“It Was Always a Chess Game”: 2014 Spurs Champion Describes the Genius Approach Gregg Popovich Took Towards Coaching

Gregg Popovich decided to retire from his lengthy coaching career earlier this month due to health concerns. The highly decorated coach’s tenure with the San Antonio Spurs etched his name among the best in NBA history.

One of the longest-serving coaches in NBA, Popovich has been the Spurs coach for a whopping 29 seasons. and won five titles in that span. Countless players who served under him rave about his abilities as a coach. One of them is Danny Green, one of just four players in history to have won the championship with three different teams.

Before Green joined the Spurs in the 2010-11 season, teams didn’t view him as an NBA talent. However, Popovich saw something special in him.

Green eventually became one of the best three-point shooters in the league and played a crucial part in the Spurs’ 2014 NBA title. He spent a total of eight seasons with the Spurs.

During that time, he got to witness Popovich’s coaching habits up close. He disclosed the genius approach Popovich took toward coaching compared to the rest of the league. The most notable aspect was Pop’s ability to establish to deal with every player in a unique way.

In a guest appearance on Gil’s Arena, Green opened up about the Spurs’ culture and how Popovich found a way to manage all players.

“[Gregg Popovich] knew how to manage egos,” Green said. “He was good at getting the most and the best. He knew how to approach this person, how to approach Kawhi.” In Green’s opinion, Popovich’s viewpoint in terms of coaching is eerily similar to chess, in the sense he was planning several games ahead.

“It was always a chess game,” Green revealed. “He’ll cuss you out today and bench you because he knows we’re playing so and so in two games and I need you locked in for that game.” Popovich’s methods were sometimes unconventional, but he catered them specifically to the type of player he was coaching.

Danny Green could handle Pop’s tough love

Green was one of those players who responded well to Popovich’s somewhat angry approach. He wasn’t the only person who was on the receiving end of Popovich’s ruthless verbal rampages. Their star point guard, Tony Parker, joined Green in those moments.

“Me and Tony probably for the most of it, but he knew we could handle it,” Green added.

Whenever Green looks back at it, he is extremely grateful for Popovich‘s disciplinarian coaching style. It transformed him into the best version of himself.

Once Danny Green left the Spurs, he won two more championships with the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Lakers. The lessons and skills he learned under Popovich helped him become the player he is.

Popovich always played chess, even during his last few seasons of coaching. That trait probably won’t die and will be present in his new role as the Spurs’ president of basketball operations.