{"id":902,"date":"2026-06-08T15:40:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:40:27","slug":"the-spurs-secret-weapon-this-postseason-a-former-coach-offering-pearls-of-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902","title":{"rendered":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The San Antonio Spurs had just lost Game 3 of the Western Conference finals in demoralizing fashion. Oklahoma City had beaten them by 15 points on the Spurs\u2019 home court to take a 2-1 series lead, and San Antonio decided to have a closed-door meeting immediately following the game.<\/p>\n

Read more Idris Elba says him playing James Bond not \u2018realistic,\u2019 some audiences won\u2019t accept \u2018Black male\u2019 in role<\/a><\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t just any team meeting, though. In the locker room were front office personnel, trainers, various staff \u2014 people who wouldn\u2019t normally be in there postgame. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe closed the doors. \u2018We don\u2019t let anybody know what\u2019s going on in here,\u2019 Spurs guard De\u2019Aaron Fox later recalled on a Peacock broadcast, evidently breaking the meeting\u2019s one rule. Moments later, the door opened. \u201cWe see Pop come in, and it\u2019s like, \u2018ahhhh,\u2019 \u201d Fox said, raising his voice in excitement.<\/p>\n

Gregg Popovich, the former Spurs head coach, wanted to convey a message to the team. \u201cThat\u2019s BS. That\u2019s not how we play basketball,\u201d he said, according to Fox.<\/p>\n

The Spurs came back to beat the Thunder in seven games and make the NBA Finals, their first appearance since 2014. Not many people expected them to be here, in large part because they have such a young team, centered around Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, all of whom are in their early 20s. Their head coach, Mitch Johnson, is 39 years old, too, and in only his first full season at the helm.<\/p>\n

But San Antonio\u2019s secret weapon this postseason might be Popovich, its former coach who has offered words of wisdom at every critical juncture. He may not be on the bench but he is very much involved on the periphery. He hangs around the practice facility, sits in on film sessions and gives the players pointers, maybe in a quiet conversation to the side of the court or via text message after the game. Or he might deliver his messages in a more forceful way, like in that closed-door meeting in the Western Conference finals. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen he speaks, everybody listens,\u201d Wembanyama said recently.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Popovich is considered one of the best coaches in NBA history. Over 16 seasons, from 1998 to 2014, he led the Spurs to five titles and nurtured Hall of Famers Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu Gin\u00f3bili and Tony Parker. He was known for his attention to detail, his Air Force background, his \u201cPounding the Rock\u201d mantra, coaching the stars as hard as the scrubs and his ability to connect with players on and off the court.<\/p>\n

Popovich was still coaching at 75 years old when he suffered a stroke in November 2024, a few games into the season. Johnson, one of Popovich\u2019s assistants, stepped in as interim coach. When Johnson was elevated to the full-time job in May 2025, the Spurs held a press conference and Popovich made one of his first public appearances since the stroke.<\/p>\n

Popovich moved gingerly and was helped to the lectern by Duncan and Gin\u00f3bili. The two of them had been accompanying him to his rehab appointments, too, and Popovich cracked that they had been giving \u201cthe rehab people new ideas of things to do to me.\u201d He was \u201cgetting better by the day,\u201d he added. \u201cBut it\u2019s not good enough for what we plan ahead,\u201d and that\u2019s why he was stepping aside for Johnson to take over.<\/p>\n

Even then, Popovich recognized the potential of the Spurs\u2019 young core. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some young players who are going to end up being really great players,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 And Mitch Johnson will be the guy that forges their futures. And I\u2019ll do everything I can to help him and help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Popovich said he had a new job, anyway. He removed his jacket, with some help, to reveal a T-shirt underneath. \u201cI\u2019m no longer coach,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m El Jefe\u201d \u2014 which translates to \u201cThe Boss\u201d in Spanish.<\/p>\n

Read more Canada goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair hopes to fulfill a childhood goal at the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Over the past year, Popovich has lived up to that title. He attends practices and shootarounds and makes himself available for questions \u2014 or offers unsolicited advice. \u201cIt can be something as small as boxing someone out on a free throw,\u201d Fox said, \u201cor one extra pass that happened at this point of the game that could have changed the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season, the Spurs exceeded everyone\u2019s expectations. After six consecutive losing seasons, they went 62-20, earned the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, and announced themselves as ahead of schedule. The only lingering question entering the playoffs was: How far could they go with so little playoff experience?<\/p>\n

At several key moments this postseason, Popovich has offered advice to help usher this young team along. Typically, they have responded and risen to the occasion.<\/p>\n

In the second round, the Spurs lost Game 4 in Minnesota, during which Wembanyama was ejected for throwing an elbow near the head of a Timberwolves player. Afterward, the Spurs flew back to San Antonio \u2014 and Popovich met Wembanyama at the airport. \u201cHe maybe wanted to make a statement or make his talking even more impactful by being there,\u201d Wembanyama said. The forward kept his composure as the Spurs won the series.<\/p>\n

In the Western Conference finals, after the Spurs lost Game 5 to the Thunder, Popovich sent a text message to Harper. The young guard had only scored 5 points in the loss. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to find a way to get the job done,\u201d it read, according to Harper. He scored 30 points over the next two games and helped San Antonio close out the series.<\/p>\n

Now in the NBA Finals, San Antonio\u2019s young core is facing another mental hurdle: They lost the first two games of the series, at home, to the New York Knicks. In Game 1, Wembanyama had a particularly poor shooting night and Popovich sent him a text afterward. \u201cIn the big lines, it was that I\u2019ve been bad and I\u2019m better than this,\u201d Wembanyama said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Before San Antonio flew to New York for Game 3, Popovich addressed the team. His message this time? Forget about the first two games. Focus on the next one.<\/p>\n

Popovich has been trying to get them to play more even-keeled for some time now. He talks so often to these young Spurs, it seems they have his voice stuck in their heads. They parrot his words at press conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs Pop says, when you win, you\u2019re never as good as you thought you were. And when you lose, you\u2019re never as bad \u2014 or rarely,\u201d Wembanyama said during Round 2 against Minnesota. \u201cObviously, stay humble and keep working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Kim Jong Un hosts Xi Jinping from a position of rare strength<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gregg Popovich coached San Antonio to five NBA titles, before stepping aside in 2025 after he suffered a stroke. He\u2019s still involved, though, giving advice and guidance behind the scenes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gregg Popovich coached San Antonio to five NBA titles, before stepping aside in 2025 after he suffered a stroke. He\u2019s still involved, though, giving advice and guidance behind the scenes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trusted Moving Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa\"},\"headline\":\"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902\"},\"wordCount\":1150,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"NBA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902\",\"name\":\"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?p=902#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trusted Moving Group\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/trustedmovinggroups.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group","og_description":"Gregg Popovich coached San Antonio to five NBA titles, before stepping aside in 2025 after he suffered a stroke. He\u2019s still involved, though, giving advice and guidance behind the scenes.","og_url":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902","og_site_name":"Trusted Moving Group","article_published_time":"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa"},"headline":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom","datePublished":"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902"},"wordCount":1150,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp","articleSection":["NBA"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902","url":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902","name":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom - Trusted Moving Group","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-08T15:40:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c418dba775f42382117d93e72c41b567.webp","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=902#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Spurs\u2019 secret weapon this postseason? A former coach offering pearls of wisdom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/","name":"Trusted Moving Group","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98cd83efb686ecde03e082abca618eaa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com"],"url":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}