The Spurs may retire a jersey for Gregg Popovich

With the announcement of Pop’s retirement, a query arises — ought to the San Antonio Spurs retire a jersey in his honor?

There’s priority for honoring a coach who by no means performed NBA ball.

Some coaches have been given non-basketball jersey numbers representing their variety of wins as head coach.

The Denver Nuggets honored Doug Moe with #432. The Indiana Pacers retired #529 for Bobby Leonard. Pink Holzman had #613 retired by the New York Knicks. And the Utah Jazz retired #1223 for the collective common season and playoff wins for Jerry Sloan.

By that commonplace, the Spurs may retire #1422 for his league finest common season file or #1592 for his acquire common season and playoff wins. Pop is the one coach in NBA historical past with greater than 1500 wins.

The Boston Celtics retired #2 for Pink Auerbach representing his two roles as head coach and government. The Spurs may retire #5 for Pop representing his 5 totally different roles within the Spurs group. Pop was an assistant coach for the Spurs from 1988-1992. In 1994, Pop was named basic supervisor and vice chairman of basketball operations. He famously named himself head coach in 1996. And upon retirement, Pop transitioned into his present function as president of basketball operations.

The #5 additionally works as it’s the variety of Championship titles he earned because the Spurs head coach.

Talking of, Detroit retired #2 for Chuck Daly for his two championships with the Pistons. Cade Cunnigham present wears #2, with permission from the Daly household.

The one discrepancy could also be that Fort is presently carrying #5 and Pounders probably hope to see the reigning Rookie of the 12 months have an extended profession for within the Silver & Black and retire that quantity for him some day.

The Spurs may go one other route completely.

Houston Rockets basic supervisor and assistant coach Carroll Dawson has his initials retired.

A jersey with “P0P” (the “O” being a zero) could be a creative method to go. Or just “Coach Pop” with no quantity.

A ultimate thought, “29” represents the variety of seasons Gregg Popovich served as head coach of the Spurs. It represents stability, longevity, and there Spurs Method in a single fell swoop.

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