Gregg Popovich’s retirement seems to be nearing, but Bill Self thinks that the San Antonio Spurs should look elsewhere to find his successor.
The Kansas Jayhawks coach reacted to a rumor circulated by ESPN’s Seth Greenberg this week predicting he would be the next head coach of the Spurs.
“Well first of all, I haven’t talked to Seth in five or six months,” said Self, per Jeff Garcia of News 4 San Antonio. “And secondly, and most importantly, I haven’t talked to [Spurs GM] R.C. [Buford] ever about [the job], 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,” Self added. “So, yeah, there was absolutely zero truth to that.”
Self, 57, has coached Kansas since 2003, leading the Jayhawks to a record 14 straight conference titles, three Final Four appearances, and a national championship in 2008. He does have a connection to the Spurs though in that his son Tyler is the assistant general manager of their G League team.
Multiple prominent college coaches have made the leap to the NBA in recent years (Billy Donovan, Brad Stevens, John Beilein, etc.). The NCAA’s recent allegations against Self and the 70-year-old Popovich’s impending retirement will also add fuel to the fire, but Self sounds pretty vehement in his denial.
