Did Gregg Popovich play in the NBA?
Gregg Popovich has been in the news lately as he is coaching Team USA for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The NBA coach has several accolades to his name and is widely acknowledged to be among the greatest HC's in league history.
Popovich is the current head coach of the San Antonio Spurs and has had the job since 1996, making him the longest tenured active coach in the NBA. He led the Spurs to 5 NBA championships in 7 NBA Finals appearances during the Tim Duncan era. Popovich has won the NBA Coach of the Year award three times in his career.
Lately, the buzz has been about coaches who used to be players. The norm is that great players cannot be good coaches or executives as they cannot separate the emotion from the sport. As a result, fans are wondering if coach Gregg Popovich had an NBA career before his coaching job.
Gregg Popovich never laced up for the NBA
Gregg Popovich graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1970. He played basketball for four seasons at the academy and was the team captain and leading scorer in his senior year. Popovich served five years in the United States Air Force and toured Europe and the Soviet Union with the U.S. Armed Forces Basketball Team.
In 1972, he was declared the captain of the team which won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship. His performances earned him an invite to the Olympic team tryouts.
Gregg Popovich returned to the Air Force Academy as an assistant and kickstarted his coaching career. He never suited up to play on the court again and never played for an NBA team. Popovich joined the San Antonio Spurs in 1994 and has been with the franchise in a coaching capacity ever since.
Also Read: 5 active NBA head coaches who had successful careers as players