Gregg Popovich has stepped down from his role as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs after 29 years, but his fingerprints are still all over the NBA. A whole lot of coaches who have worked alongside Popovich have gone on to carve their own path, and his coaching tree is incredible.

Popovich won those five championships spread out over 15 years by helping create one of the most remarkable, if quiet, cultures of excellence in sports. If Pat Riley had the Heat Way (flashy, talked about, and well-celebrated) in Miami, the Pop Way was the opposite in San Antonio.

Gregg Popovich understood the world. That goes back long before the basketball world knew who he was. It probably can be traced to at least Popovich’s time at the U.S.