For players like Draymond Green, with Pop, it was the Olympic ties that truly bind

It was Dec. 4, 2021. The game was over. San Antonio knocked off Golden State 112-107. And when the final buzzer sounded, Draymond Green didn’t seem bothered whatsoever by the loss.

He just wanted to talk to Pop.

Friday’s announcement by the San Antonio Spurs that Gregg Popovich - the NBA’s all-time wins leader - is stepping down as coach after 29 seasons deeply resonated throughout the league. And it clearly hit Green hard, the longtime Golden State forward saying he can’t fathom what it’ll be like to not see Popovich on the sideline anymore.

"Coach Pop is incredible,” Green said Friday night after Golden State lost a playoff game to Houston. “And none of us knew when that day would come that he'd hang them up. But it sucks to see him go. You know, you love running down the court, seeing him on the sideline. I had the ultimate honor of playing for him and winning a gold medal."

Green is one of eight players who went against a Popovich-coached team more than 50 times in an NBA game. But it’s the time he spent playing for Popovich - in USA Basketball’s run to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 - that stands out to Green.

It wasn’t uncommon for Popovich to chat with or embrace opposing players before, during or after games during his career. Those who played for him on that Olympic team, without fail, always found the time to engage with their coach in Tokyo.

"You’ve got that bond," Miami center - and two-time gold medalist - Bam Adebayo said after one of the Heat-Spurs games in the years that followed the Tokyo Olympics. "You’re going to have that bond forever after what we did, after what Pop led us to."

Everyone on that U.S team knew what the Olympic victory meant to Popovich, who studied at the U.S. Air Force Academy and unsuccessfully tried out to play for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team. He said it was his childhood dream to play in the Olympics; a half-century or so later, he got to lead his country to gold instead.

Popovich officially had Golden State coach Steve Kerr (who succeeded him as USA Basketball’s head coach for the 2024 Paris Games) on his Olympic staff as an assistant, along with the Indiana Pacers’ Lloyd Pierce and Villanova’s Jay Wright. Unofficially, he had a who’s who of the coaching community as part of his think tank that summer - a list that included, among many others, Miami’s Erik Spoelstra, longtime NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy and Ime Udoka, who had both played and coached for Popovich in San Antonio.

Udoka is now the coach in Houston. He’s in the Popovich circle of trust, one of the people who weeks ago knew the news that came out Friday. Popovich had told some people well ahead of time that he wasn’t coming back.

"Obviously, he’s one of the best do it - or the best to do it,” Udoka said. "I’m glad I got a chance to work with him, learn from him and call him a friend."

Green walked off the court arm in arm with Popovich on that December 2021 night, smiling and chatting, the loss on the scoreboard almost completely forgotten. That was the first game between the Spurs and the Warriors after those Olympics.

Green gave Popovich the shoes he wore in the 2021 gold-medal win over France as a gift; Popovich, he said, had them on for that first Spurs-Warriors game following the Olympics.

"It sucked playing against the Spurs this year to look over and not see him there,” Green said. “And to know that I'll never get that opportunity again, I just wish I had one last time to go hug him on the sideline before a game. … He's meant so much to this league, and he means so much to me. Job well done, well-deserved retirement. I hope he enjoys the hell out of it."