The NBA 2013 CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich gets ring No. 5 and they deserve it. No sports writer mentioned the term, “dynasty” when the San Antonio Spurs won their first NBA championship in 1999 but who knew! THE MYBOYSAY NATION WOULD ARGUE, NO ONE IN THE NBA!!! Yes, Michael Jordan had to retire first, and the Chicago Bulls, led by Phil Jackson, had already collected their second round of third straight titles. Then, here come the Lakers again with their young gun, Kobe Bryant, as the Los Angeles Lakers, led again by Phil Jackson, would start their own signature three-peat voyage.
But the Spurs’ first NBA Championship victory marked the start of one of the greatest runs for the franchise, which has acquired four additional titles since its thumping of the Knicks in 1999, with the latest Championship victory arriving as a result of the team’s 104-87 win over the Miami Heat last night. The victory put Gregg Popovich, the Spurs’ coach since 1996 and No. 20 on Fortune’s 2014 list of the 50 World’s Greatest Leaders, in a club of it’s own. Gregg Popovich’s five NBA rings trail only Jackson’s 11 and the nine earned by legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach, Pat Riley also has 5 rings, because he won four NBA rings with the L.A. Lakers and one with the Heat, and John Kundla, also won 5 rings, as he coached some of the Greatest Laker teams that were located in Minneapolis Minnesota, prior to their move to Los Angeles California.
The famously low key NBA Popovich has said very little in his post-game press briefings during his entire career as the Head Coach at The San Antonio Spurs franchise. But the bottom line is he’s a quiet leader, a major disruptive force, who believes in allowing all his players to play in contests night after night, and not just the premier superstars on the team. Popovich is an innovative coach who utilizes his bench who had the fourth highest scoring average of all time. This coaching strategy has kept his primary starters healthy, and has also limited the opportunity for injury to the great power forward Tim Duncan, who has averaged only 29.6 minutes per game this season versus 40.6 in 2001-2002—and helped the Spurs develop players other coaches would have given up on.
When you look at guys like Patty Mills, who was Originally the 55th pick in the 2009 NBA draft, with Mills arriving at the San Antonio Spurs NBA team in March of 2012. Patty Mills is now the Spurs’ back-up point guard and he scored 17 points in the 2013 game winning NBA Title contest. And then you have a Danny Green, a key disruption to most NBA teams because he is a prime contributor to the San Antonio Spurs’ scoring machine, who was initially not included on the roster, but given a second chance. Or take Boris Diaw, who was waived by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2012. Diaw helped solidify the Spurs’ front court and took some pressure off of Duncan this year.
R.C. Buford, the Spurs’ general manager calls Popovich, one of the best NBA Head Coaches that I’ve ever seen at developing relationships with his players and the people who work for and with him.
If it wasn’t a foregone conclusion already, last night’s victory will surely secure a spot for this no-nonsense leader in the NBA Hall of Fame. Gregg Popovich celebrates team greatness, by defeating the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2014 NBA Finals to become NBA Champions for the 5th time.
THE MYBOYSAY NATION OF NBA ENTHUSIASTS WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS BASKETBALL TEAM, AND ALSO IT’S HEAD COACH ON THIER GREAT CHAMPIONSHIP RUNS DURING THEIR TENURE IN THE NBA, AND ALSO TO INDIVIDUALLY CONGRATULATE GREGG POPOVICH FOR HIS ABILITY TO ASSEMBLE A GREAT TEAM OF YOUNG MEN THAT HAS HAD THE ABILITY FOR FOLLOW INSTRUCTION, AND ALSO IMPLEMENT HIS DIRECTIVES TO PERFECTION.
