Gregg Popovich had a great explanation for why the Spurs kept fighting for the playoffs instead of tanking

• The Spurs made the NBA play-in tournament by going 8-5 down the stretch.
• Gregg Popovich told reporters that he understands tanking but feels it's not in his players' best interest.

The San Antonio Spurs finished 14 games below .500 this season, but that never stopped them from trying.

The Spurs finished as the 10th seed in the Western Conference and more or less fell into the play-in tournament by winning 8 of their last 12 games while the Los Angeles Lakers stumbled down the stretch.

While a final record of 34-48 isn't anything special — particularly by the Spurs' lofty standards — that they continued to compete reflects an organizational philosophy.

On March 14, the Spurs lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves and fell to 26-43. Whereas many teams might consider tanking, or play younger players and prepare for the draft, the Spurs stayed competitive, going 8-5 to finish the season.

On Sunday, the final day of the regular season, head coach Gregg Popovich explained to reporters why the Spurs never tanked.

"Part of it is, it's just not who we are. It's not who I am," he said (via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio News-Express). "I can't operate like that."

Popovich acknowledged that the NBA's draft system generally rewards losing, so his philosophy might not be "the most intelligent," he said. However, he argued that trying to win — even in dire circumstances — is in the team's best interest long-term.

"I think the young players gain a real understanding of philosophically moral space, where it's the right thing to do, to continue to compete," Popovich said. "Frankly, I don't know how I would go to my team and say, 'Okay guys, we're not going to compete the way we should' or how you'd get that across, or with a wink and a nod. I think you do the players a disservice if they're not able to go out and perform to the best of their ability.

"I think the lessons to be learned are very important as their careers advance," he continued. "You hope that in the long run, that value [that] they gain from that will help them compete at an even higher level later. I understand the opposite, I just can't do it."

It's often said that front offices tank, not players and coaches. But those choices can still produce ugly results. The Portland Trail Blazers, for instance, traded away most of their veterans at the deadline. They went 2-21 after the All-Star break and were outscored by 500 points over that span.

The Blazers might have put themselves in a position to land a top-three pick, but it's fair to question what sort of foundation was laid for a team that is going to try to pivot back to playoff contention next season.

Meanwhile, the Spurs will have to win two games to make the playoffs as the eighth seed.

Popovich's reasoning also further speaks to what an NBA team executive told Insider this year: that the play-in tournament encourages teams to keep competing.

"It's no longer black-and-white — you're-in-it-to-win-it or you should suck — because you can be sort of lukewarm good and still have something to play for, still have reason to compete," this executive said.

The Spurs will face the New Orleans Pelicans in the play-in tournament on Wednesday.