{"id":509994,"date":"2026-08-14T13:01:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=509994"},"modified":"2026-08-14T13:01:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:01:48","slug":"popovich-pays-tribute-to-don-nelson-i-stole-most-of-what-i-ran-in-san-antonio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/popovich-pays-tribute-to-don-nelson-i-stole-most-of-what-i-ran-in-san-antonio\/","title":{"rendered":"Popovich Pays Tribute to Don Nelson: &#8220;I Stole Most of What I Ran in San Antonio&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 data-section-id=\"zlcz63\" data-start=\"292\" data-end=\"325\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"295\" data-end=\"325\">Popovich Honors His Mentor<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"327\" data-end=\"619\">The basketball world gathered to celebrate the life of NBA coaching legend Don Nelson, who passed away at the age of 86. During Thursday&#8217;s memorial service in Dallas, Gregg Popovich delivered an emotional and often humorous tribute to the man who played a pivotal role in his coaching career.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"621\" data-end=\"865\">Popovich served as Nelson&#8217;s assistant with the Golden State Warriors from 1992 to 1994 and described those years as &#8220;the two happiest years of my NBA career,&#8221; joking that his family enjoyed spending more time with Nelson&#8217;s family than with him.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1o0li1u\" data-start=\"867\" data-end=\"904\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"870\" data-end=\"904\">&#8220;I Stole Most of Your Offense&#8221;<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"906\" data-end=\"1060\">The most memorable moment of Popovich&#8217;s speech came when he openly acknowledged how much of his success with the San Antonio Spurs was inspired by Nelson.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-start=\"1062\" data-end=\"1178\">\n<p data-start=\"1064\" data-end=\"1178\">&#8220;Most of the stuff that I ran in San Antonio I stole from you. I just tweaked it because I had different players.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p data-start=\"1180\" data-end=\"1333\">Popovich also joked that looking around the room at so many former rivals gave him &#8220;a little PTSD,&#8221; keeping the ceremony both heartfelt and lighthearted.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1fh2u26\" data-start=\"1335\" data-end=\"1379\"><span role=\"text\"><strong data-start=\"1338\" data-end=\"1379\">A Lasting Legacy Beyond Championships<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1381\" data-end=\"1529\">Popovich described Nelson as a truly special person whose tough exterior hid &#8220;a heart bigger than the moon&#8221; and one that was &#8220;soft as marshmallows.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1531\" data-end=\"1823\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">After leading the Spurs for nearly three decades and winning five NBA championships, Popovich surpassed Nelson in 2022 to become the winningest coach in NBA history. His tribute highlighted just how deeply Nelson&#8217;s influence shaped one of the greatest coaching careers the game has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1531\" data-end=\"1823\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CXElb2kmmxQ?si=hjk9P7CMXeDVBIH4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking at Don Nelson&#8217;s memorial service, Gregg Popovich honored his longtime mentor, revealing how the Hall of Fame coach shaped his philosophy and influenced the Spurs&#8217; dynasty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":509993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[187],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-509994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","typology-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - 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