Gregg Popovich may now be officially retired as a head coach, but he is still making his presence felt in this year’s NBA postseason.
Sam Amick of The Athletic reported over the weekend that the former San Antonio Spurs head coach Popovich called Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka on Friday in order to provide him with some pointers. The call from Popovich reportedly came in the hours ahead of the Rockets’ showdown against the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif.
Popovich is said to have offered some “X’s and O’s thoughts” to Udoka on the series against the Warriors. With the Rockets facing elimination in Game 6 and ultimately winning 115-107 to keep their season alive, Popovich’s tips were apparently able to make a difference.
For context, Popovich and Udoka have a deep, pre-existing connection. Udoka played for Popovich on the Spurs from 2007-09 and then again from 2010-11. Udoka then went on to begin his NBA coaching career as an assistant on Popovich’s staff in San Antonio from 2012-19.
Now that Udoka is in his third career season as a head coach (and his second with Houston after previously coaching the Boston Celtics), he is obviously still plenty close with his longtime mentor Popovich. Earlier in the week, the 76-year-old Popovich announced that he was finally retiring as a head coach himself after nearly three decades in his post with the Spurs.
With Game 7 between the Rockets and the Warriors set to be played on Sunday evening, perhaps Popovich will this time around provide some tips to Golden State head coach Steve Kerr (another one of his close mentees).
