San Antonio Spurs legends Gregg Popovich and Tony Parker finally got inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. During their induction ceremony, both the coach and the former player couldn’t help but share riveting anecdotes from their dynasty days. When it was his turn to speak, ‘Pop’ joked about the coaching techniques he used on Tony Parker back in the day. Amidst these stories, the 74-year-old admitted that his coaching from back then would likely have put him in handcuffs if practiced today, much to Parker’s agreement.
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He joked about how harsh he was with the French legend, as the former star point guard looked at him knowingly from his seat on stage. Reminiscing further about the good old days, here is what Pop said, as seen in Ben Hustle’s tweet.
“With Tony (Parker), I just asked him to be perfect. At 19, that was tough. If you can switch the social situations that we have now compared to back then, If coached him now, the way I did then, I would be in handcuffs. Seriously, I would be behind bars, don’t you think, Tony? (Parker nods with a big smile).
But I have mellowed, right? He tells me I’m soft now. So, I can’t go back to those days, you’ve got to change.”
TonyPop pic.twitter.com/IcubZAR3lH
— Ben Hustle (@BenHustle4) August 13, 2023
It is important to note that while the subject matter is a bit heavy, both parties laughed it off. Perhaps Parker understands that the Spurs wouldn’t be as successful as they were if Pop didn’t coach the team that way. He deserves quite a bit of credit for it.
However, Popovich’s handcuffs joke surely adds to the running narrative that the NBA is getting softer by the day. It will be interesting to see how a ‘soft’ Popovich trains the French sensation Victor Wembanyama.
