Photo Credit: Jim Cowsert/AP

Gregg Popovich – Coaching Genius

Gregg Popovich has been the San Antonio Spurs for 22-straight years now, and it is safe to say that he’s one of the most respected coaches in the league.

He has led the Spurs to a winning record in each of his 21 full seasons as a head coach, and led the Spurs to all five of their NBA titles. But Popovich may now face his hardest challenge, as the Big 3 era has ended for good, with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili retired and Tony Parker in Charlotte.

That doesn’t mean we won’t be able to see plays Pop designed for the three. According to The Athletics’ Ethan Strauss, is looking deep into his playbook, utilizing plays from eight years ago.

“That’s not so much the case with Popovich, whose play-calling archives are on a Library of Alexandria level. ‘Pop might call a play and I’ll go through my notes and see that the last time he called it was eight years ago,’ says a West scout. ‘But it will be the same term, same hand signal, same play.”