Popovich took off his coaching stick, and the soldiers Cole and Yudoka wore special T-shirts to pay tribute

Warriors coach Cole (left) and Udoka

Spurs legendary head coach Gregg Popovich officially stepped down as coaching positions and will be transferred to the team's basketball operations president, ending their 29-year coaching career.

Popovich established the Spurs' hegemony for nearly 20 years during his coaching period, and ranked first in history with a cumulative 1,422 wins, ranking third in the number of games in the playoffs, leading the team to win the championship 5 times, and won the Best Head Coach of the Year three times. He also led the US men's basketball team to win the gold medal in the 2019 Basketball World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics, and is regarded as one of the greatest head coaches in history.

What is even more commendable is that Popovich has nurtured countless talents, and his assistant coaches and other related members have continued to spread out, becoming the head coach candidate, assistant team and uniform team member of many teams in the league.

In the 6th game between the Warriors and the Rockets, both coaches Steve Kerr and Ime Udoka both have deep connections with Popovich. Both of them wore "Thank you Mr. Bo" T-shirts in an interview before the game, paying their highest respect to the old coach.

Yudoka played for the Spurs in the 2007-08 season, 2008-09 season, and 2011-12 season. He served as an assistant coach for the Spurs from 201 to 2019 seasons and won the championship with the team in 2014.

"If I were to talk about all the impact of President Bo on me, I could stand here and talk all night," Yudoka said in a simple sentence that Popovich had a profound impact on his life.

As for Cole, who played for four seasons in the later period of his player age, winning the championship with the Spurs in the 1998-99 season and the 2002-03 season, he still did not forget to have a few humorous words.

"If Mr. Bo saw me wearing this dress, he would definitely call me a country bumpkin," the words also caused laughter from the media at the scene. However, Cole also expressed emotionally, "I love him, sympathize with everything he has experienced in the past, and respect the entire Spurs system. This is an emotional day for everyone. Thank you, Popovich. I will take off this T-shirt."

In addition to Cole and Yudoka, the current Jazz head coach Will Hardy, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, and Hawks head coach Quin Snyder are all from the Spurs system. In addition, Mike Brown, Mike Budenholzer and Taylor Jenkins, who lost their coaching jobs in the middle of this season, were also from Popovich.