© Alonzo Adams, USA TODAY
NBA Players Want to Play for Spurs' Gregg Popovich
It's hard to record respect as a metric, but it's clear that San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has a lot of it.
As the all-time league leader in wins, Popovich has earned his respect in the league all the way to a bust in the Hall of Fame coming later this year.
But another way to value respect comes in others' opinions. In a recent anonymous survey conducted by The Athletic, 25.3 percent of 95 players chose Popovich as the coach players would like to play for apart from their own.
“Pop” is a repeat winner here, which is impressive considering the state of the Spurs these days," The Athletic writes. "It has been nine years since he won his fifth title as a coach and six years since San Antonio got out of the first round of the playoffs, meaning today’s players are appreciating his legacy and reputation independent of the current results during this rebuilding stage."
“I’ve watched him for a long time win a lot of championships,” an anonymous player told The Athletic. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about him. From afar, he has a personality. I want to see what it would be like to play for a coach like that.”
As the Spurs rebuild, it will be interesting to see how important of a role Popovich will play when attracting free agents this summer.
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