Carter Bryant didn’t get the soft-touch version of Gregg Popovich during his rookie year, even after Popovich stepped out of the head coaching chair. The San Antonio Spurs forward said the longtime coach was still every bit as blunt, and one workout in particular left a mark.
On The Road Trippin' Podcast, Bryant recalled Popovich going straight at his footwork and not bothering to cushion the message.
“I remember working out one time and he was like, ‘you have the worst jab step I’ve ever seen in my life.’ And I was like, oh, okay.
“You have the worst jab step I’ve ever seen.” 💀
— Road Trippin’ Show (@RoadTrippinShow) August 12, 2026
Coach Pop does NOT let anything slide & really told him to go study Brandon Roy film immediately! That Popovich honesty hits different. 😂@Rjeff24 @channingfrye @RealAClifton pic.twitter.com/kZc1PGRVjD
He was like, ‘you need to immediately go watch Brandon Roy and Kobe and those guys and look how they jab and how aggressive it is. Just little stuff like that.”
For Bryant, that kind of honesty wasn’t a problem. If anything, he said it was part of what made Popovich so valuable during his first NBA season.
“I just appreciate how honest he is. Like, he doesn’t let nothing slide at all.
He’s the type of guy to call me after a game… Mitch is talking after the game and you know, your phone is in the locker room and you just hear some buzzing. After I check, I’m like this is Coach Pop and then he hits me right after the game, he texts me after every game so like he’s wild.”
Popovich stepped down as San Antonio’s head coach after the 2024-25 season following a stroke that kept him out for the final 77 games of the year. He stayed with the organization as president of basketball operations, while Mitch Johnson moved into the head coach role.
Bryant’s rookie season also included a Spurs run all the way to the 2026 NBA Finals, where they lost to the New York Knicks in five games. Even without coaching from the sideline, Popovich stayed involved as San Antonio made that push.
What Bryant described fits the Popovich reputation perfectly: exacting, direct, and impossible to ignore, even in a new role.
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