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Spurs-Pacers games in Paris have a notable absence, with Gregg Popovich recovering at home

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Spurs-Pacers games in Paris have a notable absence, with Gregg Popovich recovering at home
News

News

Spurs-Pacers games in Paris have a notable absence, with Gregg Popovich recovering at home

2025-01-23 01:20 Last Updated At:01:31

PARIS (AP) — Indiana's Rick Carlisle has coached more games against San Antonio's Gregg Popovich than anyone else. They've had 87 head-to-head matchups, including playoffs.

Thursday was supposed to be No. 88.

It won't happen, and nobody knows when — or if — Popovich will be back on the Spurs' sideline. Popovich's absence is a glaring one in Paris this week for the pair of NBA matchups between the Pacers and Spurs on Thursday and Saturday; he's back home, recovering from a November stroke.

The Spurs say he's making progress. Some coaches from around the league have heard the same. That's about the extent of the updates; nobody says much more than that out of respect for Popovich and his privacy.

“He’s really an institution and he’s been such a constant," Carlisle said. "It’s different not seeing him. But I’ve had some communication with him. He’s doing better all the time. And the hope is he'll be back.”

It's certain that not being in Paris — one of his favorite cities — is particularly painful for Popovich this week. This trip has many of the things that he loves most: people from different cultures, incredible food, some basketball and, of course, wine. Lots of wine. He's basically the NBA's sommelier, and the dinners he would have thrown in Paris surely would have been legendary.

Popovich, who turns 76 next week, is the NBA’s all-time wins leader who has guided the Spurs to five championships, plus he coached USA Basketball to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He had the stroke at the team's arena in San Antonio on Nov. 2, getting tended to by emergency personnel who were at the arena for the Spurs' game that night.

“He’s changed my life in terms of just being able to learn under him, watch him from afar and closely, and get to the point where we could challenge each other in ways," acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I’ve been blessed to be able to grow in my voice and be empowered by him in many ways. And we are in contact constantly. He is watching games, still as opinionated as he’s ever been, and competitive, and what you would think — giving praise and cussing me out, all at the same time.”

Johnson took over on almost no notice for that game on Nov. 2 against Minnesota. The Spurs won that game and are 17-19 since Popovich had the stroke, winning six out of eight games in one stretch and four out of five in another. They're in a bit of a slide right now, losing six of their last seven contests. (It should be noted that those wins and losses since Nov. 2, by NBA rule, still go on Popovich's career record because he's still listed as the head coach.)

“Pop’s health has been the priority since the start of this and until dot-dot-dot," Johnson said. "That's kind of how we, and I, take the approach. We want the best for Pop and I want the best for this team and however I can help is where I'll put my energy.”

San Antonio guard Chris Paul joined the Spurs last summer in large part because of his respect for Popovich. He has a photo of himself on the phone in Las Vegas, talking to Popovich when the deal got done.

Turns out, there's far more opportunities for phone time with Pop than Paul ever envisioned.

“I’m not even sure if this is public, but he calls," Paul said. “He calls after games and I talk to him, and he tells me what he sees, and I appreciate that more than anything because he doesn’t have to do that. And he does.”

The thing is, Popovich likely feels like he does have to do that. It's still his team. He's still the coach. Johnson is still one of his assistants. He's still the president. He's just not on the sideline. Or in practice. Or, this week, in Paris.

Will he coach this season? Next season? Ever again? Will he come back in a different capacity? All are valid questions, and the Spurs — a tight-lipped organization by nature — either don't know the answers or can't offer them yet.

It's also unknown what aftereffects of the stroke, if any, Popovich is dealing with. Stroke was the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half a million Americans have a stroke every year.

“All I can share is he's attacking his rehab in a way that ... you know Pop, you’ve observed him for years," Spurs CEO R.C. Buford, one of the people closest to Popovich, said Wednesday. “The same resilience that he’s shown over the course of our career as a coach, he’s approaching his return in his rehab in an incredibly unique way. The relationships that he had with our former players and the care that they’re sharing with him is amazing. And his improvement continues.”

Time will tell the rest.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

FILE - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watches play during the second half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate, File)

FILE - San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich watches play during the second half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, March 31, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate, File)

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Polls opened Sunday in a presidential election in Ecuador that is shaped up to be a repeat of the 2023 race, when voters chose a conservative young millionaire over the leftist protegee of the country’s most influential president this century.

President Daniel Noboa and Luis González are the clear front-runners among the pool of 16 candidates. All promised voters to reduce the widespread crime that pushed their lives into an unnerving new normal four years ago.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. More than 13.7 million people are eligible to vote.

More than 100,000 members of the military and police officers have been deployed to safeguard the election, including voting centers.

To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent. If needed, a runoff election would take place on April 13.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s presidential election Sunday is shaping up to be a repeat of the 2023 race, when voters chose a conservative young millionaire over the leftist protégé of the country’s most influential president this century.

President Daniel Noboa and Luis González are the clear front-runners among the pool of 16 candidates. All promised voters to reduce the widespread crime that pushed their lives into an unnerving new normal four years ago.

The spike in violence across the South American country is tied to the trafficking of cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. So many voters have become crime victims that their personal and collective losses will be a determining factor in deciding whether a third president in four years can turn Ecuador around or if Noboa deserves more time in office.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador. More than 13.7 million people are eligible to vote. On Thursday, thousands of inmates who await sentencing cast ballots at voting centers set up in more than 40 prisons.

To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the vote or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent. If needed, a runoff election would take place on April 13.

Noboa defeated González in the October 2023 runoff of a snap election triggered by the decision of then-President Guillermo Lasso to dissolve the National Assembly and shorten his own mandate as a result. Noboa and González, a mentee of former President Rafael Correa, had only served short stints as lawmakers before launching their 2023 presidential campaigns.

Noboa, 37, is an heir to a fortune built on the banana trade. His political career began in 2021, when he won a seat in the National Assembly and chaired its Economic Development Commission. He opened an event organizing company when he was 18 and then joined his father’s Noboa Corp., where he held management positions in the shipping, logistics and commercial areas.

Under his presidency, the homicide rate dropped from 8,237, or 46.18 per 100,000 people, in 2023 to 6,964, or 38.76 per 100,000 people, last year. Still, it remained far higher than the 1,188 homicides, or 6.85 per 100,000 people, in 2019.

González, 47, held various government jobs during the presidency of Correa, who led Ecuador from 2007 through 2017 with free-spending socially conservative policies and grew increasingly authoritarian in his last years as president. He was sentenced to prison in absentia in 2020 in a corruption scandal.

González was a lawmaker from 2021 until May 2023, when Lasso dissolved the National Assembly. She was unknown to most voters until Correa’s party picked her as its presidential candidate for the snap election.

A National Electoral Council employee helps to load electoral kits at a distribution center, in preparation for Sunday's general election, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

A National Electoral Council employee helps to load electoral kits at a distribution center, in preparation for Sunday's general election, in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

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