The Spurs and long-time head coach Gregg Popovich have developed a simple style of communication. Share your opinion, no matter what it is, or get lost.
Popovich expects that matter-of-factness to continue between Hawks general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Budenholzer. Both worked with Popovich in San Antonio as the organization was building toward four NBA titles in nine seasons.
“I don’t need anybody here who won’t give their opinion and stick by it,” Popovich said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday as he team prepares for the NBA Finals. “If (Spurs owner) Peter Holt came to our practice facility and came to the film room and asked the film guys ‘What do you think about Pop doing this? Or waiving this guy? Or trading this guy?’ If their opinion is the opposite of mine and they don’t give it, I don’t need that guy in the film room. Peter Holt knows he is going to get that kind of answer.
“If everybody feels empowered that they can, without fear, give their opinion on something and it doesn’t affect their position, now you have something powerful working for your organization and now those ideas are out there and they can be taken and they can be used and we don’t give a damn where the idea came from. I know Bud and Danny will do it exactly the same way.”
Popovich worked with Ferry during his three stints with the Spurs, two in the front office and one as a player. He recruited Budenholzer at Pomona College, gave him a non-paying job with the Warriors and brought him to the Spurs nearly 20 years ago.
There will be plenty for Ferry and Budenholzer to discuss after the finals are over and the coach can turn his full attention to the Hawks. There is a staff to put together. That will be followed by the building of a roster between a draft, the summer league and free agency. Both said they expect differences of opinion to arise. How such disagreements are handled can make or break an organization.
“I really believe the best way to build a team and work together is in a collaborative way,” Ferry said. “We’ll listen to the video guy; we’ll listen to the guy cleaning the locker room, if they have a good idea. We’ll certainly listen to the head coach. Mike, part of what’s exciting for me, he has a great understanding of the league, he has a great understanding of looking at things in the big picture.
“He just wasn’t in San Antonio, like some of us were, he’s been there for the duration. He’s seen how it’s evolved. He’s seen how it’s grown. Where San Antonio is and how they operate now, is not how they were 17 years ago.”
Popovich said he quickly saw that Budenholzer had more knowledge than just X’s and O’s. He said he developed a detailed sense for the salary cap. He knew about analytics and player development. He knew the big picture of trades and free-agent signings. In meetings with general manager R.C. Buford “he would say things a lot more intelligent than me” Popovich said of Budenholzer, who he called his co-head coach.
Budenholzer said that he and the other Spurs assistants handle all responsibilities, not just specific areas. The only difference in working with the offense, defense, doing practice preparation or player development came when Popovich would “lose it” and Budenholzer would assume the head coaching responsibilities after he was ejected.
It was in those moments over the past six seasons as the top assistant that Ferry could watch Budenholzer take charge on the court. However, it was in many meetings where Ferry and Budenholzer were part of the Spurs’ collaborative system.
“We will get feisty, and we all are a bunch of wise (expletive) to some degree anyway, and we give each other crap and this, that or the other and we get through it,” Popovich said. “If it takes four minutes or four hours, it doesn’t matter. We get through it together. By the time we finish, everybody has been convinced one way or the other and by the time you leave the room it’s one decision and everybody follows it — to the extent that if anybody doesn’t give their opinion, their (expletive) will be out of here soon because I don’t need it.”
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