San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Chooses to Dine With Tim Duncan Over Jesus
San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich would pass up the opportunity to dine with Jesus Christ to share a meal with now retired NBA center Tim Duncan.
"Everybody always talks about who they'd like to eat dinner with, if you had one night and could go to dinner, go to lunch with so-and-so, who would you like to do it with? People say Mother Teresa and Jesus and the Dalai Lama. OK, I get it," the Spurs coach told the press. "I can honestly tell you, my dinner would be with Timmy."
After spending 19 years in the NBA, Duncan officially retired Monday after spending his entire career with the Spurs. Duncan managed to earn five NBA championship rings with Popovich and leave an impression on his coach who went on to explain why he would choose to eat with the basketball star over Jesus.
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"It would be because he's the most real, consistent, true person I've ever met in my life," the Spurs coach said.
The coach and center had 1,001 career victories, topping the list of any other player and coach tandem in NBA history.
"I would not be standing here if it wasn't for Tim Duncan," the emotional coach said in a press conference about Duncan's retirement.
While some may understandably raise their eyebrow about the coach choosing to dine with Duncan over the savior Jesus Christ, he did take his team to visit nuns five years ago even though it's unclear if Popovich is Christian or not. After the Spurs won their fourth NBA title in 2007, the coach and some of his players visit a group of nuns known as The Salesian Sisters.
"The coach came with the team and he spoke to everybody. He took pictures with each sister, even if they were there in a wheelchair," Sister Angelita Guzman of The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco previously told ESPN.
Guzman revealed, "He would kneel down and talk with a sister, and he was very affectionate with us."
Even though Popovich has managed to lead his team to win five championships, the nuns still believe his team benefited from their prayers.
"They do need prayers. That's what [Popovich] told me, he said some other teams are better than the Spurs," Guzman said.
Although many of the nuns dress in Spurs apparel, scream along with fans and question calls made by referees, they are serious about those prayers which Sister Kathy King shared with ESPN.
"Heavenly Father, we ask your special blessings on the Spurs, Coach Pop and all their coaches. May the Spurs always play and continue to be the Best they can be ... Protect them from any kind of harm," Kings prayed. "May they always remember that they do well with God's help ... We ask the Blessed Mother to help them and in Jesus' name ask God's blessing – win or lose. Amen."
