Next season, the Spurs are going back to the Fundamental.
Tim Duncan, who was a member of all five of San Antonio’s NBA championship teams and took home two NBA MVP awards, will be returning to the franchise as an assistant under head coach Gregg Popovich next season.
“It is only fitting, that after I served loyally for 19 years as Tim Duncan’s assistant, that he returns the favor,” Popovich said of 43-year-old Duncan joining his bench.
The 1997 Wake Forest graduate played 19 seasons with the Spurs before retiring in the summer of 2016.
At Duncan’s retirement ceremony, Popovich was bit more long-winded in his praise of the 15-time All-Star.
“We lived on the beach for a few days and we swam and we talked,” Popovich said at the ceremony. “From that moment I knew he was a special individual because he basically talked about everything but basketball. And we’ve been the recipients of that intelligence and that outlook on life since he’s walked in here.”
Will Hardy, who joined the Spurs as a basketball operations intern in 2010, will also join Popovich’s staff as an assistant coach.
“Will Hardy is a talented, young basketball mind who has earned a great deal of respect from everyone in the organization thanks to his knowledge, spirit and personality,” Popovich said.
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