San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich retirement odds: NBA's all-time winningest coach favored to end Hall of Fame career
Will Spurs legendary coach Gregg Popovich return next season? Odds favor no.
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The San Antonio Spurs' season came to an end Wednesday night with a 113-103 loss in New Orleans in an NBA Western Conference play-in tournament game, and immediately future Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich was asked whether he would return next season at age 73. SportsLine offers odds on whether Popovich will be San Antonio's coach to open the 2022-23 season.
Before the 2021-22 campaign began, there were whispers this would be it for Pop – he already is the oldest head coach in NBA history. The thinking was that Popovich would pass Don Nelson as the league's all-time winningest head coach, which he did (1,344 total now), and also lead Team USA to a gold medal in the 2021 Summer Olympics (rescheduled from 2020) as a final cherry on top of his stellar career. The Americans did win gold in Japan.
Popovich became San Antonio's general manager in 1994 and hired himself as head coach to replace Bob Hill in 1996. The Spurs won five NBA titles under Pop, but they are in rebuild mode now and are one of the NBA's youngest teams with an average age of 25.0. In fact, it's the Spurs' youngest roster ever since Popovich became coach. Should a 73-year-old really be running such a young squad that is years from title contention?
The Spurs made the playoffs in 22 consecutive seasons from 1998 to 2019 under Popovich's stewardship but have finished with a losing record in three straight years, missing the postseason each time. (Technically, the play-in tournament isn't the postseason.)
When asked after Wednesday's loss whether he will return next season, the typically standoffish Popovich said: "That question is inappropriate."
There was some believe previously that Popovich would hand off the reins to assistant Becky Hammon and make her the first female head coach in NBA history, but she is now the head coach of the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces and their season is soon to begin. On Aug. 5, 2014, Popovich hired Hammon as a full-time assistant making her the first woman in league history to occupy that position.
Many believe that the next Spurs coach will be either Jazz head coach Quin Snyder or Celtics assistant Will Hardy. Snyder's NBA coaching career was kick-started in 2007 when he took over as head coach of the Austin Toros, San Antonio's G-League affiliate. Snyder also has been linked to the Lakers job.
Hardy, who joined Ime Udoka's staff in Boston this year, has been considered a favorite for the job in recent years. Hardy was San Antonio's video coordinator from 2013-2015, head coach of the Spurs' NBA Summer League squad from 2015-2018 and then spent four seasons as an assistant to Pop before leaving for Boston.
Former Spurs player and Hall of Famer Manu Ginobili is a possibility. Ex-Spurs assistant and close Popovich confidante Brett Brown is available. He was fired as head coach of the 76ers following the 2019-20 season.
Via SportsLine oddsmakers: Will Gregg Popovich be the Spurs' head coach to open the 2022-23 season?
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