Kansas' Bill Self offers fiery response to prediction he'll leave Jayhawks in 2020 for NBA job

Self shut down the bold prediction and offered an explanation as to why he doesn't plan to go anywhere

By Kyle Boone

Jan 2, 2020 at 9:29 pm ET • 1 min read

Kansas coach Bill Self is going to be linked to the San Antonio Spurs for as long as R.C. Buford -- one of Self's groomsmen in his wedding -- is the team's CEO. However, don't expect the Hall of Fame college coach to toy with any rumors or predictions because of that connection.

Self was asked Thursday about a recent prediction from ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg that Self would leave KU for the Spurs in 2020, and minced no words on how he felt about it. Here's what he said, via The Kansas City Star:

"First of all, I have not talked to Seth in five to six months. Secondly and most importantly I haven't talked to R.C. [Buford] ever about it, and he was in my wedding and I was in his. I know him pretty well and we've never once discussed it (job).
"Thirdly, I think it's kind of an insult to the Spurs because they have the greatest coach maybe our sport has potentially ever known, especially NBA. One of the two or three best all time for sure.
"There's absolutely zero truth to that. The thing that cracks me up about some media types is the more outlandish things you can say … what it was, was (his) 'Bold Predictions for 2020 (segment).' You grab something or throw something against the wall and hope something sticks. There's zero truth to that. That's not even one that would impact us positively, negatively. There's nothing to it at all."

That's about as animated a response you'll get from Self, whose mild-mannered persona is only broken on the sidelines during game day. Self could always bounce to the NBA -- that option would seem all the more appealing if the NCAA were to come down hard on KU after recent FBI probe-driven allegations -- but predicting as much right now is still more a guess than a prediction. Popovich still has some left in his tank, and San Antonio wouldn't move on unless Popovich -- who is also the franchise president -- makes that decision.

Making the denial easier for Self is that his team is nowhere close to abandonment-worthy. KU is 10-2 on the season, No. 3 in the AP Poll and on course to enter conference play as favorites (again) to win the Big 12 title in 2020.