Tony Parker Once Revealed That Gregg Popovich Pushed Him To Tears During His Rookie Season: “It Sometimes Bordered On Abuse With Me.”

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Credit: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports

There has been a lot of buzz around Gregg Popovich recently after he surpassed Don Nelson to claim the record for most coaching wins in NBA history. There have been wholesome and wonderful stories that have come out about Pop, like Manu Ginobili explaining how Pop tried to rally the Spurs after their heartbreaking NBA finals loss to the Miami Heat in 2013. 

However, coaches don’t become the greatest ever by just being nice to their players, and Pop is no different. There is most definitely a tough side to Popovich and even his best players aren’t exempt from it. Tony Parker addressed how difficult it was for him under the legendary coach when he came to the Spurs, revealing that Coach Pop almost drove him to tears during his rookie season in his book, Beyond All Of My Dreams (via thepostgame.com). 

“From my first NBA practices, Gregg Popovich was really hard on me. ‘Get your head out of your a**!’ He cursed a lot and said other crazy things. It wasn’t easy to handle.

“During my rookie season, I sometimes had tears in my eyes in the shower after practice. I told myself, ‘I’ll never be able to satisfy this coach. He’ll never be happy.’ All he did was push me. Push me to test my limits. But there were never limits.”

“It sometimes bordered on abuse with me… There’s no denying it — Pop helped me a lot. It’s still hard to say what my career would have been like with another coach. I think I still would have had a great career. He surely helped me to outdo myself at certain times. I think that we helped each other, and that we pushed each other.”

Parker was crucial to the San Antonio Spurs winning 4 of the 5 NBA titles they won under Popovich, even claiming a Finals MVP in 2007. When records like the one Pop currently has are broken, it’s easy to overlook the tough road it takes to get there in favor of the happier stories, but this story provides some insight into what it takes to be considered among the greatest of all time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8_Qh5DiFc

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Divij Kulkarni is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He has covered the NBA and the English Premier League, with 4 years of experience in creating sports content. Finding exciting and intriguing content about all things NBA is both his job and his passion. Divij loves the Dallas Mavericks and can be regularly observed getting emotional during games. Outside of basketball, he enjoys reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, consuming copious amounts of movies and TV, and spending time with his dog, Olivia. Expertise: NBA, Historical Sports ResearchFavorite Team: Dallas MavericksFeatured On HoopsHype, Sports Illustrated, Secret Base, MSNPrevious Work: Tribuna
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