Gregg Popovich’s Press Conference Attire Is A Touching, Hilarious Tribute To Tim Duncan

The way Popovich started the conference, classic. => #Spurs pic.twitter.com/AfscOUl3gb

— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) July 12, 2016

No one expected much when the San Antonio Spurs announced that Gregg Popovich would speak with reporters about Tim Duncan’s retirement on Tuesday afternoon. The future Hall of Fame coach has never been fond of interacting with the media, of course, and it’s not like his most accomplished pupil wanted the spotlight shone his direction on the first day of his post-playing life.

Still, it was fair to surmise that Popovich, one of the most beloved coaches in the league by players despite his gruff exterior, would offer at least something of note in honor of Duncan – and he definitely delivered. Check out the oversized T-shirt San Antonio’s head man wore to today’s scrum.

Yes, that’s Popovich wearing a black shirt that features a young Duncan with the phrase “Impossible Is Potential” beneath him.

A quick Google search for the product comes up empty, but it’s safe to say this fine piece of memorabilia dates back to Duncan’s days as a pitchman for adidas. Or, in a far more amusing world, perhaps Popovich had the shirt personally commissioned locally and only busts it out on the most special of occasions.

There were a couple other awesome tidbits from Popovich’s brief chat with reporters, by the way, most notably anecdotes about the times Duncan was happiest and where the three-time Coach of the Year would be without the most successful player in Spurs history.

Compliments don’t get much better than this, either.

We’ll miss Duncan terribly, obviously, but what we’ll miss just as much is watching him interact with Popovich. Here’s hoping notorious introverts eventually sit down for an interview to discuss their two-decade tenure at the top of the basketball world.