SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs suffered through an odd, erratic season filled with injuries, strife and drama before a second straight ouster from the playoffs in the first round.
Gregg Popovich enjoyed it so much he is coming back for a 24th season as coach in San Antonio.
Normally extremely private, Popovich said on Monday he is negotiating a new deal with the Spurs after his current contract expired this season. There was some uncertainty surrounding his return, but the 70-year-old Popovich put an end to that with a quip or two.
“I’m currently in negotiations and could very well end up with either the Portofino Flyers or the Positano Pirates (or the Spurs),” Popovich said dryly. “I think it’s like one-third Positano, one-third Portofino and one-third San Antonio. So we’ll see where I end up.”
There is little chance Popovich ends up anywhere but San Antonio, where he has enjoyed unprecedented success. His desire to return was apparent during an 18-minute news conference to wrap up a season that ended with a loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their first-round series.
Popovich has 1,245 wins, third-most in NBA history behind Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkens, and is one of five coaches to win five NBA championships. He will coach USA Basketball in the FIBA World Cup in China this summer, and will coach the Americans in the Tokyo Olympics next summer should the team qualify.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder plans to keep coach Billy Donovan for a fifth year.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti said on Monday that he doesn’t expect change despite Oklahoma City’s third consecutive first-round playoff exit.
The Thunder have reached the playoffs each of Donovan’s four years with the team, but they haven’t won a playoff series since Kevin Durant left for Golden State in free agency after the 2015-16 season. Donovan has a 199-129 regular-season record, but he is 15-19 in the playoffs. Portland rolled past the Thunder 4-1 in their playoff series this season.
Presti said he plans to sit down with Donovan and discuss why the team went through a 6-13 stretch from late February to the end of March after a promising first two-thirds of the season. He called the last part of the season “disappointing” after a start that created whispers that the Thunder might challenge Golden State at the top of the Western Conference.
___
Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAP
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports