The Miami Heat won the NBA Championship two years in a row and they were going for a ‘threepeat’ this year against the Spurs. The Heat boasts some of the top names in professional basketball and every wagering outlet on the planet had them listed as odds on favorites to win the NBA Title yet again.
But Gregg Popovich is not a betting man. He didn’t like the odds anyway. He knew better. Although it has been developing all season long, we didn’t really start to get an idea of how deep and how good Pops bench was.
Yes, they also have some of the biggest names in basketball playing for the Spurs. Older guys they called them, never keep up with the Heat, they said. Pop didn’t even try to keep up with the uber talented Miami team. He just outsmarted them, at every turn.
Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the NBA, even Charles Barkley said so on TV, so it must be true. In fact, along with Pat Riley, Red Auerbach, John Kundla and Phil Jackson, Coach Popovich has won five NBA Championships.
Pop is 65 years old now and if you were watching the end of the championship game you saw him sit back down on the bench, exhale deeply and drink in the moment, his normally frowning expressing relaxed into one of deep satisfaction.
After taking a moment to run his fingers through his remaining hair, Gregg Popovich stood up to greet the many people who had come down to honor him.
As confetti began to float around the area, one of the first folks to reach Coach Popovich was Pat Riley, the architect and general manager of the Miami Heat. Right behind him came the NBA’s all time champion and spokesman Bill Russell pass on his congratulations and to show his respect for one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time.
And the accolades were only beginning. Sports commentators and writers across the country immediately began to talk about the 2014 San Antonio Spurs as one of the greatest NBA teams of all time and rightly so. Never in recent history has a team so talented as the Heat been so thoroughly dominated in that manner.
RC Buford, the manager of the Spurs, was on the verge of tears when he grabbed Pop in a bear hug of victory and mutual accomplishment.
Congratulations to the 2014 San Antonio Spurs and Coach Gregg Popovich!
