Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals was without a doubt the Spurs’ worst showing of the playoffs, and possibly even their worst game of any capacity since January. After a blistering 15-0 run to open the game, the law of averages came back with a vengeance, and they showed very little fight or urgency the rest of the way as the Thunder quickly recovered to take over the game and regain homecourt advantage.
This Spurs team has proven to be resilient all season, so it wasn’t too surprising to see
them make adjustments and come out more determined in Game 4, which they won comfortably. However, there’s more to the story than that. As was revealed by De’Aaron Fox in the postgame show following Game 4, none other than Gregg Popovich made a locker room appearance immediately after Game 3, and let’s just anyone who had not had the privilege of playing for him (or didn’t for long enough) can now say they’ve had the full Pop Experience.
Pop officially resigned as head coach last summer after suffering a stroke early in the 2024-25 season but is still President of Basketball Operations and has been seen around practice plenty of times, as he also does physical therapy at the Spurs’ facility at The Rock at La Cantera. But as Fox said, this was the first time he came storming into the locker room after a game, and they knew what they were in for before he even said a word. From players to coaches, staff and even General Manager Brian Wright, everyone listened with appropriate fear as El Jefe told them their performance “was BS” and “not how we play basketball”. He’s still the same ol’ Pop.
Someone who can relate and was often on the other end of Pop tongue-lashings was former Spurs champion Danny Green, who was often credited with being willing to take his wrath and improve from it, just like Pop’s original target: Manu Ginobili. But even Green jokingly told Sports Center that he was scared of Pop then, still is now, and he felt for the current Spurs over what that experience must have been like.
That being said, just because Pop still has a presence doesn’t Mitch Johnson is just some nice, soft-spoken guy (since he’s always lost his voice by the time we hear from him) who is simply following orders. His sideline demeanor may not be as pronounced or dramatic, but he comes from the coaching tree of Pop and was his chosen predecessor for a reason. He and his staff still coach the game, call the plays and make adjustments, and they’ve done a masterful job all season. Before Game 4, they appeared to make the switch from “make everyone but SGA beat us” to “make SGA and no one else beat us,” and it worked well. Defensive rotations were more crisp, and on offense, there were more pick-and-rolls and an asserted effort to get Victor Wembanyama the ball on the move instead of too many forced drives and iso-ball.
Also, like Pop, Mitch is not afraid to coach his players hard, from his star all the way down. Rookie forward Carter Bryant may have gotten “the Pop Experience” just like the rest of his teammates after Game 3, but he also experienced what Green and many other Spurs often did on the sidelines during Game 4, when Mitch got on him hard after a couple of careless fouls, including biting on an SGA pump fake and barreling into Jaylin Williams on the fast break for a charge. Bryant has had some bright moments in these playoffs, but it as also understandably been a massive learning curve for him, and despite the team being up big in that moment, he appeared on the brink of tears.
However, there’s another invaluable experience he got in that moment that Green and plenty other Spurs also experienced: the team’s unselfish superstar jumping in with leadership and words of encouragement to balance things back out. In Green’s day, it was Tim Duncan who would help perk his teammates back up after they experienced the Wrath of Pop. For Bryant, it was Wemby who came over to encourage him on after he felt the Wrath of Mitch. Different coaches, different stars and different role players, but the same culture lives on.
The narrative this postseason has been that the Spurs are ahead of schedule, and based on preseason predictions, that is true. However, it’s not just talent alone that has gotten them two wins away from the Finals, but also coaching, leadership and a completely egoless roster. If that sounds like the Spurs of Pop and Tim, it’s because it is, but even if those two still have a presence and plenty of influence within the organization, this is now the Spurs of Mitch and Wemby, and they are ready to build upon the legacy their predecessors created — from winning all the way down to being yelled at. It’s the Spurs way.
