Victor Wembanyama's respect for Gregg Popovich is clear. And Pop was vital to Spurs' NBA Finals run

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama barely could get the words out.

The question, a few minutes after he and the San Antonio Spurs won the Western Conference title and earned the right to go to this year's NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks , was about his relationship with former coach Gregg Popovich and what this playoff run likely means to the winningest coach in league history.

And Wembanyama paused, clearly emotional, before starting his answer.

“I don’t know what it means for him,” Wembanyama said. “That’s a guy who’s got more experience as a coach than almost anybody and has been through so many things in his career and so many things right now as ‘El Jefe.’ He goes through some things we can’t even imagine. So, I need to call him. I need to see him. I need to talk to him because there’s no way I can understand right now how he feels.”

The official title for the 77-year-old Popovich is President of Spurs Basketball. Unofficially, the Basketball Hall of Famer may as well be coach emeritus — still regularly seen at practices in San Antonio, still seen at games, sometimes walking with the assistance of a cane. He's still in the ears of players and coaches, even visiting the locker room after the Spurs lost Game 3 of the West finals to Oklahoma City for a bit of a pep talk and bit of a chewing out, depending on perspective.

But really, he's El Jefe. The boss. It's what he announced himself as when he retired last year, speaking publicly for the first time since the November 2024 stroke that essentially ended his coaching career and led to Mitch Johnson getting the job on basically a couple hours' notice. He came out for that event in a jacket, then opened it to display the shirt with “El Jefe” on the front.

“You talk about the greatest coach pretty much of all time to be able to sit here and tell you the experiences that they went through or that he’s been through or that he sees," Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “I mean, it’s second to none, honestly. He helps out. He helps out a lot. ... He just has so much wisdom and stuff that you can’t take for granted.”

Game 1 of the Knicks-Spurs series is Wednesday in San Antonio.