he didn't luck into parker and manu at all. he and buford advanced scouted the hell outta them (presti in particular for parker). 27 other teams could have picked parker and 56 teams could have picked manu, including your beloved hornets. they didn't. and when those picks were announced, no one in the room knew who those guys were. the spurs were so far ahead on international scouting than the rest of the nba. duncan was a lock no.1 pick, but the whole idea that the spurs tanked is equally idiotic. robinson and elliott were injured that year, no shit they weren't going to be a good team. they got lucky in the draft, sure, because boston technically had the worst record and highest percentage chance of landing duncan. but they didn't. that's how the lottery works sometimes. oh, and they've had 1 lottery pick in the last 18 years. it's not like they're the goddamn cavs.

moreover, pop didn't just walk into the spurs as the head coach. he bounced around as an assistant in several places, eventually coached a D-III team in Pomona, a stint as an assistant in Golden State, came to the Spurs and eventually rose to become President, made a hugely bold move in firing Bob Hill and taking over as coach, had a terrible first year with the aforementioned injuries, had a bad start to Duncan's rookie year and was getting castigated in the media and by the San Antonio public who wanted him gone. His players, who he always defers credit to, turned it around and as they developed and won, he became more and more adaptable both as a coach and a person. the guy's system has always revolved around tim duncan, but it's the way he's changed the style of play over the course of duncan's career to reflect the needs of the team that's been astounding. you don't get that with luck. you get that with preparation, commitment, and discipline, and even then, it might not work out. the only luck you can potentially attribute to him is that he's won 5 times, because for every coach and player in the history of all sports, some amount of luck is necessary for things to go your way, be it the bounce of the ball or the whistle of the ref. so i don't understand why you limit that to pop.

if you're gonna call someone out, do the proper research. don't just make blanket statements about an individual's success and disparage them because this is reddit and no one will care. you weren't down voted for "voicing a different opinion." you were down voted because you attached a blanket label to a man for all of his success. that's one of the highest forms of ignorance and a total disservice to people who work extremely hard to earn what they have in life.