He may be able to still coach but for his own sake I think he should hang them up and enjoy the rest of his life without the stress of coaching another game. He has nothing to prove he is one of the best NBA head coaches ever. Retire Pop.
They just need to hire SOMEONE and not leave this albatross hanging over the summer.
Nothing is stopping Pop from being around as a consultant and helping during the summer or regular season at the practice facility teaching the game or what not really.
To do anything else is such a disservice to the players, fans and organization alike.
Pretty standard for anyone over 55 that faints.
Bro should just travel and enjoy the best this world has to offer. Let others handle the stress of running the team.
It was a good run, Pop. Love the guy and just want him to sail off happy.
It’s beyond time to move on. of a 28-year run for Pop. First ballot HOF’er and his time here will be remembered fondly, but the man is about to turn 77 FFS… Enough is enough. Give him a cushy position in the Front Office if he wants, but it’s time for this organization to make the call and give a young, hungry, up-and-coming HC the reins. That’ll help us figure out our iden y too and what we need to target in the draft and Free Agency moving forward. Enough being held hostage by the old man’s health. Thanks for everything Pop, but it’s time to turn the page.
I just saw this thread and can't believe the local SA media hasn't reported anything and it's had to come from TMZ days later. What a joke. All these guys need to be fired if they won't report anything.
I was thinking he's going to be OK as long as he doesn't get back into coaching in the NBA, as like many others here have probably thought, I figured the stress and pressure of that job might be a bit too much, but now having heard this happening nowhere near an NBA court, I'm legit worried about him.
Pop can honestly say he left it all on the floor and gave it everything he's got till the wheels fell off.
It's time for the GOAT Coach to call it, tbh.
Last edited by lefty20; 04-18-2025 at 03:42 PM.
Pop on the sidelines next year still coaching as a near-geriatric.
Obviously we aren't privy to details, but how long should the Spurs wait to think about the future?
The stroke was on 11/2/24, more than 6 months ago. He fainted on Tuesday, its been a few days.
The lottery is 24 days away, our President of Operations is THE decision maker and has been on leave for more than 6 months. The most pivotal time since Timmy's free agency starts lottery night. The off-season planning is well underway but its hard to believe our public facing architect of 30+ years could be fully focused on basketball right now. Many things go into players decisions, organizational structure and coach are two big factors. Today, both are glaring question marks.
If I'm the CEO of the multiple billion dollar SSE business, assuming a firm plan isn't already in place, I'm thinking now is absolutely the time to plan the Spurs future because the Spurs are their only revenue generating asset and its President is 76 and post-stroke, and just had another health issue, this time in public. Decisions made this offseason can reasonably be expected to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I'd factor in that left-sided strokes cause cautious behavior, impair organizational abilities, and typically cause memory issues. And that right side strokes cause impulsive behavior, impair decision making, and also cause memory issues.
I've worked in hospital Rehab floors (RN) filled with stroke patients, strokes are awful even "mild" ones. They are way harder for the elderly. I've had to have to conversation about taking the keys, it sucks. Very often, someone else needs to make the decision because of impaired decision making or lack of insight.
I think we all want the best for Pop, hard to see how the stress of running at NBA franchise at this moment in time would be the best thing for him. The minute to minute stress of coaching and constant travel? That's hard for a healthy, middle-aged man. Also hard to see how dragging this on to the lottery isn't a distraction for the front office, scouting, potential coaches, and potential FAs.
For the franchise, its been a few days since they got the new and we've got a few weeks to announce, but surely the off-season wheels are already in motion, and we need someone in Basketball operations to be THE decision maker. In 24 days the franchise needs that person to be focused on basketball, on call and ready to make the decision under intense pressure. On draft night, that could be a split second decision when someone calls. That person should also have the freedom to know they are the decision maker today, tomorrow, and moving forward, otherwise, how could they possibility have the full confidence to make the hard calls?
I love you Pop. When I think of the Spurs, I will always think of you...President and Coach Emeritus.
Even worse, I've seen some of them basically berating fans for thinking that they should have reported anything earlier - saying that Pop and the Spurs deserve whatever level of privacy they want (which is true, but there are caveats).
The Spurs do not view fans as cons uents. One reporter was flat out ridiculing a fan who questioned why the Spurs and local media haven't said anything several days after the fact with "you don't deserve , you fans have such an en led at ude".
To the Spurs, the fans are just their piggy bank. They expect the fans to fork over their money on demand and not make their lives difficult. The Spurs don't believe the fans deserve anything more than the right to sit in seats and cheer. Don't expect any information. Don't expect wins. Don't boo Kawhi.
Pop is a public figure. A public figure's health is of note to an organization's cons uency. For politicians, that is the public. For companies, it's the company's shareholders, customers and vendors/suppliers. For a sport team - who are their cons uents? Shareholders, players, the staff, the league, AND THEIR FANS (the people who keep them in business).
Nico Harrison's tone def comments the other day are along this line of thinking. He told reporters that his duty is to the Mavericks, not to their fans. This completely ignores the fact that the Mavericks cannot exist without their fans. The Spurs seem to share Nico's twisted vision of what their cons uency is.
Last edited by scott; 04-18-2025 at 03:51 PM.
the bolded part of your post is why i don't really speculate.
That must be it, dont risk it. Enjoy retirement Pop
not quite the same equivalency here. while the incident should have been reported, locally, i think that there is a difference between a lack of transparency about transactions than medical issues. that being said, i don't understand the logic. fans know that something happened and they will speculate wildly in the absence of information. so i don't get why the franchise keeps hush on wemby's surgery or pop's health (in general, not to the extent that there would be any HIPAA violations).
For the record, I did not speculate on anything. I laid out facts and personal experience actually working rehabilitation with stroke patients.
But mea culpa. Fans on a message board shouldn't have opinions. Fans should really just STFU.
Age is just a number, President of Operations is just a le, strokes aren't serious. Decisions don't need to be made, certainty doesn't matter, everything will just play out.
While they are certainly different (and need to be handled differently), at the end of the day I view them both as critical information to a cons uency's continued outlook towards the organization. With that said, there is certainly only a certain level of detail the cons uency needs. And every situation is different. For the Mavs, trading Luka calls for more explanation and a clear vision communicated than just trading away Jaden Hardy or some .
With Wemby's injury, I think generally speaking they've done a proper level of communication. "We think this is a one time issue and have no concerns long term" - this is good communication. Being hush on the surgery is kind of weird, but not really a big deal IMO (though it's indicative of this broader approach they take with info).
This latest Pop thing though, to me is a bit of a slap in the face. It's a fair assumption (IMO) to say that if the Spurs could have just hid this forever, they would have. That's extremely disrespectful to the team's cons uency. And certainly the Spurs have to know that in this age of cell phones, this event (that happened in public) would eventually come out. I hate that we had to learn about this from ing TMZ. The Spurs could have issued a statement at any time in the last few days that simply said "Pop suffered a minor set back at a restaurant the other night, but is at home and feeling good" and that alone would have been significantly more respectful of it's cons uency than this.
This also makes me wonder... did players even know about this? Can you imagine if you're about to sign an extension, or you're a free agent, and you learn about critical information like this from freakin' TMZ? I hope it's only the fans that SSE seems to not regard as important stakeholders, because while that is disrespectful of those who keep them in business, it's less troubling than if they approach everyone the same way.
You're literally demonstrating the reporters proof of en lement. Imagine thinking you're deserving of news that affects you in no way in spite of Pops health and peace.
Cant believe some of you are grown men on this forum. Get a life, my goodness.
HIPA
That model actually kind of looks like Pop in a way.Pop on the sidelines next year still coaching as a near-geriatric.
Sad to know of this news. Kinda sucks that TMZ broke the story. Someone in SA probably made some money of selling this story.
Pop, we love ya! Thanks for everything. You are still in charge of basketball operations. Now, help us hire a coach when you are feeling better.
Sad to know of this news. Kinda sucks that TMZ broke the story. Someone in SA probably made some money of selling this story.
Pop, we love ya! Thanks for everything. You are still in charge of basketball operations. Now, help us hire a coach when you are feeling better.
I agree with most of this but I think it's a stretch to infer that the Spurs FO would handle players as they would the press or the fans. That would make zero business sense. And from what we have seen play out this season, the players have been just as reluctant to share info with the press as the FO has been.
Sorry that some concepts are too difficult for your brain.
Fans are what holds the team up. With out them, there is quite literally zero revenue and the organization ceases to exist. News about the team impacts fan's perceptions of the team and ultimately their spending. Pop's health doesn't affect fans directly, but it very much does affect them.
The same way if the CEO of an industrial supplier of sheet metal were to have some kind of event (medical or otherwise)... the company's biggest customer would want to know how it impact's the supplier's ability to continue to service them.
This isn't very difficult to grasp, except maybe to you.
hipaa precludes health care providers from disclosing such info. not binding on the media or en ies not directly related to the healthcare process
Like I said, I hope this is only their approach with the fans... but it does make me wonder. I have friends who used to cover the Spurs, and they all report the same story that they are very difficult to work with and way different from any other team they've ever covered. It's kind of weird, I wonder what the philosophy behind this is.
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