There was a recent Pop sighting in Austin. These days the winningest coach in NBA history does not often make public appearances. This one blew up on social media.
Last Sunday, the Spurs hosted the New Orleans. Pelicans interim head coach James Borrego, one of Pop’s former assistants, lit up talking about his time in San Antonio.
“There are very few people who have impacted my life the way
he has…my thoughts are always with him, everyday. We just texted with each other a few minutes ago…he’s touched so many lives. I’m one of them. I’m fortunate that he’s been a part of my life.”
Borrego and the Pelicans actually used the former Spurs facility to prepare for their game in San Antonio. The space took the former assistant back.
“It was really cool. yesterday we got to practice at our old practice facility. It was amazing. It was like going back in time for me. I walked in there like I was a twenty-three-year-old. The smell of it took me back to those days. If those walls could talk. It’s amazing. But I sat there in the old theater room, the old locker room reminisced about how special this has been, this run has been. But it all started here. Surreal to take your team back to that facility. This is where I came from. This is where I learned. This is where I grew up. And Pop being a major factor there, and I thought about him multiple times yesterday. Sharing it with my team but also for myself. So it’s been a special visit coming back. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t even know we were practicing there. And we end up there and it turned into something that I didn’t expect. Wonderful memories and I was flooded with those yesterday. It was pretty cool.”
Borrego got his start as an assistant video coordinator in the summer of 2003. When asked if he visited the video room, he responded,
“I did! The smell did bring me back. I could hear Pop, ya know, yelling my name. ‘Ray,’ ya know. He called me Ray…Ray Romano. ‘Ray, get over here….Ray, where you at?…get the film, Ray.’ And at that time, it was with VHS tapes. My first year, he was bringing VHS. I tried to get Pop to DVD at that time. And then we tried to get to digital. So I helped Pop transition form VHS to DVD — that didn’t go well — went to digital quickly. And I was there for all of it. We walked into the theater and I sat where I used to sit…I could hear Pop’s voice echoing through that place.”
Today, Gregg Popovich turns seventy-seven years old. Quite a life he led as the head coach of the Spurs. Alas, he is now in his next chapter as El Jefe. Still involved and still impacting the game, the players, and the legacy of the league as his reach touches every single team in one way or another.
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