Popovich: 'I have a hole in my gut' with Duncan gone

After spending the last 19 NBA seasons together, no one is dealing with Tim Duncan's retirement harder than San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

"I have a hole in my gut," Popovich told Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express News. "Most people aren’t married for 19 years."

Together, Popovich and Duncan formed one of the greatest player-coach tandems in NBA history, earning five championships and a winning percentage of .710 - the best in the four major sports during that time.

While the Spurs' bench boss admits life without Duncan will be difficult, he's also looking forward to a new challenge, hoping the current Spurs will be more than capable of making up for Duncan's absence.

"As a coach you deal with what is there," Popovich said, "and I’m excited about what we have."

"Same culture, same philosophy," he added. "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."

San Antonio will look to bounce back in 2016-17 after last year's disappointing playoff exit, opening its season against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 25.