Brooklyn Nets Hiring Gregg Popovich as Coach?
Are the Brooklyn Nets hiring current San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to replace the recently departed Kenny Atkinson?
It seems like unlikely, but multiple ESPN personalities believe it is a viable option.
Atkinson was widely regarded as one of the league’s better coaches over the last few years, leading Brooklyn to improvement on seemingly an annual basis. Apparently that was not good enough for Nets brass, though.
This weekend, the organization announced it was parting ways with Atkinson and moving in a new direction.
On Monday, ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith appeared on first take and named three potential candidates to take over for Atkinson. Two were names that had frequently been floated for vacancies over the past couple of seasons – Mark Jackson and Ty Lue.
According to @stephenasmith, there are only three candidates to fill the head coaching job with the Brooklyn Nets …
… one of them is Gregg Popovich. pic.twitter.com/yc6jUkg6zS
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 9, 2020
The third was a bit surprising. It was Popovich.
Smith’s co-host, Max Kellerman, was visibly caught off guard by the suggestion.
Nevertheless, Smith did not relent.
According to him, there was a potential scenario where Nets general manager would give Popovich a provocative sales pitch to leave his current, increasingly gloomy situation, and come to Brooklyn.
Marks of course previously served as an assistant coach for the Spurs and was a member of the organization’s 2005 title-winning team.
With a returning Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in tow, Brooklyn figures to be a title contender next season. Will that be enough to pry Popovich away from San Antonio? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
