India’s women’s wrestling team delivered an outstanding performance at the U17 Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Da Nang, Vietnam, finishing with medals in all 10 weight categories.

The contingent secured a total of 10 medals, comprising two gold, three silver and five bronze, to achieve a perfect podium record in the competition. Diksha and Garima emerged as the standout performers by winning gold medals in their respective categories, while three other wrestlers reached the finals and settled for silver.

The remaining five Indian wrestlers added bronze medals, ensuring every member of the women’s squad returned home with a podium finish.

Diksha and Garima strike gold

India’s gold medals came through Diksha in the 43kg category and Garima in the 73kg division.

Both wrestlers produced commanding displays throughout the tournament before capping their campaigns with victories in the finals. Their performances helped India maintain its strong presence in age-group wrestling on the continental stage.

Three wrestlers claim silver medals

India added three silver medals through Nikita (49kg), Antra (65kg) and Taniya (69kg).

All three wrestlers progressed to their respective finals after impressive runs in the competition. However, they were unable to cross the final hurdle and finished as runners-up.

Taniya put up a determined effort in the gold-medal bout before losing to Khadisha Flyuk. Nikita and Antra also had to settle for silver after defeats in their championship matches.

Despite missing out on gold, their performances contributed significantly to India’s overall medal tally.

Bronze medals complete perfect podium record

Five Indian wrestlers secured bronze medals to complete a remarkable clean sweep of podium finishes for the women’s team.

Palak claimed bronze in the 40kg category by defeating Aruuke Nurbekovna Nurbekova. Anamika followed suit in the 46kg division with a victory over Inzhu Bakkozha.

In the 53kg category, Akshra secured a bronze medal after overcoming Ema Arakawa. Sakshi added another medal in the 57kg division with a win against Shiying Wang, while Manya completed India’s medal tally by defeating Aigerim Polatbay in the 61kg bronze-medal bout.

Strong showing in Vietnam

The 10-medal haul underlined India’s consistency across all weight categories at the championship. With two gold, three silver and five bronze medals, the women’s team achieved a 100 per cent podium success rate in Da Nang.

The performance marked another strong outing for India’s young wrestlers on the Asian stage and reinforced the country’s growing strength in women’s wrestling at the grassroots and age-group levels.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Christian Pulisic‘s spirits were high, or as he put it, “I felt relaxed but just energized.” Ending a months-long goalscoring drought helped in the U.S. men’s national team’s 3-2 win over Senegal on Sunday was undoubtedly a contributing factor but it was far from the only reason why the vibes were high. For the first time in a long time, it felt like things were tilting nicely in the USMNT’s favor – and not a moment too soon with the World Cup less than a fortnight away.

Roughly 18 months after Mauricio Pochettino assumed the helm of the national team, a spell that started with turbulence that has not seamlessly subsided, a cohesive vision was easy to spot. The U.S. started in electric form and had a goal by the sixth minute courtesy of Sergino Dest and even as Senegal tried to work their way back into the game, they never actually relented. It was not a perfect game, as the scoreline indicates – the errors from Miles Robinson and Chris Brady, the latter earning his first cap, to set up Sadio Mane‘s second goal is awfully indicative of that – but it answered a batch of questions of who the USMNT will be at a World Cup on home soil. The short answer? Entertaining, if all goes according to plan.

The USMNT has never historically been an attack-minded juggernaut, though many of Pochettino’s predecessors were limited by the player pool. From his breakout managerial spell in England‘s Premier League with Southampton from 2013 to 2014, though, that stylistic preference has been his trademark. Pochettino’s teams are supposed to lead with intensity, especially on the wings; it has not always worked out with the U.S. team but Sunday offered a rare flicker that it just might be a winning formula at the World Cup.

“We cannot complain or say nothing. Maybe Paraguay, Uruguay and today, it was the right attitude, the right commitment for everyone,” Pochettino said, referencing November’s 2-1 win over Paraguay and the 5-1 win over Uruguay days later. “That is the attitude that we tried to find from day one. Non-official game or official game, we need to play in this way if we want to improve.”

Pulisic on his own encapsulated that very feeling, ending a 22-game goalscoring drought after a productive week to open the USMNT’s pre-World Cup camp. The attacker always had Pochettino’s vote of confidence, though, the coach always believing it would be a matter of time. Much like the team as a whole, Pulisic’s outing – which included an assist to Dest’s goal – could not be timed better.

“The performance of Christian in the 45 minutes was really, really good,” Pochettino said. “I think he has still potential, a lot to improve but I think it is in the training from day one and I felt that was what he needed and how he played 45 minutes was the habit he created in the last week, every day training with his attitude, with his commitment, with his energy.”

The good news for the team as a whole, though, was that the goalscoring burden was always going to be shared. Pulisic earned the headlines on Sunday but Ricardo Pepi was right there with him, playing an important role in the build-up to Dest’s goal and notching the assist on Pulisic’s. It is the latest example of Pepi’s rise – nearly four years ago, he was left off Gregg Berhalter’s World Cup roster and was likely one of the final cuts but he admitted Saturday that he used the exclusion as fuel. He arrives to the World Cup in the form of his life and is angling for a starting spot once the tournament begins despite once being seen as a capable understudy to Folarin Balogun.

“I thought he was really good today,” Pulisic said about a longtime teammate. “I though he was just in a lot of good areas and he was always a bit of an outlet for us and finding good plays and making the right decisions and passes and goals will come from him, for sure, because he’s in the right places. I was really happy for him today.”

Pepi scored 19 goals for Dutch champions PSV this season, a career-best tally that may earn him a move to Premier League side Fulham this summer after a deal was nearly completed in the winter. He has seamlessly integrated himself into Pochettino’s attack-minded team despite limited exposure to it, playing just one international game in 2025 while dealing with injuries. 

“It was difficult because we didn’t have too much time to work with him because he suffered several different types of injuries and then when he was with us, he wasn’t his best,” Pochettino said. “I think now we are seeing a different player that we saw during the 18 months … I am so happy because I think exactly, with his capacity, today him, Balogun or Haji [Wright] – who didn’t play today – I think we have a group of offensive players or strikers that I really like.”

Pochettino has a wide range of options available to him in attack in three in-form forwards with varying skillsets, a perfect fit for a coach whose stylistic preferences suit those players. He may be the benefactor of great form with that trio but he decided to run with a tactical innovation of his own with Dest specifically. Dest has always been formally listed as a right back but his skillset is overtly attack-minded, Pochettino seeming to acutely understand the nuances of his crafty game with the role he assigned the player on Sunday. Dest was essentially free to do as he saw fit, his preferences allowing the USMNT to go off to the races – he pressed high up the pitch, the rest of the team charging in to overwhelm a rotated Senegal defense. He sometimes hovered in more central positions, which is why Pulisic picked him out of the opening goal in the first place, Dest coming up with a finish suitable for the role he played.

“We know he’s so dangerous in the attacking [positions],” Pulisic said. “He can defend but he’s so dangerous. It causes so many problems with his dribbling, his passing and today getting in the box, it’s a really big quality.”

Even after Senegal equalized early in the second half – and after Pochettino made 10 changes at the break – the USMNT did not relent. Their third goal came courtesy of Balogun and the U.S. ultimately outdid the visitors 15 to seven in shots and 2.66 to 1.74 in expected goals. It marks an exciting reinvention of the USMNT, who look like a Pochettino team two years after sliding into mediocrity under Berhalter’s watch.

One game does not change the narrative on this U.S. team, especially given their propensity for dramatic and unfavorable performances and results. They have slipped into a different mode this last week, though – the stress of making a World Cup team now behind them, the USMNT players seem much happier to focus on the task at hand, at long last.

“It felt good,” Pulisic said with a noticeably lighter tone than usual, even as he maintained a business-like approach to his answers. “It felt good in a lot of ways. I’m sure guys are really happy to have made the roster now and now they can just hopefully be themselves and just try to take it all in and enjoy this summer.”

Dalton Smith will receive the first ever WBC legacy belt named in honour of British boxing legend Ricky Hatton.

Smith captured the WBC super-lightweight title back in January after a knockout win over Subriel Matias, becoming the latest British fighter to earn world honours in the 140lb division.

Another man who famously held gold at super-lightweight was Hatton, who packed out arenas on both sides of the pond as he became unified world champion, claiming wins over legends such as Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo along the way.

‘The Hitman’ sadly passed away at the age of 46 back in September, but it has now been announced that the new belt will be created to pay tribute to Hatton, and Smith is delighted to be the first recipient.

“Growing up, Ricky Hatton was my hero. Everything about him – the way he fought, the way he carried himself and the connection he had with the fans – he was what made me fall in love with boxing.

“To receive the inaugural Ricky Hatton WBC Legacy Belt, in Manchester and at the AO Arena of all places, honestly means a huge amount to me.

“Ricky inspired a generation of fighters from the North and across Britain, and to be recognised in his name is something I’m incredibly proud of.“

The belt will be presented to Smith at the Evening4Ricky event that is being held at Manchester’s AO Arena on June 7th to remember Hatton, with some of the biggest names from boxing and entertainment coming together in celebration of ‘The Hitman.’

Naomi Osaka of Japan prepares for the third round women’s singles tennis match against Iva Jovic of the U.S. at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS — Naomi Osaka and Taylor Townsend are piling up wins on the court at the French Open.

Their success comes after drawing attention off the court for organizing a dinner for Black players before the tournament started.

“It caused a bit of a stir, which I thought was pretty funny because for so long we have been the ones that (are) the minority in a sport where we kind of stick out,” Townsend said about chatter on social media. “And now coming together all of a sudden seems like a problem.”

READ: Naomi Osaka channels Eiffel Tower with French Open outfit

While Townsend said the reaction from her Instagram post about the evening was “mostly positive,” she said there was also online criticism.

Several comments on Osaka’s and Townsend’s posts suggested the dinner as “segregation,” while another asked, “When are the white, Latino, and Asian parties?”

It all prompted Townsend to quote a lyric from the rapper Finesse2tymes: “He said, ‘It’s cool when they do it; it’s a problem when I do it.’”

Keeping in the rap theme, Townsend quoted Tupac Shakur in her post about the evening: “Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice; I say the darker the flesh, then the deeper the roots.”

Besides Osaka and Townsend, the other attendees of the dinner were 2025 French Open champion Coco Gauff, retiring Frenchman Gael Monfils, doubles specialist Asia Muhammad and retired player turned TV commentator Chris Eubanks.

“Growing up, there weren’t a lot of tennis players I could look up to that looked like me,” Osaka — whose father is from Haiti and mother is from Japan — said in her Instagram post about the dinner. “Being a minority in a sport like tennis is very isolating but the positive is that you keep tabs on everyone that … being blunt, is black. There’s a fellowship, a camaraderie.”

READ: Naomi Osaka moves into French Open third round vs Iva Jovic

“I felt like everyone in that room was a part of my family,” Osaka — who represents Japan but grew up mostly in the U.S. — added in a news conference.

For Townsend, “it wasn’t just about the culture, it was healing for us to all be able to speak about our journeys.”

While Gauff’s title defense ended with a loss to Anastasia Potapova on Saturday, Osaka has reached the fourth round in Paris for the first time in her career while showing off her taste for fashion with her elaborate walk-on outfits. American player Townsend and Czech partner Katerina Siniakova — the top-seeded doubles team — have won their opening three matches and are into the quarterfinals.

Althea Gibson broke tennis’ color barrier

Gauff beat Townsend in the opening round of singles, after which a ceremony was held on Court Philippe-Chatrier to honor the 70th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s 1956 French Open victory — the first Grand Slam title for a Black tennis player.

Gibson was also the first Black player to compete at a major tennis tournament when she fought with the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association just to get admitted in 1950 to what was then called the U.S. Nationals — now the U.S. Open.

“Taylor and I playing on Philippe-Chatrier is a direct product of Althea Gibson,” Gauff told the crowd after beating Townsend. “It just shows the importance of breaking barriers in all aspects of the world, but especially in sport. I’m very grateful for people like her and Serena and Venus (Williams), Zina Garrison for paving the way for us.”

‘Soul Food’ Sunday at Wimbledon

The dinner recalls how going back to the Harlem Renaissance, Black athletes, entertainers, musicians and writers held salons and dinners to celebrate their successes in a familial space. Such events were not meant as a slight to non-Blacks.

Katrina Adams, a former pro and then the first Black president of the U.S. Tennis Association, said she was pleased to see “an old tradition” re-emerging.

“In our era in the 80’s/90’s, we hosted ‘Soul Food’ Sunday on the middle Sunday of Wimbledon, when there was no play,” Adams said in a comment on Townsend’s post. “All the black players, got together, cooked, ate and enjoyed each other.”

Adams said players like Garrison and Lori McNeil hosted the Wimbledon gatherings for years and that she passed on the tradition to the likes of Chanda Rubin, the Williams sisters, MaliVai Washington and Roger Smith.

Townsend’s unexpected vacation with Osaka

Townsend and Osaka hardly knew each other before Osaka surprised Townsend by inviting her on a vacation last year to the Turks and Caicos.

Townsend is an extrovert and Osaka a very quiet introvert.

“I didn’t know why she invited me,” Townsend said. “(But) it ended up being the best time and Naomi and I floated in the ocean on a surfboard for three hours and talked to each other. … We’ve been friends ever since.”

Both players are mothers.

“We share a lot of the same values and principles and morals of how we go about life and how we want to treat people and what type of mothers that we want to be for our children,” Townsend said. “It goes way beyond tennis.”

Soraya Kelly knows none of this comes for free and acknowledges funding could be a stumbling block. This is where she feels that the Welsh Government could come in.

Currently the FAW’s main source of income is from commercial revenue and from international governing bodies such as Fifa and Uefa. However that situation has not been aided by the men’s team failing to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.

The Welsh Government supports the FAW at grassroots level with projects relating to matters such as stadia development and new infrastructure.

For example, to mark the historic appearance of Wales’ women at Euro 2025, the ‘Partner Support Fund‘ supported 16 grassroots, cultural, and educational organisations to boost sports participation and promote equality.

Sport Wales – the body responsible for developing and promoting sport in Wales – also provides public and lottery money to the FAW through grants, in partnership with the Welsh Government.

Any proposal for Welsh Government help to fund a new elite pathway would likely require sensitive negotiation with the FAW.

In a statement, the Welsh Government said: “Ensuring women and girls have the opportunity to take part in sport is essential to building a confident, ambitious Wales where talent is nurtured at every level. This Welsh Government is committed to working closely with governing bodies to expand opportunities and remove barriers. Women’s sport has the power to transform lives, strengthen communities and elevate Wales on the international stage.”

It added: “The Football Association of Wales leads on the governance and development of the game, including ongoing discussions on strengthening pathways such as a Wales women’s under 21 or under 23 team. Through Sport Wales, we are investing in the future of women’s sport, supporting national bodies to grow participation, develop elite talent and inspire the next generation.”

Kelly plans to launch the campaign in August and already has the backing of Race Council Cymru, Black Police Association, Her Game Too and Vale of Glamorgan MP Kanishka Narayan. She is also soon to meet UEFA vice president and former Wales captain Laura McAllister.

“I get it is down to funding. The FAW has only got a certain amount of money. So the Welsh Government needs to step in here so that there’s equality for our girls, as well as our boys, in Wales,” said Kelly.

“The boys have got it and have always had it. There’s been funding there for the boys, but not for the girls and that needs to change.

“We’ve got lots and lots of people who are really passionate about this and trying to help this pathway to develop.

“The women’s game has come on so much and how are we ever going to be able to compete against the likes of England going forward, if we don’t have that middle buffer?”

New French Open champions will be crowned in both the women’s and men’s singles after Marta Kostyuk continued a tournament of shocks by knocking out Iga Swiatek.

Defending champion Coco Gauff’s defeat on Saturday left four-time winner Swiatek as the only remaining player in either draw to have lifted the trophy at Roland Garros.

But the Pole has endured a difficult season and produced an error-strewn display in a 7-5 6-1 defeat by in-form Kostyuk.

It was a very unhappy 25th birthday for Swiatek, who admitted afterwards that she had been unable to overcome the tension of the occasion.

“It is harder a bit to handle stress for me in the last year,” she said. “Today I felt off and I did mistakes that I didn’t want to do, and I wanted to play safe, but the ball flew everywhere.“Suddenly these feelings came back, and I tried to work on it with my dialogue inside, but it was tough today. It all kind of went drastically down, and I played worse and worse.”

Kostyuk is yet to lose a match on clay this season after winning the biggest title of her career in Madrid earlier this month, and she extended her unbeaten run to 16 matches.

It is just the second time the 23-year-old, who sits at a career-high ranking of 15, has made it through to the quarter-finals of a grand slam after the Australian Open in 2024.

“To beat such an unbelievable player who won four times here, I’d lost (three) times to her, never taken a set off her, I still cannot believe it,” said Kostyuk.

“I think the most important thing I’ve been doing is really just trying to enjoy. I woke up this morning and I just thought about what an unbelievable day I have to live today to play on Chatrier against Iga.”

Swiatek changed coaches earlier in the spring in an effort to arrest her slide, bringing in Rafael Nadal and Emma Raducanu’s former coach Francisco Roig, but her troubles remain and this is her earliest defeat on the Parisian clay since her debut in 2019.

She had won her first three matches comfortably and served for the first set here but could not clinch it and two double faults in the 12th game helped Kostyuk move into the lead.

Swiatek went for a lengthy bathroom break and broke serve immediately to start the second set only to again double fault twice and hand the initiative back.

Her forehand, so often a barometer of her game and confidence, became increasingly wayward and a final backhand that flew way wide was her 38th unforced error of the match.

Swiatek will now turn her attentions to grass and the defence of her Wimbledon title.

Kostyuk began the tournament in tears on court, revealing that her family home in Kyiv had narrowly avoided being hit by a Russian missile, but her victory continued an excellent tournament for Ukraine’s women.

And she will next play a compatriot after Elina Svitolina, another woman in some of the best form of her career, defeated Belinda Bencic 4-6 6-4 6-0.

Also through to the last eight – for the first time here in 17 years – is Romanian Sorana Cirstea after a 6-3 7-6 (4) victory over China’s Xiyu Wang.

The 36-year-old announced ahead of this season that it would be her last, but she may have to rethink her plans after breaking into the top 20 for the first time.

PA

On April 24th, the Minnesota Vikings ended the Jonathan Greenard era after two seasons, obtaining a pair of 3rd-Round picks in exchange for Greenard and a 7th-Rounder to the Philadelphia Eagles. Most fans expressed mixed emotions over the swap, and that sentiment was not exclusive. ESPN came along this week and outlined its displeasure with the transaction.

In short, Bill Barnwell from that network was not impressed.

Minnesota will now lean full tilt into the Dallas Turner era at outside linebacker, which might’ve been the plan for the last two years.

Vikings EDGE Plan Still Has a Clear Long-Term Logic

Bill Barnwell: The Greenard Trade Was Not Good

Barnwell outlined the NFL’s best and worst offseason moves this week, and regrettably, he twisted the knife on the Vikings’ decision to trade Greenard.

“Worst: Trading Jonathan Greenard for two third-round picks. I can understand why the Vikings traded Greenard. Although he was excellent when healthy in his two years with Minnesota, injuries limited him to three sacks in 12 games in Year 2 after he racked up 12 sacks in Year 1,” he explained.

“The Vikings traded significant draft capital in 2024 to move up for Dallas Turner in the first round, and while I’m not sure his eight-sack total from 2025 really reflects Turner’s true impact on the field, you can understand why the Vikings want to open up a starting role for the Alabama product. With Greenard wanting a new contract, a trade made sense. Did the Vikings really do themselves any favors by waiting until late April to deal Greenard? They landed only a pair of third-round picks from the Eagles.”

Minnesota spent the first 3rd-Rounder on safety Jakobe Thomas, banked the other one for 2027, and used the salary cap relief from the Greenard trade to sign wide receiver Jauan Jennings.

Barnwell continued, “The Vikings were facing a difficult cap situation this offseason, but the four-year, $98 million deal Greenard signed with the Eagles is structured in a team-friendly manner. Greenard will have cap hits of $6.2 million in 2026 and $11.1 million in 2027.”

“I understand wanting to open up more snaps for Turner, but for what they landed and what they apparently needed to pay Greenard to make him happy, I’d rather have kept one of my best players around for another year or two.”

Indeed, Getting Rid of the Best Defensive Players Is Risky

Barnwell isn’t nuts here. While Greenard failed to accrue his typical sack total in 2025 — instead tabulating now-infamous “almost sacks” — he did not struggle putting pressure on quarterbacks and remained effective against the run.

A case can be made that defensive tackle Jalen Redmond was just as productive, if not more, than Greenard last year, but the fact remains that Greenard was a Top 5 Vikings player no matter what.

Most Super Bowl hopefuls don’t trade their best EDGE defenders. They do the opposite. They hoard them. Like the Eagles, Greenard’s new employer.

Keeping the Budget Lean

Minnesota’s mantra this offseason — that no one knew until a couple of days of free agency transpired — was pinching pennies. They signed Kyler Murray to an absurdly cheap deal, along with inking players like James Pierre (CB), Jauan Jennings (WR), and Ryan Van Demark (OT) to modest contracts.

The Vikings could have spent much dinero in free agency, but that would’ve required sunsetting new, big contracts on the 2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030 budgets. So, interim general manager Rob Brzezinski kept the spending low, resetting the financial situation so that when the 2027 offseason arrives, the club can actually be active in free agency.

In short, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s large expenditures in 2024 and 2025 came home to roost. The Greenard trade was smushed right in the middle of that reality.

Barnwell Bullish on Kyler Murray

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Vikings. Barnwell named Murray to Minnesota as one of the top offseason moves around the sport.

He explained, “There’s more to roster-building than sheer surplus value, but no deal has the potential to offer more upside in 2026 than this one. And given that the Vikings were facing down another season with J.J. McCarthy as their primary option under center, Murray addresses what might be their biggest position of need.”

“Barring the opportunity cost of finding out that McCarthy’s suddenly the quarterback they expected to land in the first round two years ago, the Murray acquisition offers virtually no downside and a massive amount of upside.”

And Barnwell is correct. It’s still mind-boggling that Minnesota obtained Murray for $1.3 million. Doesn’t seem real.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

FILE – San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, left, talks with Victor Wembanyama on the bench during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets March 5, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama barely could get the words out.

The question, a few minutes after he and the San Antonio Spurs won the Western Conference title and earned the right to go to this year’s NBA Finals to face the New York Knicks, was about his relationship with former coach Gregg Popovich and what this playoff run likely means to the winningest coach in league history.

And Wembanyama paused, clearly emotional, before starting his answer.

READ: Spurs’ Wembanyama looks ahead to NBA Finals vs Knicks

“I don’t know what it means for him,” Wembanyama said. “That’s a guy who’s got more experience as a coach than almost anybody and has been through so many things in his career and so many things right now as ‘El Jefe.’ He goes through some things we can’t even imagine. So, I need to call him. I need to see him. I need to talk to him because there’s no way I can understand right now how he feels.”

The official title for the 77-year-old Popovich is President of Spurs Basketball. Unofficially, the Basketball Hall of Famer may as well be coach emeritus — still regularly seen at practices in San Antonio, still seen at games, sometimes walking with the assistance of a cane. He’s still in the ears of players and coaches, even visiting the locker room after the Spurs lost Game 3 of the West finals to Oklahoma City for a bit of a pep talk and bit of a chewing out, depending on perspective.

But really, he’s El Jefe. The boss. It’s what he announced himself as when he retired last year, speaking publicly for the first time since the November 2024 stroke that essentially ended his coaching career and led to Mitch Johnson getting the job on basically a couple hours’ notice. He came out for that event in a jacket, then opened it to display the shirt with “El Jefe” on the front.

“You talk about the greatest coach pretty much of all time to be able to sit here and tell you the experiences that they went through or that he’s been through or that he sees,” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “I mean, it’s second to none, honestly. He helps out. He helps out a lot. … He just has so much wisdom and stuff that you can’t take for granted.”

Game 1 of the Knicks-Spurs series is Wednesday in San Antonio.

READ: NBA Finals rematch: It’s Spurs vs Knicks for the championship

Knicks coach Mike Brown saw first-hand how Popovich operated the Spurs; he spent three years as an assistant coach under him in San Antonio.

Brown still has family members living in San Antonio — causing him to joke a few days ago that a Knicks-Spurs matchup in the NBA Finals would save him a little bit of money because he wouldn’t have to fly as many people in to see games.

“He still has a huge presence. He will always have a presence,” Brown said of Popovich. “The job that he’s done, not only on the court with that team or that organization but off the court too, is going to be imprinted for as long as the game of basketball exists. His presence is very, very much felt all the time and I’ve got a lot of respect for the organization for a lot of different reasons.”

And Popovich still commands that respect, even now.

READ: NBA: ‘El Jefe’ Gregg Popovich says it’s time for new Spurs coach

Popovich met the Spurs at the airport after they flew home from Games 3 and 4 of their West semifinal series against Minnesota a couple weeks ago — for a purpose. Wembanyama was ejected from Game 4 for a flagrant elbow he threw at Timberwolves forward Naz Reid. When Wembanyama got off the plane, Popovich was waiting. Cameras caught the exchange and it was pretty clear that Popovich was doing the talking and Wembanyama was doing the listening.

“He gives feedback and talks to us regularly,” Wembanyama said, without disclosing what Popovich’s message was that afternoon.

Popovich was also at the airport in the wee hours of Sunday morning, when the Spurs returned home from Oklahoma City — on a night in which thousands of fans, both there and in the city’s streets, celebrated the win.

Popovich won five NBA championships as San Antonio’s coach, the first of those coming in 1999 when the Spurs beat the Knicks. The next era of Spurs basketball is here, with Johnson coaching, and it’s an interesting coincidence that his first finals as Spurs coach is against the Knicks.

READ: NBA: Gregg Popovich coaching farewell ‘end of an era’

“I’m fortunate my old boss is still around, and has been through this a few times,” Johnson said. “Coach Pop has been a resource.”

And in the immediate aftermath of his biggest win yet — the one that got him to his first of what he hopes is many NBA Finals — Wembanyama simply could not wait to talk to El Jefe.

When I talk to him, it’s going to be only stored in my head — except if I record it in secret,” Wembanyama said. “But I need to talk to him, so quick.”

There are more lessons to learn. There are four more wins to get. And Wembanyama knows that if anyone truly knows the way to those wins, it’s Popovich.