Gregg Popovich will have to adjust this season to not having one of the greatest power forwards of all-time in his lineup with the San Antonio Spurs.

“He’s gone,” Popovich said this week. “I’ve put it out of my mind.”

The Spurs signed Pau Gasol to help replace Duncan.

“Same culture, same philosophy,” Popovich said. “I only know what I know. We’ll hang our hat on defense. We just don’t have the greatest power forward of all-time playing for us anymore.”

Popovich told Duncan to stick around the team as much as he wants.

“If he wants to go on a scouting trip, fine. If he wants his own station in training camp, he has it. He’s in charge. He can tell me exactly what he wants to do. But I’m not paying him a penny.”

One anecdote that captures the nature of Popovich's relationship with Duncan is how he would order a small carrot cake to go when he was eating out on road trips to leave at Duncan's hotel door knowing how much he loved that dessert.