Why was Popovich involved in the Spurs' rebuilding process? Is it love or something else?

Last month, Spurs players walked into the training ground one by one, each incredibly young.

Among them, the 25-year-old Dezhangtai Murray is already the player who has stayed in the team for the longest time in the blink of an eye. Then there's Kelden Johnson, a rising star and 21-year-old Olympic gold medalist.

There's also 18-year-old rookie Josh Primo, who wasn't eligible to vote in last November's U.S. presidential election, not just because he's Canadian.

Recently, the youngest Spurs training camp began their first defensive skate training together under the leadership of the oldest man in the rebuild.

Greg Popovich, 72, is still energetic.

"He's still training with the best players among us," said defender Lonnie Walker, who is 22 years old and started his fourth season. "It's really impressive to see what such a person is doing."

At at the AT&T Center on Wednesday, the Spurs will face the Orlando Magic, which will be Popovich's 25th opener under his tutelage.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in team history, it marked the first step toward the team's goal of returning to the playoffs.

The five championship flags hanging overhead represent Spurs' past. The future, although uncertain, will be on the pitch.

On the sidelines, as always, stands a coach who connects the two eras.

"When you face someone like Popovich, you have a lot of respect for him," said new signing Doug McDermott, who played for five teams before joining the Spurs. Popovich spoke with all eyes on him. That's cool. ”

When the Spurs officially parted ways with veterans DeMar DeRozan, Patti Mills and Rudy Guy in the offseason, it ushered in an era of full youth.

The oldest player in the current squad is 33-year-old striker Thaddeus Young, who was acquired from Chicago in a trade-off for DeRozan in August when he was sent to the Bulls.

Earlier this month, in the Spurs' first preseason game against the Jazz, no player under Popovich was over 30 years old, thus opening the dawn of a new era.

In December 1996, Popovich began his coaching career at the Spurs. If the oldest coach in NBA history had doubts about the roster he coached, Popovich would have had the players off as early as training camp.

"It excites me," Popovich said.

After helping the Spurs build a pillar of the dynasty, Popovich enjoyed the opportunity to lay the groundwork for the future.

Popovich said: "A lot of people here have only been to university for a year or two and don't have much time to lay the groundwork. Watching these guys want to improve, get to know each other, figure out how they have to play to win, it makes me have fun working every day. ”

Although coaching ability no longer needs to be proven, popovich still faces some problems with what he is still doing.

In NBA history, he tied for third in the number of five championships, surpassing everyone with 1480 wins (regular season and playoff combined).

Popovich needs another 26 wins to overtake his mentor Don Nelson and become the most won coach in the NBA regular season. And he couldn't have even had that thought.

In August, Popovich announced his life goal of leading the U.S. national team to gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Many NBA observers speculated that it would be Popovich's gold medal singing.

He can now comfortably be in the Italian town of Portofino or Positano, holding a glass of wine and not thinking about blocking or dismantling anything. However, Popovich is ready to lead this young, eager to play, but perhaps not enough to make the playoffs, they can almost be his grandchildren.

And for this group of children, they are very calm about it.

Spurs 26-year-old starting center Jacob Pelter said: "Bobo just does what Bobo has to do. I don't think age matters. ”

Throughout the camp, one of Popovich's goals was to build good relationships with new players such as McDermott, Young, Zach Collins, and two rookies, Primo and Joe Wiskamp.

This effort does not always go according to plan.

"It's always fun to see new people come in and get confused the first time they hear Bobo tell a joke," Polltel said. They weren't sure if they should laugh. ”

Even if he can't or won't pay attention to TikTok and Instagram, which his players play a lot, Popovich is eager to take on the challenge of leading an inexperienced team.

When Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were young, Popovich controlled the team in a way that resembled self-driving, and now he enjoys being a teacher again.

"It's really great," Popovich said, "because I was needed." ”

In a way, the Spurs need Popovich more than ever.

Miami Heat coach Eric Spollstra spent behind-the-scenes time with Popovich as a U.S. national team staff member in Tokyo.

Spoorstra believes the communication skills that helped Popovich lead an All-Star team to gold were crucial to spurs' rebuilding efforts.

Spoorstra said: "His talent is in getting along with people. He can read people, read situations, read atmospheres. He makes people feel like they're being absorbed. ”

"That's his superpower."

On Wednesday night, when the Spurs pulled back another of Popovich's coaching seasons, the superpowers will return again.

In 1997, Popovich coached Chuck Person in his first season opener. Now he will coach Primo for the new season.

Everything has changed, everything has not changed.

"Bobo or Bobo," Walker said. "He led by example."