Open Thread: Looking back at Pop’s opposing head coaches- Jazz edition

This is the shortest list of coaches outside of Bexar County

As mentioned previously, an article entitled “Pop’s Incredible Longevity” revealed that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has coached against 307 different NBA coaches during his twenty-eight year tenure at the helm.

Since December 1996, Pop has consistently coached the Spurs, give or take an ejection or two. Tonight the Spurs play the Utah Jazz.

Let’s make this fun. Without looking, how many of the Jazz coaches can you name?

There are four.

Three have direct ties to the San Antonio Spurs organization.

The other was with the Utah Jazz organization for a quarter-century and is the 4th winningest coach in NBA history.

More a game of four-square than a bingo card, but let’s see what you got.

Jerry Sloan (1988-2011) started as an assistant in Utah in 1985. Probably the closest to a model of consistency outside San Antonio, he, Karl Malone (1985-2003) and John Stockton (1984-2003) made the playoffs every year together. They had back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998, but could not best the Michael Jordan era Chicago Bulls in their second coming late 90s three-peat.

Sloan is one of the most celebrated coaches in NBA history considering he never won a title as a player or a coach. He has three retired numbers: #52 jersey by his alma mater Evansville Purple Aces, his #4 jersey by the Chicago Bulls, and #1223 retired by Utah representing the number of wins attributed to Sloan’s 23 year career as head coach.

Sloan resigned midseason 2011 after disagreements with players dissuaded him from completing his contract.

His assistant Tyrone Corbin, who had been an assistant to Sloan since 2004 finished out the 2010-2011 season and stayed through 2014. Corbin’s ties to San Antonio come with his being drafted 35th in 1985 by the Spurs. He played two seasons but moved on, just one year before Pop became an assistant in the Alamo City.

Quin Snyder (2014-2022) spent three seasons with the Austin Toros from 2007-2010. In 2009, he was the D-League Coach of the Year. Props to those of you who remember “Toros” and “D-League.”

After Snyder resigned, Spurs former assistant Will Hardy took over. Will began his career with the San Antonio Spurs as a basketball operations intern in 2010 before moving to assistant video coordinator. He became an assistant in 2015 and stayed though 2021 when he went to Boston with Ime Udoka.

One season with the Celtics was all it took for Utah to offer him the head coaching position at the age of 34.

Hardy is in his second season, the Jazz are in a rebuild after stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell moved on. If history repeats itself, Will could have a long career allowing him to rebuild and shape a culture in Salt Lake City.

But tonight, the Spurs are there, and they are fresh off a win, so let’s hope the town is painted Silver & Black.

Go Spurs Go!

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