Patty Mills, Andrew Gaze, Aron Baynes, Jock Landale, Shane Heal and now the duo of Jacob Chance and Matthew Nielsen underscore the ever-growing link between Australia and San Antonio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two Australian coaches, Matthew Nielsen and Jacob Chance, are with the Spurs organisation as they traverse the 2026 NBA Finals, with aspirations to help deliver the Spurs their first championship in 12 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nielsen, the NBL stalwart and three-time Olympian has been with the Spurs since 2019, originally beginning as an assistant coach for the Spurs G League affiliate team in 2019, before being appointed as head coach of the Austin Spurs in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From there, Nielsen was\u00a0acquired\u00a0by Gregg Popovich as an assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 2021, briefly joined by former Australian Boomers teammate, Patty Mills.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nielsen serves as the\u00a0Spurs\u00a0player development coach in San Antonio, working closely with the team\u2019s young core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the Spurs have been blessed with young talent for Nielsen to work with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In recent years, the Spurs swift rebuild has brought a wave of top end draft talent to San Antonio, including Victor Wembanyama (No.1 in 2023), Stephon Castle (No.4 in 2024), Dylan Harper (No.2 in 2025) and Carter Bryant (No.14 in 2025).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alongside Nielsen, fellow Australian Jacob Chance is on the Spurs coaching panel with the team’s G League affiliate, Austin Spurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chance is the current Austin Spurs G League Head Coach, with the 31-year-old stepping away from the NBL following four championships and multiple stints working underneath decorated NBL head coaches, including Dean Vickerman, Trevor\u00a0Gleeson\u00a0and Scott Roth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having left Melbourne United to take on this opportunity, Chance values the holistic organisational atmosphere at the Spurs, \u201cHaving an environment where your players and staff look forward to coming into work each day and doing what it takes to improve is really\u00a0important.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the transition was easy and that probably speaks volumes to not only the Spurs but both Melbourne United and the Boomers program and how those last 12-24 months really prepared me for this move,\u201d\u00a0says Chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having followed in Nielsen\u2019s footsteps by taking the helm at the Austin Spurs G League team, Chance acknowledges the impressive Spurs coaching factory, leaning on the family first mentality that the Spurs organisation deploy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe true great cultures live it every day, and\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0blink when things get tricky or hard. They have great values as an organisation, led from the front and they lean on them every day.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come in as a young person from Rockingham, Western Australia and to feel valued like I have\u00a0speaks\u00a0volumes to who they are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0compromise on character and winning\u00a0behaviours\u00a0and they live this every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nielsen and Chance are the newest set of Australians to enter the Spurs organisation, with Andrew Gaze opening the partnership back in the 1998-99.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Nielsen could also add to the uncanny list of Australian NBA Championship winning San Antonio Spurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Andrew Gaze was in the right place at the right time, lifting the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy in his only season with the San Antonio Spurs in 1998-99.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Patty Mills and Aron Baynes were\u00a0a part\u00a0of the 2013-14 NBA Championship winning Spurs team that overcame Lebron James and the Miami Heat in five games.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Spurs Championship Trophy Tour: Patty Mills and Aron Baynes in Australia<\/p>\n
The longest tenured Australian-Spur, Patty Mills spent\u00a0the majority of\u00a0his NBA career in San Antonio, being a reliable contributor to Gregg Popovich\u2019s rotation throughout his nine seasons with the organisation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With the NBA Finals well underway, Nielsen and the Spurs will take on the New York Knicks, with a chance for San Antonio to once again reach the pinnacle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chance points to the San Antonio environment as key to the group\u2019s readiness for the NBA Finals, \u201cThe consistency in which we approach everything, I think has put us in a great spot,\u201d he said, adding that \u201csustained success is not easy. There are so many variables.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Mills\u2019 long tenure to Nielsen and Chance\u2019s current roles, the Australian connection to San Antonio\u00a0remains\u00a0strong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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