Gregg Popovich Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Coaching Rumors: Lue, Popovich, Pistons, Raptors, Udoka

May 18th, 2023 at 2:39pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks and Suns are rumored to be interested in Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, but he’s still under contract for two more seasons, though only one of those is thought to be guaranteed.

There’s growing skepticism among those close to the coach and the Clippers that a rival team would be able to poach Lue away, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

The Clippers still hope to contend for championships going forward despite another disappointing playoff exit in 2022/23, and owner Steve Ballmer is known to be a “huge fan” of Lue. As Fischer observes, the Bucks and Suns also don’t have much in the form of future first-round picks, which would likely be necessary to acquire Lue — assuming the Clippers would even permit a rival to interview him, and there’s no indication they would — while he’s still under contract.

The Bucks do have their 2029 first-rounder available, but Fischer suggests they’ll likely use it to acquire a player — either this offseason or in the future. Sources tell Fischer that Milwaukee contemplated dealing the pick to try to land Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic ahead of the February trade deadline.

Here are some more coaching rumors from around the NBA:

Gregg Popovich, the longest-tenured head coach in the league, is expected to stay with the Spurs for as long as he wants to continue coaching, and there’s no indication that the Hall-of-Famer plans to retire next season, especially after San Antonio won the draft lottery. However, Popovich’s contract expired at the end of the season, and he hasn’t signed a new deal yet, sources tell Fischer.
The fact that the Pistons have yet to hire one of their three coaching finalists has left coaching agents around the league wondering if they’ll reopen their search and consider more candidates, Fischer writes. The three finalists — Kevin Ollie, Charles Lee and Jarron Collins — met with owner Tom Gores last week, Fischer confirms. Detroit is thought to have interest in Monty Williams, who was fired by the Suns last week, so that might explain the holdup. That said, Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com hears from sources that the job is expected to come down to either Ollie or Collins (Twitter link).
According to Fischer, the Raptors hope to be “blown away” in an interview with one of their long list of coaching candidates. Toronto is believed to be open to an “unconventional” choice. Assistant coaches Jim Sann and Rico Hanes are expected to be retained regardless of who is named head coach, sources tell Fischer.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated hears (via Twitter) that Ime Udoka “wants to do right” by his former Celtics assistants, and will extend those interested an invitation to join him with the Rockets after his unceremonious departure from Boston. Royal Ivey, who worked with Udoka on the Nets, recently joined his staff in Houston.

Spurs Notes: Collins, Popovich, Champagnie, Offseason

April 8th, 2023 at 7:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

Zach Collins doesn’t have a guaranteed contract for next season, but coach Gregg Popovich declared today that he’ll be the Spurs‘ starting center, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. The 25-year-old big man has revived his career over the past two years in San Antonio after an ankle injury caused him to sit out the entire 2020/21 season. Popovich’s declaration means the Spurs are virtually certain to guarantee Collins’ $7.7MM salary for next year.

Collins has excelled since taking over the starting spot after Jakob Poeltl was traded to Toronto in February, Orsborn notes. Over that time, he has averaged 16.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 blocks and 1.1 steals in 19 games while shooting 39.2% on three-pointers.

“He’s playing with abandon now, for a long time, for months,” Popovich said. “He’s added the three-point shot to his game, he’s balanced better on the post, he’s playing good defense. “… The fact he can shoot it and has gained confidence in it really makes him that much more dangerous.”

Popovich also revealed that Collins is finished for the season, missing this afternoon’s game and Sunday’s finale after being sent home due to a problem with stitches on his left hand.

There’s more on the Spurs:

The pronouncement from Popovich leads to speculation that he has already decided to return to the team next season, tweets NBA writer Marc Stein. The 74-year-old coach, who was announced as a Hall of Fame inductee last weekend, has been running the Spurs since 1996.
Julian Champagnie posted his fourth straight double-digit scoring performance on Saturday, Orsborn tweets. The rookie small forward has benefited from an increase in playing time over the past three weeks. “There is really only one way to learn the game, you have to just get thrown out there and learn to play,” Champagnie said. “That’s what they have been giving me.”
The most important work for the Spurs will start after the regular season wraps up on Sunday, Orsborn states in another Express-News article. The front office will turn its attention to the draft and free agency after one of the worst seasons in franchise history. However, the Spurs were able to accomplish their main goals, which were maximizing their chances at the No. 1 pick and developing the young talent they already have. “I feel like every single person on the roster got better,” Keldon Johnson said. “Obviously we didn’t win 30, 40, 50 games. We got better every single week and we stayed together the whole time.”

Western Notes: Doncic, Brunson, Bamba, Vassell, Sochan, Popovich

April 4th, 2023 at 6:37pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With the Mavericks seemingly headed for postseason elimination, Luka Doncic acknowledged that he misses former backcourt partner Jalen Brunson “a lot,” Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News reports.

“I mean, amazing guy, amazing player. For sure,” the Mavericks’ franchise player added.

Doncic describes the Mavericks’ season as “very disappointing” due to chemistry issues, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I think you don’t see that chemistry we had before — I mean, especially last year,” Doncic said. “I think that chemistry was at the top, everybody. But chemistry builds not just not right away. It’s a long process.”

We have more from the Western Conference:

The Lakers could have another frontcourt option as soon as Tuesday. They have upgraded Mohamed Bamba to doubtful for their game with Utah, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. Bamba has been sidelined since March 5 with a left ankle sprain. In a Late Night Lake Show podcast, Buha said he “would not be surprised if (Bamba is) back by the end of the week.” (video link).
Spurs swingman Devin Vassell has been out since March 26 with a knee ailment. Jeremy Sochan has been sidelined since March 22, also due to a knee issue. It’s likely both are done for the season. Sochan has far exceeded the number of games he played last season at Baylor, while Vassell is coming off surgery performed in January, so the Spurs are playing it cautious, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said that hearing he’d been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame was an “out of body experience,” Orsborn writes. Popovich got the news Saturday in a phone call from Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo. “Sort of a phone call you never think about or expect,” Popovich said “It’s like somebody telling you the earth is flat, some weird feeling that you have, an out-of-body experience, because it’s not what you grow up thinking.”

Popovich, Nowitzki, Wade Headline 2023 Hall Of Fame Class

April 1st, 2023 at 10:24am CST by Rory Maher

APRIL 1: Popovich, Wade, Nowitzki, Gasol, Parker, and Hammon have officially been announced as Hall of Famers. In addition to those previously reported names, the following inductees will join them:

Gene Bess: Longtime head coach at Three Rivers Community College who won two NJCAA national championships and won a record 1,300 games.
Gary Blair: Longtime women’s basketball head coach at Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Stephen F. Austin who won a national championship in 2011 and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
David Hixon: Longtime Amherst College head coach who won a pair of Division III national championships and was twice named the D-III Coach of the Year
Gene Keady: Longtime Purdue head coach who appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times.

The Hall of Fame is also recognizing Jim Valvano, the late NCAA broadcaster who created The V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the 1976 Olympic U.S. women’s basketball team (Twitter links).

This year’s class will formally be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on the weekend of August 11-12 in Springfield, Mass.

MARCH 28: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Becky Hammon have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

All six were finalists of the 2023 class, and a formal announcement of all the inductees will take place on Saturday morning at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Popovich, the NBA’s all-time leader in wins for a head coach, has won five championships, all with San Antonio. The 74-year-old is in his 27th season as the lead coach of the Spurs, compiling a 1363-757 record to this point, good for a 64.3 winning percentage. In 284 postseason games, his teams have gone 170-114 — a 59.9 winning percentage.

A three-time Coach of the Year, Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the league. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Popovich was actually eligible to be inducted years ago but didn’t want to be considered until his longtime point guard Parker was eligible after Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were previously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year career with the Mavericks, winning the team’s lone championship in 2011 en route to Finals MVP. He earned numerous accolades during his career, including being named the league’s 2006/07 MVP. The German big man was also 14-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA member.

Wade, a shooting guard, was a 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA member, and three-time NBA champion with the Heat. He was named Finals MVP in 2006 and spent the bulk of his career with Miami. Wade is currently a part owner of the Jazz.

Parker, a point guard, spent his first 17 seasons with the Spurs before surprisingly signing one-year contract to finish his career with Charlotte. He was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, four-time NBA champion and 2007 Finals MVP.

Gasol, a forward/center, was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, two-time NBA champion with the Lakers and was the ’01/02 Rookie of the Year. He also had a storied international career with the Spanish national team, winning a couple of Olympic silver medals and several medals during World Cup and EuroBasket compeitions.

Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and two-time first-team All-WNBA member. The former guard won an Olympic gold medal in 1998 with the U.S. national team.

Hammon was a Spurs assistant for parts of eight seasons, becoming the first female acting head coach in NBA history when Popovich was ejected from a game in December 2020. She departed San Antonio when she was named head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, becoming the first rookie head coach to win a championship last season.

Popovich, Nowitzki, Wade Among Hall Of Fame Finalists

February 17th, 2023 at 5:44pm CST by Rory Maher

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 12 finalists for 2023 on Friday evening, and what a star-studded list it is.

Here are the 12 finalists:

Gregg Popovich – Winningest coach in NBA history, five-time NBA champion
Dirk Nowitzki – 14-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA, 2006/07 MVP, 2011 NBA champion and Finals MVP
Dwyane Wade – 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, three-time NBA champion, 2006 Finals MVP
Tony Parker – Six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, four-time NBA champion, 2007 Finals MVP
Pau Gasol – Six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, two-time NBA champion, 2002 Rookie of the Year
Becky Hammon – Six-time WNBA All-Star, two-time first-team All-WNBA
Jennifer Azzi – 1990 Naismith Player of the Year, 1990 national champion with Stanford; 1996 Olympic gold medal
Gene Bess – All-time winningest college coach (1,300) across all levels in 50 years at Three Rivers Community College in Missouri (men’s)
Gene Keady – Seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, six-time National Coach of the Year with Purdue (men’s)
David Hixon – 826 wins, two-time Division III national champion and Coach of the Year with Amherst College (men’s)
Gary Blair – 852 wins, 2011 national champion with Texas A&M (women’s)
Marian Washington – 560 wins, 11 NCAA appearances with Kansas (women’s)

According to the Hall of Fame, the entire class of 2023 will be announced in Houston, on April 1 at the NCAA Men’s Final Four at 11:00 AM ET. Potential enshrinees from the Direct Elect Committees may also be recognized at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The class of 2023 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., on August 11-12.

In addition to the aforementioned nominees, the Hall of Fame also announced that legendary high school scout Tom Konchalski was honored as the 2023 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Konchalski unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. You can read more about him here.

Marc J. Spears and Holly Rowe of ESPN were named the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award winners for print and electronic, respectively, while CBS Sports won the award for the transformative category.

Southwest Notes: Irving, Doncic, Brooks, Popovich

February 9th, 2023 at 10:32am CST by Arthur Hill

Before he took the court for his first game with the Mavericks Wednesday night, Kyrie Irving talked to reporters about what went wrong in Brooklyn, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Irving said there were times he felt “very disrespected” by the Nets during his tumultuous three and a half years with the organization. He admitted he was at an impasse with the team in extension negotiations and claimed he wasn’t “getting transparency and honesty from people in the front office.”

“I worked extremely hard at what I do,” Irving said. “No one ever talks about my work ethic though. Everyone talks about what I’m doing off the floor. So I just wanted to change that narrative, write my own story.”

Irving’s off-court behavior dominated the headlines during his time in Brooklyn, highlighted by his inability to play for much of last season due to his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine and his suspension in November for his online promotion of an antisemitic film. Irving added that he wishes he had done more research on the Nets’ front office before he and Kevin Durant opted to sign with the team in 2019.

“I left them in fourth place — I did what I was supposed to do,” he said. “I took care of my teammates, was incredibly, incredibly selfless. And in my approach to leading, I just want to do all the right things for myself, not to appease anybody.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

It didn’t take long for Irving to impress his new Mavericks coaches and teammates, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. With Luka Doncic missing his third straight game due to a right heel contusion, Irving delivered 24 points and five assists in a road win against the Clippers. “That’s how talented he is,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “He makes things look easy. He works on his craft. He’s a pro, up for any challenge.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expressed confidence that Irving and Doncic can work together despite both being ball-dominant guards and said Doncic was fully on board with making the trade, per Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News. “Go for it. We need talent,” Cuban responded when asked about Doncic’s stance on the deal. “He’s a Hall of Fame player, and I’d love to play with talent. Why would you not want to play with him?”
Dillon Brooks‘ teammates came to his defense after he was booed by the home crowd Tuesday in the midst of a bad shooting night, according to Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Brooks’ combination of erratic offense and tenacious defense makes him a polarizing player among Grizzlies fans, creating a difficult decision for general manager Zach Kleiman on whether to try to trade him before today’s deadline.
The Spurs made one significant trade late Wednesday night, sending Jakob Poeltl to the Raptors, and longtime coach Gregg Popovich said he has confidence in general manager Brian Wright’s ability to reshape the team, writes Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News.

Southwest Notes: McCollum, Murphy, Tate, Popovich

January 29th, 2023 at 2:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pelicans star guard CJ McCollum, acquired just before last season’s trade deadline, reflected on his first calendar year spent with his new team, writes Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated.

“It’s been the most complex year of my life,” McCollum says. “It’s been a lot of character building, a lot of learning, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of meditation, therapy sessions with my therapist. And a lot of just heart-to-hearts with my family, with my wife, just trying to figure out next steps and what we want to accomplish in this life.”

As Beck notes, New Orleans finds itself at a crossroads, having slipped to fifth place in the West following long-term injuries to star forwards Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. Ingram has returned to the Pelicans after a two-month absence. The 26-24 Pelicans are currently on a seven-game losing streak.

“It’s definitely been tough,” McCollum says of having a more featured role without the star forwards. “It’s been a unique challenge. And I’ve had conversations with [coach Willie Green] about it. And obviously there’s a different type of load, a different type of usage, when BI and Zion are playing.”

This season, McCollum is averaging 21.3 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.5 RPG and 1.0 SPG across 45 contests for the Pelicans. He is posting a shooting line of .431/.388/.783.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

The league has invited Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III to participate in this season’s All-Star game dunk contest, sources inform Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). It is unclear as of this writing if Murphy has accepted the invitation.
Teams are inquiring about the availability of young Rockets swingman Jae’Sean Tate, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said on his podcast Please Don’t Aggregate This (hat tip to HoopsHype for the transcription). “The Houston Rockets are a clear seller,” Fischer said. “Today I heard Jae’Sean Tate is a player that has has received a lot of incoming calls.” Tate, 27, is in the first-year of a three-season, $20.6MM deal he signed with Houston. The 6’4″ forward is averaging 7.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.1 APG and 0.8 SPG in a reduced role this season.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is making sure to keep his young players motivated despite the rebuilding team’s increasing loss tally, reports Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “There are ups and downs in your life probably, and what do you do? You move on,” Popovich said. “You just go. I don’t pull out this piece of paper or this formula and go, ‘This is how I’m going to act because we didn’t make the playoffs.’”

Southwest Notes: Williamson, Popovich, Pelicans, Jackson Jr.

January 2nd, 2023 at 9:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Zion Williamson suffered a right hamstring strain in the second half of the Pelicans’ loss to Philadelphia on Monday. Williamson, who scored 26 points before departing, will undergo some additional evaluation to determine the severity, according to Willie Green, Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune tweets.

“That was extremely difficult,” the Pelicans head coach said. “It was at a pivotal moment during the game. We’ll get some imaging and look at him. Hopefully, he’s OK. Tough loss for us.”

Williamson has appeared in 29 Pelicans games this season after sitting out last season with a foot injury.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Spurs’ Gregg Popovich says he’ll knows it’s time to retire when he loses his enthusiasm for coaching his team to play the right way, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. “I think a little voice in my head will tell me, ‘That’s enough.’ If I’m tired of telling somebody, ‘Why are you getting beat back door so much? Can you please stay in front of somebody?’…When I stop wanting to do that, I will know,” he said.
Not only do Memphis fans consider their team the real deal, the rest of the league now considers the Grizzlies a true threat, Mark Giannotto of the Memphis Commercial Appeal opines. They emerged from their toughest nine-game stretch of the schedule thus far with a 5-4 record, with those victories coming by double digit margins.
Continuing with that storyline, The Athletic’s John Hollinger notes that the Grizzlies’ defense has been top-notch since Jaren Jackson Jr. returned to action. Jackson is blocking 5.8 shots per 100 possessions this season, by far the best in the league, and has been a force on both the perimeter and the paint in coverages.

Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki Among Newly Eligible Hall Of Fame Candidates

December 21st, 2022 at 5:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several former NBA stars are first-time nominees on the list of eligible players released Wednesday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Headlining the list are Dwyane Wade, who won three NBA titles with the Heat, along with three international players, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Wade was a 13-time All-Star, an eight-time All-NBA honoree and a member of the 75th anniversary team that was selected last year. He is currently a part owner of the Jazz.

Nowitzki, also on the 75th anniversary team, is the highest-scoring foreign-born player in league history with 31,560 career points. He was named MVP in 2007 and was chosen as Finals MVP in 2011 after leading the Mavericks to their first championship. He set a league record by spending 21 years with the same franchise, made the All-Star Game 14 times and was an All-NBA selection 12 times.

Gasol captured back-to-back NBA titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and was the first non-American to be honored as Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection, Gasol was also successful internationally, winning a FIBA World Cup, three EuroBasket titles and three Olympic medals with Spain.

Parker played a huge role in helping the Spurs win four NBA championships and was named Finals MVP in 2007. He was a six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection, and was named MVP of EuroBasket in 2013 as France won the tournament.

Popovich holds the record for most wins by an NBA coach with 1,354. He guided the Spurs to five NBA titles and was named Coach of the Year three times.

Finalists for enshrinement will be announced February 17 during All-Star Weekend, and the Class of 2023 will be unveiled April 4 during the NCAA’s Final Four. The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for August 12.

Western Notes: Simons, Popovich, Markkanen, Payne

December 4th, 2022 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons erupted for 45 points against the Jazz on Saturday and jokingly lamented he wanted more, Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian writes. “Back of my mind, I wanted 50,” Simons said. “There’s going to be plenty of opportunities for it. But it’s alright. We got the win.” Simons, who is filling the scoring void for injured Damian Lillard, is in the first season of a four-year, $100MM contract.

We have more Western Conference news:

Gregg Popovich may return to the Spurs bench on Thursday when they host Houston, Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News tweets. Popovich underwent a minor medical procedure. “He is fine. That’s what people should hear the loudest,” said Brett Brown, who is filling in as San Antonio’s head coach. “It was just a minor situation, and you’ll have to deal with me for another night, another afternoon. But he is fine.”
Lauri Markkanen needs to realize he’s now the top offensive option with the Jazz and should be just as aggressive with the ball when he’s having an off night as he is when filling up the nets, Sarah Todd of the Deseret News opines. Markkanen’s unselfishness is admirable but he needs to think like an All-Star, Todd adds.
Cameron Payne was disappointed in himself for making four turnovers despite a 20-point, 12-assist night against Houston on Friday. But Payne has continued to impress with Suns starting point guard Chris Paul sidelined by a heel injury, Dana Scott of the Arizona Republic writes. “I love his balance. I love what he’s done for our team,” coach Monty Williams said. Payne’s $6.5MM salary for next season is only guaranteed for $2MM.