Duncan, Popovich and a Carrot Cake.

The heartwarming story about Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan and carrot cake

By: Nate Scott       | September 17, 2016 8:09 am     www.usatoday.com

Tim Duncan has retired from the NBA after a Hall of Fame career, the entirety of which he spent playing with the San Antonio Spurs, all under head coach Gregg Popovich.

During Popovich’s goodbye press conference to Tim Duncan, the coach made an offhanded comment about “taking [Duncan] a piece of carrot cake” as something he’d miss. He offered no further explanation, but now we have it, via the San Antonio Express-News.

It was the thoughtful act of a father. Gregg Popovich would go to a Zagat-approved restaurant on the road with his staff, and sometimes, toward the end of the meal, he would ask the waiter for a small carrot cake to go.

He would then leave the package outside Tim Duncan’s hotel door, and Popovich’s original thinking was simple. He knew Duncan loved carrot cake.

But they say this became a road ritual that went on for years, and that the gesture was about more than a late-night snack. It was a nod to partnership and appreciation.

Room service is over now. Popovich has moved on. Think about the years these guys spent together. The hundreds, thousands of games. And throughout it all, on road trips, Pop used to get carrot cake and leave it for Timmy.