Gregg Popovich Comments on Future with Spurs, Team USA

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich acknowledged Tuesday that life won't be quite the same without recently retired legend Tim Duncan and also spoke about his future as a coach for the Spurs and Team USA.

ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne interviewed Popovich as he was preparing to coach the USA Select Team at training camp in Las Vegas. He started by saying some words about Duncan's legacy and spoke about how his future in San Antonio is perpetually in question:

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There's a big hole in my belly. I think about the culture and his humor. I've been used to that for 20 years and now it's gone. I have to find that in some other way, some other power, some other player. I have to do something. But life goes on for all of us.

[...] I had to keep making promises. Manu [Ginobili] was going to sign a few years back and he was like, 'Are you going to be here?' Tony [Parker], then Kawhi [Leonard]. Then when we were recruiting LaMarcus [Aldridge], he was like, "Are you going to be here?" it just goes on and on. So I guess I can never stop, I can never retire. There's gotta be some time when we're trying to sign a free agent and he goes, "Pop, are you going to be here?" and I say, 'Nope, I'm leaving next week.'

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According to Shelburne, it was believed Popovich would retire when Duncan did, but apparently the 67-year-old is still keen to roam the sidelines for the Spurs and for Team USA for the foreseeable future.

Popovich is in line to take over for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who's in his last run as USA basketball coach at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The Americans are going for their third straight gold medal, which hints at the high standard Krzyzewski has maintained during his tenure.

Despite his immense success in leading San Antonio to five NBA championships, Popovich emphasized he wouldn't take the Team USA position for granted in an extensive reflection on the matter, per Shelburne:

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I'm totally surprised and shocked when Jerry Colangelo called me because there's a whole lot of younger guys that could do the job. So I was thrilled. When you think about being able to be with these guys and represent your country, you say yes. You don't say, "I'll think about it, I'll get back to you." You say yes.

In some ways, I'm scared to death. I gotta fill some pretty big shoes. This program has been pretty great for a decade after it was a debacle before. I feel that. I'd be lying if I didn't say I feel that pressure. I'm going to bust my butt and get it right. I'm going to squeeze all the information I can out of Coach K and Jerry [Colangelo] and everybody who has been here. Thank heavens Jerry's still going to be with the program. I'm sure Coach K will too. So I'm in good shape that way. I have all kinds of people I can lean on.

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Instead of Popovich relying on his own coaching instincts that have carried him extremely far, he isn't above conferring with others closely associated to the Team USA program to glean any knowledge he can. That mentality goes a long way in explaining his sustained winning he's enjoyed as a coach.

By coaching the USA Select Team, Popovich is already getting a feel for likely future Olympians and expressed optimism about the stability of the program.

"I look at the Olympic team and then I look at the Select Team, and they're so young and thin; their faces look like they're little kids," Popovich said, per Shelburne. "I think about that, but then I think 10 of the 12 Olympians went through that program. It's a pipeline; it's a culture. These guys will be the same thing."

With the opportunity he evidently takes pride in to represent the U.S. in international competition forthcoming and the dawn of a new Spurs era, Popovich has a lot to look forward to in the next several years.

Although he mentioned how difficult it will be to find someone to fill the hole Duncan left behind, Popovich has a strong foundation in place. He's essentially been planning around The Big Fundamental's retirement for quite some time as it is.

Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge provide San Anotnio with two relatively young players to build around. The Spurs also still have holdovers from Duncan's heyday in point guard Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili on the wing, along with free-agent acquisition and multiple NBA champion Pau Gasol.

Popovich has guided the Spurs to 19 straight playoff appearances, so he should have little trouble translating that caliber of quality to the international basketball stage.