San Antonio Spurs veteran Chris Paul and star player Victor Wembanyama must extend their leaderships on and off the court these days after news of their coach Gregg Popovich experiencing a ‘health situation’ which some media outlet says is of grave concern.
The 75-year-old coach is out indefinitely and details about his recovery is limited.
Taking to media before their loss to the Houston Rockets, 2024 Rookie of the Year Wembanyama said he is pulling for the legendary NBA coach to recover faster than anyone would expect.
“Of course, we all miss him, we hope he’s alright. We know he’s going to come back. We know he’s going to come back earlier than he probably should, but that’s Pop,” he said.
CP3 has a much more elaborate response. He said there is a few personnel in the team that got through Popovich. It is something they opted to do as their way of helping their coach.
“I haven’t [had a chance to speak with him yet]. I haven’t. I don’t think any of the guys on the team have. Obviously, we wanted to, but we’re trying to give him his space and make sure we can control what we can control. I’ve only been on the team for a few months now, but I’ve paid attention to him my entire career,” he said.
Assistant coach Mitch Johnson said Popovich is undergoing an undisclosed illness.
“[Popovich is] not feeling well. This has happened before and I think everybody’s just gotta be ready for the next man up, right? … He’s just not feeling well,” he said.
Release of info about Gregg Popovich’s situation is being limited
CP3 and Spurs players’ level of cluelessness about Popovich is the organization’s way of taking care of the coach.
Texas reporter Mike Finger said only a few people are being kept in the loop about the coach.
“Something we’ve tried to convey in our coverage of the Popovich story is that this is being handled quite differently from his previous one- and two-game absences,” he wrote.
“Still much unknown, with Spurs keeping a very tight circle. Probably wise not to take a quick return for granted.”
The Spurs won by 10 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves the first time Gregg was out but then they suffered losses in the next two, both by double digits.
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