Gregg Popovich torches San Antonio Spurs, blasting ‘That’s not how we play basketball

When Gregg Popovich talks, everybody listens.

While Popovich may no longer be the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, his influence on the team is still as prevalent as it has always been.

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The No. 2 Spurs defeated the No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder 103-82 in Game 4 of the West Conference Finals to level the series at 2-2.

On a night where Victor Wembanyama was named to the first-team All-NBA team, the Frenchman set the tone by posting 33 points, including a half-court logo buzzer beater at the half, to go along with eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and three blocks.

In doing so, the Spurs’ ‘alien’ set franchise history for the most points scored (324 and counting) in a player’s first career postseason, surpassing that of Stephen Jackson (307 points) set back in 2003.

Furthermore, the 22-year-old joined Bill Walton (1977) as the only players to tally over 300 points, 150 rebounds and 50 blocks in their first career postseason, stemming back to 1974 when blocks were first recognized as an official statistic.

“I saw a lot and I’m not surprised,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said. “Our competitive response all year has been pretty good, and he’s [Wembanyama] been at the forefront of that more than not.

“Tonight, he felt, from my perspective, an obligation to set a tone for us in a variety of ways. The aggression was a reflection of that.”

Back-to-back NBA MVP winner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, could muster just 19 points – albeit a Thunder team-high – on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.

This marked just the second time in the entire 2025-26 season that the Canadian star has scored under 20 points, the first of which came in the Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Popovich still integral to the Spurs after retirement

Winning Game 4 was crucial for the Spurs in order to avoid going down to an often unsalvageable 3-1 deficit, as Wembanyama and co flipped the script after a disappointing 123-108 Game 3 defeat on Friday.

According to Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, former long-time head coach Popovich had some choice words to say to the team after that gruelling Game 3 defeat.

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“Every team gets blown out, but just mentality-wise, I think that was one of the worst games we had probably of the season,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said. “Then, Pop came in after the game. He saw it, we all saw it. We all felt it.

“Coming into this game, we wanted to make sure that mentality was out the door. Even if we lost this game, as long as we came in with the right mentality and played the right way, we could be OK with losing the game.

“The way that we lost [Game 3] I think hurt more than losing the game, and that was pretty much for everybody in the locker room.”

Fox who had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double in the win Sunday opened up more on the team’s encounter with Popovich, who had some choice words for his former team.

“Pop’s been around throughout the course of the season, but that was the first time he walked into the locker room and was like, ‘Nah, that’s BS, that’s not how we play basketball,’” Fox told the NBA on NBC crew that featured Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady.

“That was the first time all season that he came into the locker room right after a game and told us how he felt. … That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that.

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“Trainers, everybody’s in there. We close the doors, we don’t let anybody know what’s going on in here. We open that door, we see Pop come in, and it’s like, ‘Ahhhh okay.'”

Hall of Fame coach Popovich coached the Spurs for 29 years, leading the team to five NBA championships as he became the league’s all-time wins leader with a record of 1,422-869.

He retired in 2025 after suffering a stroke, and transitioned into a role as the Spurs’ President of Basketball Operations, though has reportedly become more involved throughout this postseason run.

Even those players perhaps new in the league who haven’t necessarily had the chance to work directly under the coaching of the 77-year-old, such as rookie forward Carter Bryant, have huge respect for one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.

“Nothing more, nothing less,” Bryant told The Athletic of the message Popovich delivered to the team. “I mean, it’s a direct message, and the best thing when you’re in a situation like this is a direct message.

“So to us, we had to be better, we came out executing and we saw the outcome [in Game 4].”

The series now heads back to Oklahoma City on Tuesday for Game 5.

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