These were the big movies in theaters when Gregg Popovich started coaching the Spirs

Also,this movie:

That's right, Popovich could celebrate the beginning of his run as head coach of the Spurs by doing a double feature of "Jerry Maguire" and "Mars Attacks!."

"Jerry Maguire" was both a critical and commercial darling. Tom Cruise at the peak of his movie stardom played a hotshot sports agent that needed to learn lessons so that he could have Renee Zellweger at "hello." Cameron Crowe was still cooking and in his prime. Cuba Gooding Jr. would win Best Supporting Actor and make a name for himself on the national stage. It was all very exciting.

Cruise is still around, of course, but he's now an elder statesman of the film industry, the kind of person those who worry about movie stardom ponder as The Last of the Movie Stars. In 1996, the first "Mission: Impossible" movie also came out, and in 2025 the eighth film in that franchise is being released. Oh, and Jonathan Lipnicki is 34.

Speaking of directors on heaters, Tim Burton began development on the idea of "Would it be cool with you if I make a movie about obscure, gross, weird trading cards?" right in the wake of "Batman Returns," which was also around the time of putting Burton's name on "The Nightmare Before Christmas" even though he did not direct it because it would help sell the movie. That is why we have the bizarre cult comedy "Mars Attacks!"

This cast is incredible. Jack Nicholson has a ton of fun as multiple characters. Glenn Close and Annette Bening, two of the actors with the most Oscar nominations without winning, are in it. Natalie Portman plays the president's teenage daughter! Jack Black was so not famous that he wasn't even listed on the movie's poster, and there are a lot of actors on that poster!

These were the biggest releases the right after Gregg Popovich took over as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. As he retires, the big new release is "Thunderbolts*," a movie headlined by an actress in Florence Pugh who was born in January of 1996. 

What a run, Pop. If you've ever seen "Mars Attacks!" please let us know your thoughts.