WHY GREGG POPOVICH SPENDS MILLIONS ON TEAM DINNERS
San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is one of the most renowned coaches in the NBA and is currently arguably the best coach in the league. ESPN's The Undefeated has even called Popovich "the NBA's most "woke" coach.
Since stepping into his head coaching role with the Spurs in 1996, 70-year-old Coach Pop has accumulated three coach of the year awards and has won all five of the Spurs' NBA championships. When his team defeated the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last month, Popovich broke the record for the most regular season and postseason wins of any coach in NBA history.
As great of a leader as Gregg Popovich is, much of his teams' success can be credited to hard work, talent and practice. However, there's another factor that has helped the team mesh together and build chemistry: Coach Popovich's love of great food and fine wine.
Each year Coach Pop spends over $1 million on team dinners at some of the best restaurants across the country, and as if that isn't enough, the coach known as a wine connoisseur drops thousands more on some of the finest wines on the menu and then leaves a hefty tip for the staff that serves his team.
One restaurant owner who has served Popovich and his teams several times told ESPN that the coach will often leave a whopping $10,000 tip on a "nothing meal;' order bottles of wine for the kitchen staff and "leave a thick wad of cash and ask that it be delivered directly to said staff:' In other words, Coach Pop is an absolute baller, he takes care of his people.
Although Popovich's reported $11 million annual salary makes him the highest-paid coach in the NBA, his lavish off-the-court spending habits have clearly paid dividends in the form of success on-the-court. As one source close to Popovich says, "It's a passion for him, but it's also a tool.”
Former Spurs guard Danny Green says, "Dinners help us have a better understanding of each individual person, which brings us closer to each other - and, on the court, understand each other better:' Pau Gasol, a former center for the Spurs, added, "I haven't been a part of that anywhere else. And players know the importance of it as well - and how important it is to Pop."
Spurs former assistant coach Chad Forcier recalls the time when Popovich used a team dinner to help bring some life back to his players after a tough loss in the 2013 Finals against the Miami Heat. During dinner, he says Popovich showed "the most amazing display of leadership" as he went around the room chatting with players and rubbing their shoulders. He says that Popovich was trying to just hook everybody up to life support and resuscitate everybody.
A much needed team dinner didn't lead the Spurs to winning that series against the Heat in 2013, but they did come back the following year to take out LeBron and the Heat in just five games in the 2014 NBA Finals. Today, Popovich is just the fourth coach in NBA history to coach in his 70s. When The New York Times asked Coach Pop if he will renew his contract, which is up at the end of this season, Popovich casually replied, "I don't know the answer."
