Larry Brown: No one is a better coach than Popovich

December 20, 2010; Washington, DC, USA; Charlotte Bobcats head coach Larry Brown signals from the bench against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Verizon Center. The Wizards won 108-75. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Larry Brown and Gregg Popovich go way back — to wit: Brown has coached in the NBA for 42 years making him old enough to remember Popovich as a player. (Which is incredible.)

In an interview with Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News, he offered his take on Popovich’s transient playing career.

“He was great,” Brown said. “If he’d have gone to a major     college he probably would have been an NBA player. He was     a surprisingly gifted athlete and unbelievably tough. But I     ended up cutting him. He tried out for the Denver Nuggets     and I cut his ass. But we always stayed close. One year he     took a sabbatical (in the mid 1980s) and was going to stay at     North Carolina for a while and then come with me (at     Kansas). He ended up staying with me the whole year.     When I was offered the Spurs job, I asked him to come with     me. He was best man at my wedding and we’ve been close     (ever since). Again, there’s no better guy, no better coach,     than him.”

Be sure to check out the rest of Brown’s sit down. He also talked about his relationship with Pop, his influence on the organizational Spurs dynasty and what he remembers about coaching David Robinson.