Gregg Popovich Continues to Mentor Mike Brown

Gregg Popovich and Mike Brown will try to beat each other tonight when the Lakers visit the Spurs. According to Brown, his student-teacher relationship with Pop remains very much intact, years after they worked together. From the OC Register: “Brown has a lot of extended family in Philly, but his parents and both his sisters live in San Antonio. They relocated there after seeing San Antonio’s virtues while Brown served as Gregg Popovich’s assistant coach with the Spurs in 2000-03, appreciating the warm weather and cost of living. In some ways, Popovich is family, too. ‘Times get tough at certain times for me,’ Brown said. ‘He’s probably the guy that I reach out to more than anybody else, and he knows me well enough to where if I haven’t reached out to him, I’ll see I got a phone call from him or a text from him. He’s been great for me — and not just for me, but for my entire family.’ And despite him coaching the Spurs and Brown the Lakers now, Popovich made clear he’d eagerly assist Brown as long as it wasn’t directly related to Spurs vs. Lakers (at which time Popovich said he’ll kick Brown’s behind). ‘He still helps me out,’ Brown said. ‘He’s just a real human being. He knows people very well, and that’s probably his strongest strength. He’s a terrific, terrific people manager. He helps me in a lot of ways, not only on the floor but off the floor in my personal life.'”