In 1999, rumors swirled that the San Antonio Spurs considered replacing Gregg Popovich with Doc Rivers, who was working as a team broadcaster at the time. The Spurs front office wasn't convinced that Popovich could lead the team to an NBA championship, but star center David Robinson thought otherwise.
San Antonio started out struggling, winning only six of their first 14 games. On March 2nd, '99, they faced the Houston Rockets in a regular-season matchup, but for the Spurs, it was more than just another game.
"If we lost that game, they were going to fire Pop and bring in Doc ... that was the rumor," former Spurs forward Malik Rose recounted . "I would have to say it was real because of the gravity in the locker room. I'll never forget it."
"Absolutely," former Spurs guard Avery Johnson also noted. "Things had been communicated to us. It was really real."
As it turned out, the Spurs were ready to sack Popovich, and the game against the Rockets was the deciding factor. As the leader of the team, The Admiral used his influence to motivate his teammates, reiterating that they had to give it all they had to save Pop from being replaced by Doc.
"It was the most passionate pregame speech David ever gave," Johnson recalled. "He was foaming at the mouth."
"It was different from the regular pregame," Rose remembered. "David [Robinson] usually didn't say much beyond a prayer in the huddle when we brought it all in, but [before this game] David was saying, 'We've got to get it together, we've got to do this, this is a big game.'"
Robinson's inspirational speech worked. The Spurs torched the Rockets, 99-82. All of San Antonio's starters scored double digits, with Tim Duncan leading all scorers with 23 points that went along with 14 rebounds. Johnson posted 18 points and 13 assists, while Robinson contributed 15 points and nine rebounds.
For Avery, it really helped that they came in thinking they would lose their coach if they didn't perform well. Regardless of whether the rumor was true, Johnson and the Spurs were glad to have won the game for Popovich.
"There was a lot of noise about Pop being potentially replaced by Doc, so David [Robinson] and I went to Pop's house before we got on the flight to go to Houston. Pop talked to us and ... what I will say is we came out of there feeling so strongly about Pop that we knew we had to go win that game," he explained.
"You might want to go look at the numbers," Johnson added, "of what we all did [against Houston]."
The Spurs went on a roll that season and won their first NBA championship in franchise history under Popovich. Rivers eventually dipped his toes into NBA coaching when he was hired by the Orlando Magic as head coach in the 1999-00 season.
In retrospect, the Spurs weren't underestimating Rivers' coaching skills; they just believed Popovich was the best man for the job. Moreover, it's worth noting that San Antonio might not have developed into a dynasty had Pop been fired in '99.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
