Gregg Popovich becomes all-time leader in NBA head coaching wins

Gregg Popovich (right)(with Barack Obama and Tony Parker) (Wikimedia Commons)

Gregg Popovich of East Chicago, Indiana set the NBA record for most head coaching wins all-time with 1336 as the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 104-102 on Friday. Popovich passed the previous record set by Don Nelson, who had 1335 head coaching wins with the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks from 1976 to 2010. All of Popovich’s 1336 coaching wins came with the Spurs.

In the record-breaking Spurs win over the Jazz on Friday, Spurs guard Dejounte Murray of Seattle, Washington  led the way with 27 points. Meanwhile, two Spurs had double-doubles. Center Jakob Poeltl of Vienna, Austria had 15 points and 11 rebounds, while small forward Keldon Johnson of Chesterfield, Virginia had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the Spurs win over the Jazz, Utah had the 95-94 lead up until one minute and 17 seconds remaining in the contest, before San Antonio outscored Utah 10-7 to close out the game. Despite the win, its has been a tough season for the Spurs as they have a record of 26 wins and 42 losses. Due to the NBA’s expanded playoff format, they only find themselves two games back of 10th place, where you find the New Orleans Pelicans at 28 wins and 40 losses. The NBA really needs to question its play-in tournament, because as a result they are rewarding teams that have not played very good basketball all season long.

Over the years, Popovich also won five NBA Finals (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014), and three times has been named the NBA coach of the year (2003, 2012, and 2014). On the international level, Popovich also coached the United States to a gold medal in men’s basketball at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.

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