Green is one of eight players who went against a Popovich-coached team more than 50 times in an NBA game. But it’s the time he spent playing for Popovich — in USA Basketball’s run to an Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games in 2021 — that stands out to Green.

In the wake of Gregg Popovich’s retirement as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, tributes have poured in from across the NBA landscape. Among the most heartfelt came from Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green,

Gregg Popovich didn’t care. “He wore them to the first game we played them,” Draymond Green said Friday after the longtime San Antonio Spurs coach announced his retirement. Asked about Popovich following the Warriors’ Game 6 loss to the Rockets,

Popovich won those five championships spread out over 15 years by helping create one of the most remarkable, if quiet, cultures of excellence in sports. If Pat Riley had the Heat Way (flashy, talked about, and well-celebrated) in Miami, the Pop Way was the opposite in San Antonio.

Of all the branches on the Popovich coaching tree — which includes Steve Kerr — there is no tale like that of Ime Udoka.