Was surprised to see people reach, and mention organizations. Let's stick a hole in the "bu bu bu but Tim was lucky to play for the Spurs" argument right quick. And shame on anybody who wrote that.
Today's Spurs are not yesterday's Spurs.
A great reason for the stability of the Spurs is because Duncan was such a coachable elite talent. Showed up and performed, did what the coach asked, or what the game situation called for. Clutch great player.
Their solid regular season win numbers and consecutive playoff appearances on his watch gave job security to the head coach and front office. He wasn't lucky to play for a well run organization., His dominance and their success as a team is what allowed the continuity of coach/front office to develop into what they became.
"Coaches get fired everyday, B"
Now, previous to Pop I remember John Lucas and bootleg Pat Riley(Bob Hill) as their coaches. But just looked it up and they had FOUR coaches in the four years before Pop, and one guy who coached a single game as interim coach.
Seems like Pop was there in the tank year, and then Duncan showed up and together they turned the franchise around.
Great organization, great scouts, etc, and because of Duncan's elite skills, coachability, and steady production they were able to draft and make personnel moves around him.