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For 20 seasons over his Hall of Fame career, Tim Duncan dominated the NBA, leading the San Antonio Spurs to five championships along the way.
And while Duncan may well have been a star player regardless of where he ended up, it didn’t hurt that he got to spend his entire career under one of the NBA’s all-time great coaches, Gregg Popovich.
Not only did Popovich serve as a mentor to Duncan, helping him become one of the best players that the league has ever seen, but the two also became great friends.
So much so that Duncan even served on Popovich’s staff as an assistant after retiring.
How do you even begin to repay a relationship like that? Well, Duncan is going out of his way to do so after Popovich suffered in November of 2024, which ultimately led to his retirement from coaching in 2025.
Tim Duncan Is In The Gym With Gregg Popovich Every Day Helping Him Rehab
While Popovich is no longer coaching, he still serves as an executive for the Spurs and has played a pivotal role in the team, yet again becoming a title contender.
In a recent interview with Jared Weiss of The Athletic, San Antonio CEO R.C. Buford talked about how much Popovich still means to the success of the organization.
He also talked about the close relationship between him and Duncan, and how that relationship has continued long after Duncan’s playing days.
“It’s the reason why, with Pop’s stroke rehabilitation, Tim’s in the gym with him every day, and that’s not because Pop is telling him to be there,” Buford said.
“It’s because Tim feels the emotional connection to want to be there in the ways that Pop was there for him. Anytime people are in town, they’ll be in there.”
Not every player-coach relationship is going to be perfect. In fact, most of them aren’t. But at a time when it feels like the relationship dynamic has changed from mentor-mentee to boss and employee, Popovich and Duncan are showing us that it doesn’t have to be that way.