Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich hasn’t even announced his retirement, but Kansas head coach Bill Self wants to set the record straight about the speculation that he is in line for the job in San Antonio.
Self has a close relationship with Spurs general manager R.C.Buford. and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg recently publicly predicted that Self will take over for Pop once the legendary coach retires. But Self says it hasn’t been discussed.
Speaking to News4 San Antonio, the Jayhawks head coach said, “Well, first of all, I haven’t talked to Seth in five or six months. And secondly, and most importantly, I haven’t talked to R.C. ever about it, and he was in my wedding and I was in his so I’ve known him pretty well and we’ve never once discussed it. And thirdly, I think it’s kind of an insult to the Spurs because they have the greatest coach maybe our sport’s potentially ever known — certainly the NBA one of the two or three best of all time for sure. So, yeah, there was absolutely zero truth to that.”
Popovich has voiced his frustration with the way the NBA has evolved in recent seasons, but he still does have 5 NBA titles and has been named NBA Coach of the Year three times. He’ll likely have to say in who does replace him whenever the time comes.
Perhaps Becky Hammon, who Popovich’s been grooming as an assistant coach for years, would be more open to the position than Self seems to be.
