Fire Gregg Popovich
October 31, 2024 Update: The Spurs still have no idea how to use Victor on offense and an updated call that it’s time to pull Pop from the sidelines.
Previous Update: The pressure is mounting on Gregg Popovich. One week ago, a former ESPN journalist on a 500,000 subscriber YouTube channel got very real on Gregg Popovich’s recent coaching record.
The only way for Pop to escape the increasingly harsh criticism is to accrue more wins and sacrifice the lottery odds he tanked so hard to get to. Even if they’re only wins against weaker teams, everything still helps after the Spurs horrendous 5–30 start.
The problem for Gregg Popovich is everybody knows what he’s doing; we’re all tuning in for Wemby (yes, Pop, people are watching the non-TNT games too). So we can see the minutes restrictions, the nonsensical coaching decisions, and the unnecessary losses.
The Spurs are currently weighing in at a historically bad 5–30 (.143). And when I say historically bad, I mean the Spurs are tracking towards being one of the 10 worst teams in NBA history.
The Spurs were twice as good last year at 22–60 (.268) before Victor. And now, with a dominant Victor Wembanyama, they can’t win a game.
Those young, hapless Spurs. Right, Pop?
This guy is out here flaunting it, too.
We all know what’s happening. The NBA knows. The media knows. The fans know.
It’s ugly behavior.
It’s unethical behavior.
It’s detrimental to the team and it’s ruining what should be a celebratory start to Victor Wembanyama’s career.
The obvious counter is that Pop is tanking so the Spurs can get another good draft pick.
Is it really worth it?
I thought the Spurs and Pop were big culture people.
Isn’t Pop the one obsessed with being “classy?”
Do the Spurs really need another top five pick? Couldn’t they just organically build off a Wemby-Vassell 1–2 punch?
Even if the Spurs get the #1 pick again and draft a premier talent like Alexandre Sarr or Nikola Topic, so what?
Will it even count or feel the same if they’re immediately contenders?
Also, what’s so redeeming about throwing away a completely healthy season of one of the greatest basketball players of all-time?
I not only disagree with the behavior, but I find the logic to be completely asinine.
At least when Popovich was GM and fired Bob Hill so he could replace him with himself, the logic made sense. Unethical, sure, but it made sense.
And it all worked out because Tim Duncan turned out to be an all-time great and Pop played him nearly 40 minutes a game to make sure he won games.
So many negatives have transpired in Victor’s rookie season that Spurs ownership could have grounds to fire Gregg Popovich based on any number of reasons.
We don’t need any of the ugly subplots like Pop’s minutes restriction for Victor to be the reason for firing him, the abominable 5–30 record would suffice.
This isn’t what anybody wanted (or expected) but Gregg Popovich’s horrible coaching and decisions have become the elephant in the room and, to date, have already culminated in Victor openly defying Pop’s minutes restriction.
One word you now continually hear Victor speak now is frustrated. That’s a tell-tale sign that something is very, very wrong.
Victor rejecting Pop’s minutes restriction was the turning point moment. If the Holt Cat Family and company were hesitant about firing Pop, the Memphis game was the green light.
That was the concrete, tangible evidence that Pop’s reign of bad coaching / tanking / losing — whatever is going on, is over.
Spurs ownership needs to take control of this situation and fire Pop because things will only get worse and they’re already really bad.
There is immense tension resulting from Gregg Popovich’s opposite-approach and anti-competitive behavior.
The Spurs ownership needs to take action rather than letting any more of Victor Wembanyama’s rookie season go to waste.
I’ve written about the Spurs ongoing saga all season long. Other related articles include:
How Pop employed psychological tactics to get Victor on board with a minutes restriction.
The breaking point, where Victor took control from Pop after which Pop quickly went to work to restore his control (see Pop Psychology article).
The most famous sports doctor in the world said Victor’s mandatory minutes restriction is completely unnecessary and called it paranoid.
Holt Cat needs to fire Pop, but who takes over as head coach? Find out my genius idea for the best replacement for Gregg Popovich.
One reporter’s chicken question in 2022 leads to a Pop denial of tanking, but there’s a catch.
Ever heard of Nicky Santoro and Sam Rothstein? Would you house sit a wealthy person’s mountain home responsibly? Read how things got out of control at the blackjack table and in San Antonio.
