I've been thinking about this lately, but I'm beginning to wonder just how good a coach Pop actually is. He had 1 season pre-Duncan and went 17-47. Duncan retired after the 2016 season and this is the Spurs since.
61-21
47-35
48-34
32-39
34-48
22-60
That is the definition of progressively worse and it isn't like they were tanking until this past season. That first season the Spurs won 2 playoff series, but they haven't won one since and haven't been in the playoffs the last 3 seasons. I understand talent wins and the talent hasn't been there, but Pop is also the guy mostly responsible for the talent (or lack thereof) on the team.
And to be clear, I'm not suggesting that Pop isn't a good coach, he is, but I used to think he was in the handful of greatest coaches ever, and now I'm not so sure. Be interesting to see what happens in San An over the next few seasons.
I think it would be fascinating to look at the records of the "greatest coaches of all time" with and without mega stars. I feel like you would have to look for the 50ish win seasons without historically great players. I have a decent understanding of the history of the game, but not well enough to know what year specific greats were missing their stars.
The top 15 announced for the 75th anniversary in alphabetical order are Auerbach, Brown, Daly, Holzman, Jackson, Jones, Kerr, Nelson, Popovich, Ramsay, Riley, Rivers, Sloan, Spoelstra, Wilkens.
Most of those guys coached historically great players the vast majority of their careers so it is hard to say.
But that is why I said it would be interesting to see what happens with Pop over the next couple of seasons. If they continue to be bad, I do think that is a bit of a blow to Pop. I do think Spo is the best coach in the league right now. The job he has done the last several years is amazing.