Gregg Popovich by some people’s estimation (including mine) is the greatest coach in NBA history.
He also can be a little rough around the edges and hard on his players though, and if you aren’t open to criticism and being chewed out every now and then you may not enjoy Popovich as a coach.
It was clear that this was likely the case between Popovich and LaMarcus Aldridge as Aldridge was clearly unhappy and struggled his first few seasons after signing with the Spurs in free agency in 2015.
That has all changed this season as Aldridge is playing much better and looking much happier as he currently is posting the best offensive rating of his career.
This is in large part accredited to a sit down meeting between Popovich and Aldridge over the summer where they cleared the air and reconciled their differences. One of the outcomes of this meeting apparently was Popovich deciding to stop over-coaching Aldridge.
Here is what he told NBA.com:
“We broke bread a few times, talked about it, laughed about it, discussed what we thought needed to happen, and frankly 95 percent of it fell on me because I made an error in trying to change him too much. That might sound odd, but he’d been in the league nine years and there’s one way he plays on the offensive end and feels comfortable with. I tried to turn him into Jack Sikma, told him I was going to teach you how to play on the elbow, go on the wing, face up. It was confusing for him. It really didn’t fit his style of play. I was guilty of over coaching in a sense.
“We came to an agreement on what had to happen. Well, on defense, I told him ‘I’m going to get on you like I do everyone else. But on offense, I don’t even want to talk to you. When they double you, kick it. Other than that, you be LaMarcus Aldridge.’ You see the result right now. He’s happy, confident and kicking everybody’s butt.”
The Spurs appear to be highly dangerous as usual this season with a happy, motivated and rejuvenated Aldridge and a returning Kawhi Leonard going forward.
Not many coaches and players can repair a soured relationship a few years in, but if any coach can it is Gregg Popovich.
