Stein: Gregg Popovich was nearly sacked for Doc Rivers in 1999

With the NBA Finals just around the corner, each and every notable NBA-focused sportswriter have taken their respective shots at previewing the match-up.

Setting the industry standard is ESPN's Marc Stein, who wrote a lengthy longform article detailing the San Antonio Spurs' "Power Couple": Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan.

The feature is fantastic, as it spans nearly two decades of Spurs excellence, but it also revealed one nugget:  Doc Rivers nearly replaced Gregg Popovich as head coach of the Spurs in 1999.

At the time, Popovich held considerably less job security and clout. The Spurs, bearing the weight of championship contention, sputtered to start the season, racking up a record of just 6-8 heading into March 2.

Rivers served as a commentator on the Spurs' TV broadcast team. He was well liked, as his affable nature endeared him to viewers. It heavily contrasted with Popovich's signature loud and brash coaching style.

It was widely rumored that Spurs ownership were interested in replacing Popovich had their early season struggles continued.

Former Spurs forward Malik Rose, who was a member of the 1999 team, said of the situation:

If we lost that game, they were going to fire Pop and bring in Doc ... that was the rumor. I would have to say it was real because of the gravity in the locker room. I'll never forget it

The rumors were also parroted by Spurs guard Avery Johnson:

Things had been communicated to us. It was really real There was a lot of noise about Pop being potentially replaced by Doc, so David [Robinson] and I went to Pop's house before we got on the flight to go to Houston. Pop talked to us and ... what I will say is we came out of there feeling so strongly about Pop that we knew we had to go win that game

Luckily for Popovich and the Spurs, the team managed to turn it around. They easily toppled the Rockets, finished the season with a record of 37-13 and captured the championship that season. The rest, as they say, was history.

For more tidbits into one of the NBA's most storied franchises, read Stein's feature.