No. 2 Golden State Warriors vs. No. 7 Spurs
(Warriors lead first-round playoff series 2-0)
Game 1: Warriors 113, Spurs 92, Saturday, Oakland, Calif.
Game 2: Warriors 116, Spurs 101, Monday, Oakland
Game 3: Thursday, 8:30 p.m., AT&T Center
Game 4: Sunday, 2:30 p.m., AT&T Center
*Game 5: Tuesday, April 24, Time TBD, Oakland
*Game 6: Thursday, April 26, Time TBD, AT&T Center
*Game 7: Saturday, April 28, Time TBD, Oakland
*If necessary
The death of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich’s wife, Erin, on Wednesday has cast a pall over the Spurs' first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors, giving both teams an emotional jolt.
The Spurs announced Thursday morning that assistant coach Ettore Messina will lead the team in Gregg Popovich's absence for Game 3 on Thursday night at the AT&T Center.
Played against the backdrop of a team and an entire franchise grieving with their longtime coach and his family, Game 3 will be more than just about basketball. Golden State leads the series 2-0, but for now, at least, that somehow doesn’t seem as important as it was two days ago.
Death has a way of giving us pause and putting things in perspective.
"Pop is the first one that always says that this is a game, our job, our great job, but family is first . . . It's hard to say a lot of things in this moment," veteran guard Manu Ginobili, his voice thick with emotion, said after the team's shootaround Thursday morning. "We're just hurting. We're sad."
Spurs general manager R.C. Buford choked back tears when he spoke about Gregg and Erin Popovich, who was 67.
"Erin and Gregg were best friends who were together for 40 years," Buford said. "Erin's impact and influence on our organization, on our families, on our players and their families will be felt for years to come. I spoke to Pop this morning. He's overwhelmed by the support. He's very appreciate of the love that's been shared with our group and with him, and his family and Erin's family.
"As you'd expect from Pop, he wants our focus to be about the game today, about this series. That's what today will be about. We'll miss Erin a lot and the focus of our team will be on supporting Pop. We've got basketball to get back to."
Focusing on basketball won't be easy for the Spurs, team leaders Ginobili and veteran point guard Tony Parker said.
"We're all devastated," Ginobili said. "We are hurting. We all know the type of guy Pop is. Not many people know the type of gal that Erin was. It's painful. Having to go through this is always tough. There's never a good time. We want to be next to Pop. We want to support him, and we've got to go out there and compete today. But, for sure, we are struggling. It's not an easy to be here."
Asked how he and his teammates will put aside their grief to focus on basketball, Ginobili said: "We'll do our best. When the time comes to play, pretty sure we're going to go out there and compete and respect what he always praises and always tries to communicate about fire, about determination, competing. But not having him with us, not having him here today, is hard, so . . ."
Ginobili's voice cracked and he shrugged his shoulders as he struggled to finish the sentence.
Parker, who is in his 16th season with the Spurs, first met Erin Popovich when he was a 19-year-old rookie with the team.
"It's going to be very difficult to play basketball today, but we have to do it," Parker said. "But for me, it's very emotional. She was a great lady and always saw them (Gregg and Erin Popovich) like a dad and a mom. Everybody knows about that. because I arrived at 19. It was very, very emotional yesterday."
Warriors coach Steve Kerr reportedly was “too stunned” to comment immediately after hearing the news of Erin Popovich's passing. Kerr and Gregg Popovich share a tight bond that dates to Kerr’s days as a Spur, when he played on the franchise’s championship teams in 1999 and 2003.
Sports are usually about fun and games, as TNT studio host Ernie Johnson said Wednesday night, but life’s realities sometimes seep into the equation and knock the wind out of us.
Such was the case Wednesday night when the Spurs broke the news in a press release that Erin Popovich had died earlier in the day. She had battled an illness for an extended period, according to multiple reports.
The news reverberated throughout the NBA, where Gregg Popovich is held in high esteem by players, coaches, executives and just about everybody associated with the league.
While Popovich has become something of a polarizing figure to some fans with his criticism of President Trump in the past year, he is respected and admired by players throughout the NBA. His stature among them has grown exponentially every time he’s talked about racism, social injustice and the current occupant of the Oval Office.
The emotional reactions of stars LeBron James and Kevin Durant upon hearing of Erin Popovich’s death reflected the kinship NBA players have with her husband. Durant looked stunned when he was told the news at the Warriors’ practice Wednesday night at the AT&T Center, pausing as he searched for the words to express his thoughts.
James fought back tears when he talked Gregg Popovich’s loss.
“Obviously, I’m a huge Pop fan,” James told TNT reporter Allie LaForce after the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. “That’s such a tragedy. My best wishes go out to Pop and his family. That’s devastating news. It’s a lot.”
James paused as he struggled to keep his composure.
“The NBA family, we all stick together,” he continued. “I know we compete every night, but when something like this happens it puts everything in perspective. I send my well wishes and my prayers up to the heavens above. I know the man above never makes a mistake even when you sometimes to have to ask, ‘Why?’
“That’s just terrible news. Best of luck to Pop, everybody in San Antonio, the whole Spurs family. That’s all I can say.”
Thursday night will be far from ordinary at the AT&T Center – even for a playoff game. The emotionally charged atmosphere will transcend sports, reminding us that we’re all bound by our humanity.