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Gregg Popovich spoke for about 15 minutes, sometimes unable to hide his emotions, all the while wearing a T-shirt that had Tim Duncans face printed on the front. When the last question was answered, the coach turned, put his hands in his pockets and silently walked into a new era for the San Antonio Spurs.Its a day Popovich knew was coming.That clearly didnt make it any easier.Hes irreplaceable, Popovich said.Choking up at times and making wisecracks at others, Popovich bade a public farewell to Duncans playing career on Tuesday. The five-time NBA champion announced his retirement on Monday in a statement released through the team, ending a 19-year career that was spent entirely in San Antonio.I figured I better come out here and do this and somehow say goodbye to him, Popovich said. Which is an impossibility, for a lot of reasons.Popovich spoke in a corner of the Spurs practice facility in San Antonio, the spot where he holds court with reporters after workouts during the season. There was no news conference, no elaborate setup, not even any live coverage permitted. Even for something that will have so much impact on the team, the league and the sport, the Spurs kept things as simple as possible.Duncan is leaving. In some respects, everything is changing. In others, nothing will.I think it will be a seamless transition for the team, former NBA coach and current television analyst Jeff Van Gundy said. I think who its going to be hard on is Gregg Popovich.Popovich gave no indications otherwise Tuesday.All in one answer -- the premise being picking one person in history to have dinner with -- Popovich made mention of Mother Teresa, Jesus, the Dalai Lama, William F. Buckley, Gore Vidal and actor John Cleese. But given the choice between any of those people, or anyone else, Popovich said he would choose to dine with Duncan.I can honestly tell you my dinner would be with Timmy, Popovich said. And it would be because hes the most real, consistent, true person that Ive ever met in my life.I can be on him in a game and ask him why hes not rebounding in a relatively stern way and really get on him in front of everybody, Popovich continued. And on his way back to the court, hell say, `Thanks for the motivation, Pop. Thanks for the support, Pop. Then hell turn away with his eyes up in the air and well both start laughing. And people dont see those things. But his teammates have and thats why his teammates love him.Duncan will go down as one of the best to ever play the game, and Popovich said he was the best teammate any Spurs player could have had.There were moments of humor, too, like Popovich saying Duncan made him wear the clothes he gave him -- including the shirt he donned Tuesday -- or else he wouldnt play.I remember a pretty neat summer league game when he first came in and (Greg) Ostertag blocked his shot, Popovich said when asked what moment of Duncans career he enjoyed most. That was pretty cool.Mostly, Popovichs words showed sadness and appreciation.He spoke at length about Duncans humility, and how that was instilled in him long ago. Popovich told a story about when Duncans father, who died in 2002, told the Spurs coach he needed to ensure his son would not be changed by fame or fortune.I can still remember before his father passed away, looking me in the eye and saying `Im going to hold you responsible to make sure that when hes done hes the same person he is now. And in that respect, he is, Popovich said. Hes grown as a person, as we all do, through experiences. But his inner core, he was over himself when he came in and after all these accolades and all this success, hes still over himself. Hasnt changed a lick.Duncan and Popovich won more games together than any player-coach combination in NBA history -- and Popovich said he owes his own success to the now-retired star, not the other way around.To think of a season without Duncan, Popovich said, is mindboggling.I would not be standing here if it wasnt for Tim Duncan, Popovich said. Id be in the Budweiser league, someplace in America, fat and still trying to play basketball or coach basketball. Hes why Im standing.---AP Basketball Writer Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis and Associated Press Writer Raul Dominguez in San Antonio contributed to this report. Tyreek Hill Youth Jersey . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Derrick Thomas Jersey . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. http://www.thechiefsshoponline.com/Youth-darwin-thompson-chiefs-jersey/ . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Juan Thornhill Chiefs Jersey . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Harrison Butker Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Nico Rosberg beat Red Bulls Max Verstappen to pole position by 0.149s on a weekend where he is looking to capitalise on teammate Lewis Hamiltons grid penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix.Rosberg set the fastest time with a 1:46.744, but the margin to Red Bull and Ferrari was smaller than expected on a day when few drivers improved on their second attempt in Q3. Kimi Raikkonen secured third on the grid for Ferrari, 0.166s off Rosberg, with Sebastian Vettel a further 0.198s off after complaining of a lack of traction out of the final corner.Daniel Ricciardo had to settle for fifth after sailing well wide of the apex on his final attempt and ended up with a 0.323s deficit to teammate Verstappen, who nailed his first attempt in Q3 to the delight of a large crowd of travelling Dutch fans. Force India will line up sixth and seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who was down on power due to an engine software issue in his Williams.Jenson Button qualified eighth in the updated McLaren, proving the progress Honda has made with its engine and turbo updates on a power-sensitive circuit. Felipe Massa rounded out the top ten after suffering from the same software issue as Bottas and locking up into the first corner on his single flying lap in Q3.Rosberg, Raikkonen, Vettel and Ricciardo all set their fastest times in Q2 on the soft compound, meaning they will start on yellow-striped tyres while the rest of the top 10, including Verstappen on the front row, will start on the more delicate super-softs.Romain Grosjean will start 11th on the grid ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who secured Renaults best qualifying position of the season in 12th.dddddddddddd. Esteban Gutierrez qualified 13th but faces a five-place grid penalty for impeding Pascal Wehrlein in a dangerous manner during final practice. As a result, Jolyon Palmer will be promoted to 13th, his best grid position of the year, Carlos Sainz will start 14th in the Toro Rosso and Wehrlein will move up to 15th in the Manor.Saubers Felipe Nasr missed out on a space in Q2 by 0.048s to Palmer and will start the race ahead of Esteban Ocon, who qualified 18th on his debut and 0.496s off Manor teammate Pascal Wehrlein. Daniil Kvyats run of disappointing qualifying performances continued down in 19th place ahead of Marcus Ericsson, who is due a 10-place grid drop for using his sixth turbocharger of the season this weekend.As expected, Hamilton completed a single lap at a pedestrian pace to ensure he qualified within 107% of the fastest time, as per the regulations, but without burning through any more sets of tyres than necessary.He will be joined on the back row by Fernando Alonso, who has a 35-place grid penalty of his own, but did not set a lap time after exiting the pits and coming to a halt at the top of Eau Rouge. Honda detected an anomaly with his power unit ahead of the session, but believed it was fixed before sending him out on track. Despite failing to set a time within 107%, Alonso is expected to be allowed to start the race based on his previous practice times. ' ' '