Being a coaching legend is hard work; you aren’t just viewed as a coach, you’re viewed as a guru. Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich is one of the people in that category, but he doesn’t always want to dispense wisdom, especially to the media. Sometimes, he’d rather just joke around.
Popovich has had many, many people that were part of his coaching tree, including Mike Brown, former head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers and current assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors. Both Brown and Popovich have a special relationship with Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr, as they coached the now-wunderkind coach. This summer, when Kerr was looking to replace Luke Walton who had moved on to take the Lakers’ head-coaching job, Popovich suggested Brown.
However, while being helpful to Kerr privately, Popovich decided to put on his normal act when he spoke to media ahead of the Spurs’ season-opening clash with the Warriors Tuesday, claiming he only offered Kerr very specific advice on bathroom habits.
“I hate Steve Kerr, if he asks me anything, I tell him to go urinate in a bucket. You can quote me on that.”
Well, alright. The comment was obviously tongue in cheek, trying to make it seem that Popovich and Kerr have a rivalry that isn’t there, and it continues a long history of Popovich’s jibes with the media. Still, it’s interesting that he recommended Brown to Kerr. Imagine the basketball knowledge between the three of them.
As Brown begins to be acclimated with the Warriors, it’ll be a fun storyline to follow to see how the two staffs do against one another. The Spurs got the edge Tuesday, knocking off Golden State 129-100.
