Whereas Victor Wembanyama And most of his teammates will make their playoff debut on Sunday San Antonio Spurs I actually have a lot of knowledge for the postseason.
The biggest source of information and inspiration comes from the franchise’s former coach, Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich.
The 77-year-old Popovich, while recovering from a stroke suffered on November 2, 2024 at the Spurs’ practice facility, addressed the team earlier this week ahead of their first-round playoff series against… portland trail blazers.
“[Popovich said] Just to be us, not to actually do anything different than what we’ve been doing all season long,” Be Careful stephen castle Said. “They gave us another perspective on how well we’re playing and what positions we put ourselves in. So just keep doing what we’re doing to get to those spots.”
Good advice for a team that finished with the NBA’s second-best record at 62-20 and won the Southwest Division for the first time since 2017.
“He’s one of the winningest coaches ever, one of the coaches with the most rings,” De’Aaron Fox Told reporters on Friday. “So it’s absolutely right that he felt he needed to come in and preach to the choir.”
Spurs veteran added keldon johnson To athletic: “He looks amazing. He’s doing great. It’s always good to see him. He keeps in touch. He texts or calls me from time to time, maybe every other day. … Just seeing how he’s progressing, seeing how well he’s doing, honestly, it’s the ultimate satisfaction.”
Apart from Vembanyama and Johnson, devin wassell And Julian Champagnie Are in the postseason for the first time.
Vembanyama (22), Cassel (21), Champagne (24), Wassell (25), dylan harper (20) and carter bryant (20) Lead an energetic and athletic roster that ranked third in both offensive and defensive efficiency.
Cassel said Popovich has helped, serving as a mentor.
“He’s helped me and a lot of other guys on the team just have someone to talk to,” Castle said. “Whether games are going good, games are going bad, just knowing Pop, he’ll always tell you the real deal.”
Johnson said: “He’s very encouraging. … I mean, he’s definitely still the same. He’s still fast. He’s still got a lot of pop. He hasn’t batted at all.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
