Spurs' Harrison Barnes gets real on 'honoring' Gregg Popovich during absence
Yesterday at 06:38 PM
As the San Antonio Spurs forge forward without Hall-of-Famer Gregg Popovich, they do so with his presence very much in mind. Veteran forward Harrison Barnes, acquired this summer via trade, hasn’t played many games for the winningest coach in NBA history. That doesn’t mean the magnitude of not having one of the greatest of all-time escapes him.
“I think that the best way that we can honor him is to go out there and just compete as hard as we can and execute and win,” Barnes said.
Popovich won five NBA championships while his Tim Duncan-led Spurs became fixtures at or near the top of the league over three decades. The 32-year-old Barnes played under “Pop” for Team USA during the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The 75-year-old coach’s current absence started after the fifth game this season.
“Pop is, there’s nobody who can fill that void,” Barnes said. “What he brings, what he’s brought, what he’s established, I think everyone – coaches, players, staff – everyone is doing their part to make sure that we’re making him proud every single night.”
Spurs leaning on new leadership amid Gregg Popovich absence
The night the Spurs lost Popovich for the foreseeable future because of a mild stroke, they eventually improved to 3-3. Ten games later, they’re still at .500. Mediocre by most standards, the Spurs won just 22 of their 82 games last season. Mitch Johnson is serving as the franchise’s acting head coach.
“I think you always want to build upon previous games,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, you take away something even from the losses but I definitely think we’ve showed ourselves a little bit and now can hold ourselves accountable to some of the good stuff that we’ve show the last two games for sure.”
Wins vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder and Utah Jazz have been especially impressive considering San Antonio was missing Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan in each. Though, the Spurs needed a big second half to avoid a loss to now 3-12 Utah.
“I didn’t think we came out with good energy. I didn’t like our reactions to some of the things that happened in the first half, the body language, confidence – or lack thereof. It felt like we were indecisive. Give Utah credit for that. Obviously, they’re well coached and they came out playing with a lot of pace,” Johnson said, sounding a lot like Popovich.
“I didn’t like how we reacted to some mistakes and it felt like we had some better moments than it probably felt like. It felt like we poked ourselves in the eye a couple of times. We’d get a turnover and dribble off our foot or we’d miss a lay-up and they’d come down and get a bucket off that.”
Thursday night vs. the Jazz represented the kind of game the Spurs would’ve lost in the last couple of years.
“I thought we did a good job of regrouping in the second half and keeping it together.”
It appears missing Popovich isn’t the only difference so far for the 2024-2025 Spurs.
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