Stein: Spurs Would Have Interest in Snyder After Popovich
Mar 14, 2022, 3:35 PM
(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah Jazz players have been oft mentioned in the NBA’s rumor mill this season, and now it’s spreading to head coach Quin Snyder.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, the San Antonio Spurs could express interest in Snyder when legendary coach Gregg Popovich decides to hang up his clipboard.
Stein mentioned the Spurs potential interest in Snyder in his latest substack article.
My latest around-the-league notes to tip off your week … with some Pop succession talk, more on Thibs’ job security and a look at the landscape for players who have stayed in Russia or have been urged to return to play amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: https://t.co/u36sC1EVUu
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 14, 2022
Popovich is the NBA’s longest-tenured head coach and has been the lead man in San Antonio since 1996. Snyder is the league’s fourth longest-serving head coach having spent eight years in Utah.
“More and more, I hear Snyder’s name as a potential Pop successor that the Spurs would naturally relish,” Stein wrote about the potential interest.
Snyder spent three years in the Spurs organization overseeing the Austin Toros for the then NBA D-League.
The Jazz coach has often shared his appreciation for the Spurs as a franchise and for Popovich himself.
“From a personal standpoint, the times I have needed help or guidance, he’s been there for me,” Snyder said.
“It’s probably emblematic of all the people that he’s touched and supported and helped throughout his career.”
The @utahjazz blew another huge second half lead as Gregg Popovich set the NBA's all-time coaching record with 1,336 wins. #TakeNote https://t.co/aZchwP9Wcd
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 12, 2022
Last Friday Popovich became the NBA’s all-time winningest coach earning his 1,336th win against the Jazz in San Antonio.
Snyder has 365 wins under his belt, the 12th most of any active NBA coach, but has led the Jazz to a dramatic rebuild in his eight seasons in Utah.
The coach recently guaranteed his sixth consecutive winning record when the Jazz beat the Sacramento Kings to move to 42-25 on the season.
Snyder led the Jazz to the best record in the NBA during the 2020-21 and was named head coach of the Western Conference All-Star team.
Popovich, 73, has made no indication of when he plans to retire from the Spurs.