On Friday Mar. 11, 2022
with a 104-102 win versus the Utah Jazz (44-26), Spurs head coach Gregg
Popovich, the Spurs sideline leader since early into the 196-97 season, 18
games into that season to be specific surpassed Hall of Fame head coach Don
Nelson to become the all-time leader in regular-season head coaching wins in
NBA history at 1,336 and counting.
“It’s just a testament to
a whole lot of people,” Coach Popovich said after the win. “Something like this
does not belong to one individual.”
Coach Popovich tied
Nelson when the Spurs won versus Los Angeles Lakers 117-110 March 7 with 1,335
career regular-season wins.
Winningest Head
Coaches In NBA History 1-5
Gregg Popovich: 1,336 career wins and
Don Nelson: 1,335
Lenny Wilkens: 1,332
Jerry Sloan: 1,221
Pat Riley: 1,210
“Good win. Obviously, there a different
team with LeBron [James]. But we need all of our guys just like they need all
there guys. So, we’re thrilled with the win,” Popovich said in his postgame
presser after the win.
Coach Popovich, now in his 26th season as the Spurs head coach is the fourth head coach in the NBA’s 75-year history to stand a top the mountain of most head coaching victories in NBA history, joining the late great Hall of Famer Arnold “Red” Auerbach, who held that mark from 1947-1995, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Fellow Hall of Famer both as a player and coach Lenny Wilkens, who held the mark from 1995-2010. Hall of Famer Don Nelson, who held the mark from April 2010 until last Friday, when he was passed by his former assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors from 1992-94.
To put into context what
“Coach Pop” as Popovich is affectionately called from his players to the other
head coaches across “The Association,” he has more wins than the late two
champion on the Detroit Pistons sidelines in 1989 and 1990 Chuck Daly; Red
Holzman, the leader of the two New York Knicks title squads in 1970 and 1973.
The late Dr. Jack Ramsey, who led the Portland Trail Blazers to their lone
title in 1977. The aforementioned Coach Auerbach, who helped guide the Celtics
to nine titles as head coach (1957, 1959-66) and seven Larry O’Brien trophies
as an executive in the Celtics front office. Larry Brown, who led the Detroit
Pistons to their third title in franchise history in 2004. Pat Riley, who has
five titles to his credit as head coach of the Lakers during the “Showtime Era”
in the 1980s; one as head coach of the Miami Heat back in 2006 and two as an
executive with the Heat, which he is currently. Phil Jackson, who won the most
championships in NBA history with 11 as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls (6
titles) in the middle of the 1990s and of the Lakers at the beginning of the
2000s. John Richard “Dick” Motta, the lead man on the sidelines of the then
Washington Wizards (then Bullets) lone title in their history of 1978.
Only the aforementioned
Jackson and Auerbach have won more titles in NBA history as a coach than the five
titles by Coach Popovich (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014) in six NBA Finals appearances.
Coach Nelson, who Popovich
just passed said, “I just want you to know that as one of my best friends in
life how proud I am of what you are about to accomplish now, which put me in
second place in all-time wins. I couldn’t wait for this day to happen.”
Hall of Famer David
Robinson, who helped lead the Spurs to two of the team’s five NBA titles said, “Congratulations
Pop. You deserve. You’ve been around forever. But you’ve done a great job too
and I’m really proud of you, and happy to be a part of your legacy.”
Golden State Warriors
head coach Steve Kerr, who had two stints with Spurs (1999-2001, and 2002-2003),
helping them to win their first and third titles said, “Thank you for
everything that you’ve done for me in my life and all the players you have
coached over the years. You are just an amazing coach and an amazing man. So, congrats.
This is well deserved.”
Duke University Men’s
Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who Coach Popovich replaced as the Team USA
Men’s Basketball head coach after leading the team to Gold in 2008, 2012, and 2016
said of him now being a five-time NBA champion, Olympic Gold Medalist and now
the winningest coach in NBA history, “Congratulations my friend.”
Coach Popovich already owned the NBA’s all-time record for combined regular-season and postseason victories, which now stands at 1,506 and counting. He now owns the overall mark for wins by an NBA head coach all-time in just the regular-season and the overall pantheon of head coaches in NBA history.
While Coach Popovich
celebrated the milestone last Friday after the Spurs comeback win over the Jazz
getting mobbed by his players after the final buzzer before exiting to the
locker room, he has remained even keel, even downplaying the significance of
becoming the all-time winningest coach in NBA history not once made the moment
about him. Always giving the players and the members of his coaching staff over
the years the credit for this milestone of happening.
“Basketball is a team
sport. You preach to your players that they have to do it together and that’s certainly
been the case in my life,” Popovich also said after the win versus the Jazz. “With
all the wonderful players and coaches, staff that I’ve been blessed with. The support
of this wonderful city, all of share in this record. It’s not mine. It’s ours
because of all those people that I’ve just mentioned. So, that’s the joy of it
and after that, that’s it. Somebody else will have that down the road.”
After the game though, Popovich’s
players wanted to give him his just due for becoming the all-time winningest
coach NBA history.
All-Star point guard Dejounte
Murray made his feeling known by saying in the locker room after the win while
presenting Coach Popovich with the game ball.
“Coach Pop, you deserve
it. We all love you and were glad we’re here to share this moment with you,”
Murray said to his coach before the team gave him a victory water bottle shower
before breaking down saying “Pop on three, ‘1! 2! 3! POP!!!”
These congratulations
from across the basketball world to Coach Popovich comes from the fact that he
was more than just one of the best X’s and O’s leaders on the sidelines in
basketball history. It is the relationships he had developed over the years
with his players and coaching staff, valuing what goes on in their lives beyond
basketball and being there for them is just as important as understanding a
pick-and-roll coverage at the defensive end to grasping a motion offense.
A perfect example of this
was back on Feb. 10, 2016 after the Spurs close win (98-96) over the Orlando Magic,
Coach Popovich skipped his pre-game media session.
No one understood why
Coach Popovich could not be found until during his postgame presser where he
held a tissue in one hand, face wet and eyes still welling with tears saying,
“I’d rather talk about basketball. This personal stuff is none of your
business.”
What would be later found out about why Coach Popovich was so emotional in that moment was because then intern coach and Vice President of Spurs Basketball Operations Monty Williams, the now head coach of the Phoenix Suns lost his wife, Ingrid, hours earlier from injuries sustained in a head-on car crash in Oklahoma City, where Williams served as an assistant coach on the then head coach Billy Donovan, now head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Coach Popovich stood motionless
staring into space while then Spurs Kawhi Leonard, now with the Clippers and
current Brooklyn Net LaMarcus Aldridge conducted their postgame interviews from
their lockers. Popovich eventually made eye contact with now Hall of Famer Tim
Duncan and the two would eventually share a private somber moment.
This moment flashed a
glimpse into the kind of humility, love, respect, and dignity Coach Popovich
displayed throughout his career as the Spurs head coach, who earned victory,
after victory on the hardwood both in the regular season and postseason.
Coach Williams played for
Popovich for three seasons in the late 1990s, including his first as the lead
man on the Spurs sidelines before he served as intern coach and Vice President
of the Spurs Basketball Operations.
Coach Popovich wanted
nothing more that tragic evening that to be by Williams’ side and providing
comfort in his time of great loss.
“In the ‘90s, it was, ‘Get
Over Yourself Mont.’ That’s what [Spurs culture] meant to me,” Williams said.
“But that’s pretty much what it is: selfless, egoless basketball, serving
your teammate, working your tail off,
having a broader view that’s bigger than basketball and this understanding that
we have to work, and we have to do the stuff we do from a basketball
perspective,” Williams said. “But we also have to do have a care for one
another, a care for those who don’t have what we have and be able to share that
with people who are less fortunate. That culture meant more to me than probably
any culture in my life outside of high school. When I think of the Spurs
culture, the first thing that comes to mind is “selfless.” I could sit here and
talk about it for a long time, what Pop’s meant to my life; he and R.C. Buford.
First-year head coach of
the Boston Celtics, Ime Udoka, who spent seven years as an assistant for the
Spurs after playing for the Spurs the final three years of his seven-year NBA
career shared similar view.
“He always stressed the
relationship piece of it, and you saw that with his relationships with Tony
[Parker], Tim [Duncan], and Manu Ginobili . “I understand that piece and what
it does for your team. You carry it on your own way. It wasn’t about the X’ and
O’s. It’s how you connect with your guys.”
Over the course of the 26
seasons Coach Popovich has been the Spurs leader on the sidelines, he has
coached (counting playoffs) 2,518 games and counting. Including the playoffs, a
total of 200 players have played for Coach Popovich and made their have
contributed to him reaching this milestone.
Coach Popovich’s Other Notable Numbers
Largest margin of victory in a game: 51 points.
Most Consecutive Seasons in the Playoffs: 22 (1998-2019): longest streak by any
head coach NBA history.
Three-time Kia Coach of the Year (2003, 2012, and 2014).
Head Coach of Gold Medal Winning USA Men’s Olympic team.
Most Wins versus an opponent: 20 wins against the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.
57 wins when overcoming 15-plus point deficit.
Longest winning streaks against an opponent: 18 against the Celtics, Los Angeles
Clippers, and Utah Jazz.
While we all know about the key figures
that played a major role in helping Coach Popovich rack up the number of wins,
especially the titles that he has in Hall of Famers David Robinson and Tim
Duncan, and possibly Hall of Famers to be in the aforementioned Parker and
Ginobili, and current Los Angeles Clippers All-Star and 2014 Finals MVP with
Spurs Kawhi Leonard, there have been other key players that helped Coach Pop
reached the top of the mountain of head coach wins in NBA history.
Former New York Knick and 1993 Heisman
Trophy winner Charlie Ward, who joined the Spurs after being cut by the Suns,
who traded for him in February 2004 as part of the blockbuster deal that
brought Stephon Marbury to the Knicks. Ward help contribute to 24 of Popovich’s
coaching victories. Brooklyn Nets General Manager Sean Marks, who was with the
Spurs from 2004-06, contributed to 34 Spurs victories, which included a title
in 2005. Now Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr, played a role in 152 of Coach
Popovich’s victories as well as the Spurs title teams in 1999 and 2003.
“Pop, he don’t like praise,” Spurs
All-Star guard Dejounte Murray said at All-Star weekend in the middle of
February. “It’s kind of a good thing, but you also want to remind him of his
success. It’s rare. He’s a guy that just want to focus on getting the team
better each and every day. He never brings up anything to praise himself. We
don’t talk about [the all-time wins record], but we’re damn sure gonna enjoy it
when we do get [the record] for him because he deserves it. He’s a great man.
He pushes all his players, whether you’re the first guy or the last guy, G
League guys. If you get a 10-day contract, he’s embracing you from Day 1.”
When the Spurs did get that victory that
put Coach Popovich atop the NBA all-time wins list for head coaches all-time,
the did celebrate by giving him the game and then giving him a water bottle
shower.
That love that the current Spurs showed
Coach Popovich is a shining example of what he has meant to them as former
players can attest to. But that warmth and love also came with a tough love
approach especially in practice and shoot arounds in leading up to the games,
especially in the postseason.
Murry admitted that playing for Popovich
is “not easy, and it’s not for everybody,” adding that “you’ve got to be
mentally tough” to thrive under the coach.
No one understood this better than Parker
and Williams, especially Parker. When he first worked out for the Spurs in the
lead up to the 2001 draft, he did not make a good first impression. But he
eventually won Popovich’s trust and earned his respect in full years later
especially in the Spurs playoff run in 2007 which concluded with their fourth
title in franchise history and Parker winning Finals MVP.
Williams, who played 154 games for the
Spurs from 1995-97 remembers feeling dumbfounded by Coach Popovich constant
screaming at him in practice, only to later receiving a call from him later
extending an invitation for dinner.
It was something that Williams, who began
his NBA career playing for Riley and the New York Knicks, who drafted him No.
24 overall in 1994 draft was not used to but then figured out how much Coach
Popovich “cared” about him as a person.
“It really helped me grow, not just as a
basketball player. But he gave me a chance to see the world from a different lens.
I think as a young player, I was always looking at the next contract, minutes.
He made me look at it differently.”
This uncanny ability to build solid
long-lasting relationships between Coach Popovich and his players and even
former assistant coaches is something that did not just happen.
During his time as the Head Coach of
Pomona-Pitzer College Sagehens, where he was their sideline leader from
1979-88, Coach Popovich became a disciple and eventually a close friend of
Larry Brown. Popovich took a season off from Pomona-Pitzer to become a
volunteer assistant on Brown’s staff at the University of Kansas. Popovich
returned to Pomona-Pitzer the next season before joining Brown’s staff as the
lead assistant with the Spurs from 1988-92, which included current Spurs Chief
Executive Officer R.C. Buford, current interim head coach of the Sacramento
Kings Alvin Gentry.
Popovich moved to join the Nelson’s staff
with the Warriors in 1992, bringing with him the guard Avery Johnson, who the Spurs cut.
In 1994, Popovich returned to the Spurs to
be their General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations after
current owner Peter Holt purchased the team. One of Popovich’s first moves as
GM and VP was signing Johnson as the Spurs starting floor general. Another one
of his early moves was trading Dennis Rodman, who was not fond of Popovich to
the Bulls in the summer of 1995 for Will Perdue.
After a 3-15 start to the 1996-97 season,
with Robinson sidelined due to a back injury sustained in preseason, Popovich
fired head coach Bob Hill, who guided the Spurs to the Western Conference
Finals two years earlier, losing the eventual back-to-back champion Houston
Rockets in six games on Dec. 10, 1996 and named himself head coach.
Robinson did return but only lasted six games before being lost for the rest of the season due to a broken foot. The Spurs also lost the likes of All-Star Sean Elliott and Chuck Person to injury that same season and that reduced roster, which included a well past his prime in now Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, the Spurs struggled to a 20-62 mark in 1996-97.
That disastrous season earned the Spurs
the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, which they used to select Duncan
out of Wake Forest University. Behind Duncan, the 1997 Kia Rookie of the Year
and Robinson’s return from injury won 56 games in Popovich’s first full season
on the sidelines for the Spurs in 1997-98 and those two along with Johnson, and
Elliott helped the Spurs win their first title of five titles in franchise
history taking down the Knicks 4-1 in the 1999 Finals.
The Spurs won that epic Game 5 at Madison
Square Garden behind a baseline jumper by Johnson in the closing minute of
regulation that won it for the Spurs 78-77.
While the Spurs hit the jackpot on their
side in the 1987 and 1990, earing the No. 1 overall pick in those respective
Draft Lotteries to select Robinson and Duncan, the Spurs’ continued success has
been their ability to find diamonds in the rough in the later part of the
First-Round and in the Second-Round of the draft.
“When I sit back, which I’m able to do now
because I’ve been here so long and I think about these guys and the teams we’ve
had, I think the memory I’ll enjoy the most is when they celebrate each other
after [winning] each championship,” Coach Popovich said back in 2014, the Spurs
fifth title.
“I’ve got a lot of pictures that I’ve
framed at the house and most of them involved a great photo of them making a
play and celebrating with each other because that joy is pure. There’s nothing
else like it.”
Through those later rounds of the draft,
they found the likes of now former Spurs in current Milwaukee Bucks guard
George Hill; current Denver Nuggets’ guard Bryn Forbes; former Spur Tiago Splitter;
future Hall of Famers in aforementioned Parker (No. 28 overall pick in 2001) and
Ginobili (No. 57 overall pick in 1999); and Kawhi Leonard, whose draft rights
were acquired 2011 from the Pacers in exchange for Hill. Six Junes back, the
Spurs selected Murray (No. 29 overall in 2016) out of the University of
Washington and he has ascended into a first-time All-Star this season and the
Spurs floor general for years to come. In recent drafts, the Spurs have drafted
the likes of Lonnie Walker IV, Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, and Joshua Primo
to be their building blocks moving forward.
Nearly 35 years ago, two the NBA most innovative and successful head coaches of all-time had on their respective staffs at Kansas University in college and Golden State, and with San Antonio Spurs three decades ago an assistant coach who took what he learned in his time with them and carved his own path into being not just one of the best coaches in NBA history, but a multiple-time NBA champion, Olympic Gold Medalist, and now the all-time winningest coach in not just the regular-season, but in the postseason as well as the regular-season and postseason combined. Along the way, he created long-lasting friendship and relationships that go beyond basketball.
The story of the NBA now 75 years old and counting
will now and forever consist of a chapter about Gregg Popovich, one of the best
leaders on an NBA sideline who had an ability to get the best out of his
players. Who along with the plethora of assistant coaches and front office staff
of the Spurs that helped them become a model franchise that everyone sees as
the shining example of what an exceptional team and organization looks and
works as. More than that, Coach Popovich valued each player and each coach as equal
in a way that they were a part of the team and that their contribution big or small
had just worth as important.
“I think it’s a huge moment for [the] NBA.
He’s the greatest coach that has ever been in my opinion,” Walker IV said. “To
be able to be a part of such a huge accomplishment, it’s exciting.”
“He’s one of the most humble dudes, and he
doesn’t want all the recognition. But he deserves it. Pop is kind of like the
Michael Jordan of coaches. His name kind of resonates without you even knowing
who he is.”
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