The San Antonio Spurs and the entire NBA world received tragic news on Wednesday relating to one of the most respected men in the game. The wife of Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Erin, passed away after a long battle with illness. Her death comes after four-plus decades of marriage and caught a ton of people around the NBA by surprise.
It matters very little in the grand scheme of things, but this tragedy comes with Pop and his Spurs in the midst of a first-round playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. With Game 3 set to take place Thursday, Popovich himself will not be in attendance. Instead, assistant head coach Ettore Messina will take over the duties.
#Spurs PR tweeted out a few min ago that Ettore Messina will coach the Spurs tonight in G3 against the Warriors
— Howard Chen 陈定豪 (@TheHoChen) April 19, 2018
Golden State currently boasts a 2-0 series lead and is looking to practically wrap it up in San Antonio on Thursday.
Though, that has to be the furthest thing from Popovich’s mind.
Our thoughts go out to Pop, his two children and two grandchildren during what has to be the most difficult of times for the family.