Longtime San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich stepped down from his role as the franchise's head coach on Friday, months removed from a mild stroke that he suffered which caused him to miss most of the season.

Popovich has continued to recover from the stroke, but does not believe that the grueling NBA schedule will allow him to continue the way that he needs to as a coach. He will now move into a role as San Antonio's president of basketball operations.

Ahead of Game 6 of the Western Conference playoff series between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets on Friday night, both Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Rockets coach Ime Udoka wore shirts with Popovich squarely in the center.

"Pop is one of the most important people in my life for many, many reasons—most of them have nothing to do with basketball," Kerr said.

Kerr played for Popovich at the end of his career, winning a championship as a member of the Spurs in 2004.

Udoka had plenty of praise for Popovich as well. Udoka served as an assistant on Popovich's Spurs staff earlier in his career.

"Knew this day was coming a while ago," Udoka said. "Glad I got a chance to work with him and glad to call him a friend."

Popovich certainly left an imprint on the game of basketball that puts him among the greatest coaches to ever live, with five NBA titles, a Gold Medal as the coach of Team USA, and 1,422 career wins—the most all-time.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Steve Kerr, Ime Udoka Wear Epic Gregg Popovich Shirts Ahead of Game 6 Showdown.

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