Coach Popovich releases statement confirming hope for future

Coach Gregg Popovich has released a statement confirming recent reports that he will not return to the sideline this season. The longest-tenured coach in the league suffered a mild stroke in early November and has been recovering since. Such a scare at his age of 76 has made fans wonder whether he'll return or retire. He gave as good of an answer as we could hope for.

Coach Pop confirms that he wants to return

This is the greatest coach the league has ever seen, so if he wants to continue coaching, you won't get an argument out of me. I didn't want to see him leave the game that way, and if a doctor gives him a clean bill of health and he still has the fire to do it, he deserves to have that opportunity. However, he did use the word "hope," so nothing is confirmed, and there remains a chance that a permanent change is coming.

Should Coach Pop comeback?

There are going to be mixed emotions about Coach Pop's desire to get back on the sideline. There was already a group of fans who believed it was time to move on to a new coach. The idea was that Popovich had been the head coach long enough, and it was time for fresh blood to inject new lift into the team. These people will only become louder, and after his November scare, they may have a point.

Others worry strictly about his health. He's 76 years old and not getting any younger. The way traveling for 41 games wears on your body is a lot for anyone. The Spurs have also been making it a habit to play fewer games at the Frost Bank Center every year, so that's even more travel for Coach Pop.

He has immense knowledge, and he'll always have value to the team, but a front office role, hopefully, isn't out of the question. If there was ever going to be a coaching change, now would be the time, considering Victor Wembanyama's youth. If they can nail the next head coach, that person can grow with Wemby.

They can become the next great player/coach tandem like Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson, Steph Curry and Steve Kerr, and, of course, Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich.

However, if he does walk back through those doors to lead from the sideline, that's great, too. Like I said, he's the greatest coach of all time, and he'll no doubt be ready to get after it like never before.