For years, Gregg Popovich resisted being placed on the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame ballot. While coaches with considerably fewer credentials and championships were being inducted, Popovich was content to continue his job as coach of the San Antonio Spurs with no additional fanfare.
Hall of Fame chairman Jerry Colangelo began asking Popovich more often over recent years about his eligibility. Popovich told him he wanted to wait for Tim Duncan to be inducted, which he was in 2020.
He then told Colangelo he first wanted Manu Ginobili to get the call, which he did in 2022. And now the last of that great Spurs trio, Tony Parker, will be inducted in the Class of 2023. Popovich, finally, will join him.
The 74-year-old Popovich, who has won five NBA championships and is considered a top-five coach of all time, finally allowed himself to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and he reached on the first ballot. For Popovich, it wasn’t an easy decision to allow himself to be placed on the ballot because, in his eyes, it was a sign of egotism.
“Jerry threatened me,” Popovich joked. “Jerry’s a pretty intimidating dude. Just to get it over with, I don’t know. Honestly, I just felt like the Hall of Fame was like for Red Holzman, Red Auerbach, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson. You put people’s names in like mine and it’s like the SAT test, ‘Which doesn’t fit?’
“I never felt like I really belonged, to be honest with you. I’m not trying to be Mr. Humble or anything. I’m a Division 3 guy, not a Hall of Fame guy. So it never really registered. It was embarrassing to think about, to tell you the truth. I’m a product of serendipity more than anything.”
Popovich unquestionably would have been inducted a decade or more ago if he was on the ballot. Colangelo, who fielded questions for years about Popovich and his lack of induction, wanted to ensure those NBA legends that deserved it were inducted.
“It was a conversation that’s taken years,” Colangelo said. “I finally said to him, ‘Pop, it’s your call.’ He was thinking he wanted to wait until he retired originally. And then he wanted to wait until his [Spurs] guys were inducted. OK, so Duncan is in. Ginobili is in. Parker is going in. Pop said, ‘OK, I’m ready now.’ That was his call. By virtue of his track record, he could have been in a long time ago. He wanted to wait and that says a lot about him.”
Colangelo said he can’t recall a candidate declining consideration from the Hall of Fame. And this year’s class does not include candidates from the Early African-American Pioneers or from the American Basketball Association. Colangelo said he believes deserving candidates from those categories have been inducted over the past decade as the Hall has put an emphasis on recognizing those previously overlooked pioneers.
“We like the system, but some of the direct elects, could be the veterans, could be the international, we may change some of those things,” Colangelo said of the process. “I think it’s always good to take a look and if it needs attention, you tweak it. Do what’s in the best interest of the Hall of Fame, and we want to be fair to the people who are involved. We did some things a few years back because I felt a lot of individuals fell through the cracks.
“So, by coming up with the direct elects we were able to take care of a lot of people, and I think that list [of worthy candidates] is down quite a bit. Maybe it’s time to take a breather and let things build up again. We’re not obligated to put someone in from each of those committees every year. We have the ability to put it on hold. People have to know it’s that special.”
There are a handful retired NBA stars, such as Chauncey Billups, Bill Laimbeer, and Marques Johnson, who are gaining traction for induction, but the list of worthy candidates is shortening.
“We went through a number of ABA guys and now when you talk about what’s left or what are the other names there, now you have to weigh that against a lot of NBA guys who really may be thought of higher than those guys,” Colangelo said. “The ABA guys, I think we’re finished. There may be future people involved who feel differently, but I feel comfortable with our system that we’re covering all of basketball. It’s an open book. It couldn’t be better right now.”
Popovich joins a stellar class that includes Parker, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade, and Becky Hammon. It is considered one of the most star-studded classes in the last 15 years, comparable to the 2020 class of Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and Tamika Catchings, the 2016 class of Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, and Sheryl Swoopes, and the 2009 class of Michael Jordan, John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, and C. Vivian Stringer.
“We always try to keep the future in mind when we look at the class in immediate times and what’s happening over the next two or three years,” Colangelo said. “Who are the names that are going to be considerations? It’s good to be able to spread things out if you could, but it depends on when people retire. It just so happens that this year the stars were aligned and these individuals became available because they were eligible, and so we end up with a stupendous class. One of the best.”
PLEASANT NEGOTIATIONS
Sides get deal done on new CBA
The NBA and Players Association reached an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, and the amicable discussions were a testament to how much relationships between the sides have improved over the past decade.
Gone are the days when David Stern and Billy Hunter took shots at each other during media sessions or players were storming out of meetings after a few minutes or owners cried broke because of their poor business decisions.
The NBA had the option to opt out of the agreement by Friday, but the sides reached a deal early Saturday morning. The new CBA reportedly will include a mid-season tournament, games played requirements for receiving NBA awards, and the continuation of the one-and-done rule.
“The way this collective bargaining agreement was designed, same as the last one, we intentionally placed these early opt-outs to avoid going right up to the line at the very end of the agreement, where then you’re left with this period potentially where often that leads to work stoppages because there’s no agreement in place,” commissioner Adam Silver said before the agreement was announced. “The idea here was taking into account the history of our negotiations, particularly with this Players Association. As I said, it may always be part of collective bargaining where sides need deadlines, and to the extent that you can create an early deadline, which we have here — of course we extended it, right; it was initially Dec. 13 but got extended to now. I think both sides found that helpful.”
Both sides had to concede issues, especially the Players Association on topics such as load management and number of games played to qualify for awards. Meanwhile, the union was steadfastly against eliminating the one-and-done rule, which may continue for at least another decade. There was early speculation that it would be eliminated and high school players would be allowed to enter the draft.
Players Association executive director Tamika Tremaglio told the Globe that the union was more interested in retaining jobs for veteran players than allowing a slew of 18-year-olds into the league, especially with no immediate plans of expansion. The new television contract and potential streaming opportunities also complicated the new CBA.
“The fact that if we don’t have an agreement done and we were to opt out, and we’ve made clear to the Players Association, made clear publicly that we would like to see changes in this collective bargaining agreement,” Silver said. “I think that has much less to do with rancor between the sides than changed circumstances since we negotiated this last collective bargaining agreement.
“For example, in media. We’re looking at a different world now than we were last time we negotiated this collective bargaining agreement.
“There’s so many different elements that get negotiated with the players, but much of it has to do with how we construct our economic relationship. Without being more specific, how we distribute our television, what dollars we’re generating locally and nationally all go into the mix. As we’re now looking out into a new paradigm of media, there are changes that we would like to see made.”
Tremaglio said the complexion of negotiations has changed because the players seek more of a partnership with owners rather than an employer-employee relationship. Silver agreed that players should have more of a stake in the league’s fate besides performance on the floor.
“From my standpoint, there’s a negotiation that needs to be had, but at the end of the day, sort of the genius of this system, I believe at least, is that we’re in essence 50/50 partners,” Silver said. “Nothing I can take credit for, designed before my time. But this notion of the partnership, which then leads to a salary cap, we feel creates the ideal incentives, so that at least if we’re to be believed across the table by the Players Association, the changes we want to make are ones that we think will create the incentives and investments necessary to maximize the pie, which then ultimately increases their salaries. The larger the pie, the more 50 percent dollars to go to them.”
ETC.
Morant’s remorse only goes so far
Ja Morant is back playing with the Grizzlies after an eight-game suspension for brandishing a gun during an Instagram post in March. Morant took time away from the team after the backlash and the NBA essentially gave him time served after determining that eight games was sufficient. Morant said he underwent counseling for stress and devising better ways to deal with his issues. He has reiterated he does not have an alcohol or substance-abuse issue.
Commissioner Adam Silver was asked to explain why the NBA didn’t levy a heavier penalty on Morant, especially since he was carrying a gun. But the league investigation could not determine whether Morant owned the gun or carried the gun on a team plane to Denver, which violates the collective bargaining agreement.
“He understood he was going to be suspended for some number of games, so the fact that he began to sit out before we issued our ruling, I don’t see that having any import, so park that,” Silver said. “Also, he obviously lost the money associated with those games, as well. I’d just say under the circumstances, eight games seemed appropriate to me.
“Joe Dumars and Byron Spruell and others that work in the league office that handle those matters with me, we did sit together for a while, and I think [Morant] understood that while I appreciated his full cooperation, his expression of complete remorse and his acknowledgment of not just how dangerous any activity involving a gun can be but given the nature of his stardom, the millions if not tens of millions of kids who could possibly be influenced by his conduct, what I think we both understood is that what’s going to be most important is what happens going forward and how successful he’ll be in modifying his behavior.”
Morant is one of the faces of the league, and the image of him carrying a gun with his buddies in a Denver-area strip club damages his reputation and that of the NBA. Silver is hoping Morant has learned his lesson and will continue to reshape himself with therapy and mentorship. Several current and former NBA players said they believe a lack of mentorship on the Grizzlies led to Morant’s recent actions.
Silver said Morant’s future will be determined by Morant’s actions.
“I have every sense that he took the meeting with me and the discipline enormously seriously,” said Silver, “and even putting aside anything that I did or within the power of the league that, at least my sense is that it was one of those moments in his life where he realized things could have been so much worse, putting aside, again, any punitive actions from the league, that when the mixture of alcohol and guns is so terrible that something terrible, something truly horrific could have happened to him or someone else, and even still there’s some person out there who could copy something he did.
“My sense was he felt the full gravity of that, but I think where we both ended was good luck to you, and the most important measure will be how you, again, choose to live your life going forward. Not to say I didn’t believe and feel that everything he was saying to me was genuine, but the measure is going to be how he lives his life going forward.”
Layups
The Celtics will have two extra bodies for their stretch run because G League Maine was eliminated by the Cleveland Charge in a one-game playoff. That enables guard JD Davison and center Mfiondo Kabengele to join the Celtics for the rest of the season. Two-way-contract players can log as many as 50 regular-season games for the big club. Davison and Kabengele will not be allowed on the playoff roster because they are not on standard NBA contracts … There’s elation in Sacramento as the Kings snapped the longest playoff drought in professional sports with their win Wednesday against the Trail Blazers. Sacramento had not been to the postseason since 2006. Now that the Kings are locked into the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, potential opponents are looking forward to playing Sacramento because it may be the most vulnerable of the high seeds. The Kings are 26th in points allowed and the four teams that have allowed more are headed for the draft lottery. The Warriors would love to gain the sixth seed and earn a first-round matchup from their rivals to the east. Golden 1 Center could be half filled with Warriors fans and Golden State wouldn’t even have to fly the 90-mile trip to Sacramento. The Warriors have dominated meetings over the past decade, so they may hold a psychological edge. But there are six teams who could nab that sixth seed, including the Timberwolves, who spoiled the Kings’ clinching party with a win at Sacramento last week. The Timberwolves have Karl-Anthony Towns back after he missed four months with a calf strain. A healthy Timberwolves team believess it can make a deep playoff run despite a lower seed … In the East, the most intriguing race is for sixth and a likely first-round matchup with the 76ers. The Nets, without a star since the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving deals, remain sixth and would avoid the play-in. The Heat, who feel with good health they’re capable of beating anybody, remain seventh and could be the Celtics’ first-round opponent. Despite having Kyle Lowry back along with Jimmy Butler, the Heat have been getting battered of late, including a blowout home loss against Brooklyn. The Heat are likely going to have to win their final five games to catch the Nets. They’ll also have to fight off the Hawks and Raptors for the seventh spot and the right to host the play-in game.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.