion, everyone should be treated with dignity and respect. That is why we have seen very often Popovich speak up for human rights, but African American rights in a very articulate way, when he does not have to. 

“He understands how it effects other people around him,” Smith said about when Popovich has given his views about the climate of our nation when it comes to how minorities are viewed and profiled at times in the era of President Donald Trump. “So, everyone understands what Pop is about. There’s no mistake.” 

Smith also said that the appreciation that Coach Popovich had for his wife, Erin, and the appreciation she had for him was second to none, and that she had the biggest impact on him in terms of teaching him the culture of how to raise men in the NBA. That ability to communicate and get the best out of his players is how he had an amazing connectivity with the star players of the Spurs teams he has coach like two-time NBA champion with the Spurs David Robinson; future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, who was a part of all five Spurs titles; Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and Leonard. 

“We understand that there had to be some great woman beside him to help him articulate that. Feel that and nourish that, and relay that to the players that he coaches today,” Smith said of the impact Coach Popovich’s wife Erin had on him and the kind of person as well as head coach the Spurs community has seen on and off the hardwood the past 20-plus years.

While Coach Popovich lost his beloved wife of 40 years, two children lost their father, and the grandchildren lost their grandfather. NBA on TNT commentators Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller in preparation for their Game 2 broadcast between the Spurs and Warriors on Monday night, they met with Pop and before discussing the game, he opened his phone and showed him a picture of one of his grandkids. 

This really hit home for lead host of “Inside the NBA” Ernie Johnson, Jr. the only grandfather amongst him, O’Neal, Smith, and Charles Barkley. 

“I can relate, and for me and Cheryl, one of the joys of our lives is enjoying these grandchildren and watching them grow up, and watching your kids be parents,” he said. “And now I think about Pop, and I think about him going solo down that road now, and that’s tough. So, we’re praying for you Pop. Praying for the entire family for comfort and piece in a really tough time.”

So, it probably did not come as any surprise to anyone watching when Popovich was not on the sidelines for Game 3 versus the Warriors on Thursday night on TNT. Assistant coach Ettore Messina who coached the team, a 110-97 defeat that put them in a 3-0 series hole against the No. 2 Seeded defending champs. 

This was the first playoff game Messina coach, but it was not his first time being the head man on the sidelines. The 58-year-old Messina, who has been on the Spurs coaching staff since 2014 after coaching European power CSKA Moscow has won over 10 championships in the Euroleague, Russian SuperLeague and Italian League. He was a two-time Euroleague Coach of the Year and has also coached basketball in Italy and Spain. Before joining the Spurs, Messina served as a coaching consultant for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2011-12 season. 

“We are all hurting,” Ginobili, who played for Messina in Italy in 2001 said at the team’s morning shootaround about the loss of Mrs. Popovich prior to the Game 3 setback. 

“We want to be next to Pop, we want to support him, but we’ve got to go out there and compete today. But, for sure, we are toiling. It’s not an easy day to be here.” 

On Thursday night, the Spurs lost to the Warriors and are one more loss away from their season concluding. That pails in comparison to the organization losing someone who was a big a part of their family in Erin Popovich. On Wednesday, the San Antonio Spurs organization loss a dear person to them. Head Coach Gregg Popovich lost his wife of four decades. His two kids lost their mother and the two grandchildren lost their grandmother. 

In times like this, the best hope is that you have a solid support system of people to lean on to get you through a tough moment. Gregg Popovich and his family have not just the Spurs organization from the players and assistant coaches, but the fans of the “Alamo City” and the entire NBA family from players, coaches and even broadcasters in their corner. 

“There’s nothing you can really say,” Barkley said. “It’s a tough situation. It effects the entire NBA family. It effects the NBA Playoffs…But all you can do man is give him your thoughts and your prayers. That’s all you can do.”

Information and quotations are courtesy of 4/18/18 www.nba.com article “San Antonio Spurs Announce Wife of coach Gregg Popovich Passed Away;” 4/18/19 NBA on TNT “Game Break,” with Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 4/19/18 12 a.m. edition of “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia with Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 4/19/18 www.nba.com article “LeBron James Sets Record Straight On Postgame Interview,” from twitter and media reports; “Wife of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich dies,” from NBA media reports; 4/20/18 www.nba.com article, “Ettore Messina Coaches San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 versus Golden State Warriors,” from NBA media reports; Team-by-Team section of the Sporting News’ “2006-07 Official NBA Guide;” www.nba.com/games/20180419/GSWSAS#/matchup; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Johnson_Jr.#Peronal_life; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_Popovich#Personal_life.