Popovich, LeBron facing a similar situation

Both old-timers have seen better days. Neither looks likely to lift a championship trophy again.

One of them seems at peace with it.

We’re now into the sixth month of Gregg Popovich’s effervescent, rose-colored glasses period, which somehow shows no signs of abating. After each Spurs defeat, of which there have been plenty, the reformed grump finds progress to praise, or effort to embrace, or hope to hail. In 12th place, he’s become a downright cheerful optimist.

As for his grizzled counterpart in Los Angeles?

“I feel like poop right now,” LeBron James confirmed last week.

It turns out, losing can take a bigger toll at age 37 than it does at age 73, especially if expectations haven’t been properly calibrated. And as two of the most successful NBA leaders of the millennium meet again at the AT&T Center on Monday, their vantage points look awfully similar.

Even if they’re not sharing the same misery.

Maybe Popovich is beyond his. He’s had four years to come to terms with his franchise’s new place in the league’s hierarchy, and, if anything, a season committed to rebuilding has rejuvenated him. A year ago, there were days when it seemed like a foregone conclusion he’d go to the Olympics and then retire.

This season? There are days when it’s hard to imagine him ever quitting. After a practice a little over a week ago in Washington, D.C., Popovich was talking about the draft picks the Spurs acquired at the deadline, and he made a point of noting people shouldn’t forget about the one they’ll have the right to swap with Boston.

In 2028.

The year Manu Ginobili’s twins turn 18.

Now, to be sure, he didn’t say he’d be around that long. He still hasn’t said whether he’ll be around past the season finale April 10 in Dallas. But every time he speaks, Popovich sounds like a man

invested in the long-term future of his organization, and that’s another way in which his season and James’ have differed.

With his Lakers in danger of missing the playoffs for the second time in four years, James caused a minor stir last month when he told the Athletic he planned to play his final season with his son, Bronny, who will be eligible for the NBA draft in

2024.

James later backtracked on that, telling reporters he sees himself “being with the purple and gold as long as (he) can play.” But the Lakers’ roster is a mess, and they lack both the salary-cap flexibility and draft picks to improve it. Unless he leaves, James’ chances of winning another title don’t look much better than Popovich’s.

They’ve admired each other for years, of course. Popovich once compared James to superhero “Black Panther,” and multiple times James expressed a desire to play for Popovich. Before the pandemic pushed back the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, it looked like that might have happened on Team USA. Now it never will.

In a sense, though, they’re sharing a similar trajectory near the ends of their careers. Last month, on a team that’s lost more games than it’s won, James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA career record for regular season and playoff points scored. This month, on a team that’s lost more games than it’s won, Popovich will break Don Nelson’s NBA career record for regular season coaching victories.

James went to the Finals 10 times, winning four of them. Popovich coached in six Finals, winning five. And just about every game night, their peers across the league rave about how great they still are. Opposing defenses still double-team James, and he still makes them pay for it. Opposing coaches still fret about which holes in their strategy Popovich is going to exploit with a lineup of mostly unaccomplished up-and-comers.

The respect remains for both. The winning, not so much. Only one of them, however, publicly has claimed to feel like “poop.” James, like many in Los Angeles, expected the Lakers to compete for a title this season, so he looks at a 27-35 record heading into Saturday night and focuses on the 35. Popovich, meanwhile, said all along this was about development, so he looks at a 24-39 record and focuses on the 24.

Perhaps they can compare notes Monday when the two legends share a sideline again. At the end of the night, the 37-yearold player who’s scored more combined points than anyone in NBA history will wave at the 73-year-old coach who’s won more combined games than anyone in NBA history.

And people might be surprised to learn which old-timer needs the other to cheer him up.

Eric Gay / Associated Press Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has seemed invigorated with a team full of up-and-comers, even as the losses pile up.