The story of the NBA cannot be told without San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich is an icon in NBA circles with a basketball resume that began in the early 1970s when stars like Wilt Chamberlain were still seeking their first championship ring. The story of basketball is still being written, and Coach Pop’s chapter is an incredible display of professionalism, adaptability, and sustained excellence.
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Gregg Popovich Legacy Part 1
The legacy of head coach Gregg Popovich is two-fold, as are his job responsibilities (he doubles as the Spurs Vice President of Basketball Operations). One part of his legacy is the drafting and development of players into key championship cogs, particularly international players. The other part of his legacy is sustained winning.
I appreciate that Gregg Popovich salvaged the Hall of Fame careers of number-one picks David Robinson and Tim Duncan with rings. If it weren’t for his two championships, David Robinson’s legacy would be the clips of him being destroyed in the playoffs by fellow Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon. Tim Duncan might have left San Antonio to chase rings in Orlando. The early 2000s Orlando Magic teams were not good. Tim Duncan won five championships with the Spurs and is considered the best power forward in league history.
But it’s more than what Coach Pop did with the top guys. He took Hall-of-Famer Tony Parker (France) with the 28th pick in the draft. He took Hall-of-Famer Manu Ginobili (Argentina) with the 57th pick. At the time, selecting international players was not in vogue, as Americans dominated the basketball landscape. Coach Pop turned the middling career of Bruce Bowen into near Hall-of-Fame status as a defensive juggernaut of the mid-2000s. Those are just a handful of athletes who benefitted from Gregg Popovich’s expert coaching.
Gregg Popovich Legacy Part 2
Part two of Gregg Popovich’s legacy is the sustained excellence of winning amid some of the league’s most legendary dynasties. Let’s ignore the massive amount of regular season wins for a second. The Spurs won the championship immediately after Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls dynasty cratered. The Spurs won again amid the Laker dynasty featuring Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. A 2005 Spurs championship short-circuited the Detroit Pistons’ burgeoning dynasty. Gregg Popovich blocked future Hall-of-Famer LeBron James from winning two titles with a series victory in 2007 and another in 2014 to end the Miami Heat dynasty. A poor (reckless) Zaza Pachulia closeout is the only reason the Spurs didn’t make noise during the Golden State Warriors dynasty.
The Spurs were a menace to all opposing NBA fandoms during the Gregg Popovich era.
Let’s go back to regular season wins.
Gregg Popovich has more wins than six NBA teams
— Spurs Culture (@SpursCulture) August 9, 2023
W L W%
Coach Pop 1,364 – 759 64.2
Magic 1,268 – 1,456 46.6
Hornets 1,153 – 1,478 43.8
T-Wolves 1,091 – 1,621 40.2
Raptors… pic.twitter.com/ZOMguXw1bw
Gregg Popovich Accolades
Gregg Popovich has accumulated many accolades in a coaching career spanning six decades. The headline grabbers are the five NBA championships, three Coach of the Year Awards, and the Olympic gold medal. That’s cool and everything, but when you tell your friends and colleagues about Coach Pop, hit them with fun stats like these.
- Coach Popovich has the record for most wins with a single franchise and the most total number of wins (1,366 wins)
- If you combine ABA wins with NBA wins, San Antonio has the winningest franchise in NBA history, above decorated teams like the Lakers and the Celtics. Gregg Popovich is responsible for more than half of them.
- Coach Pop has more wins than six NBA franchises.
- He is the longest-tenured head coach in all major American professional sports leagues—27 years (and counting).
- He was named one of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA history.
- Popovich had a decorated Air Force career before entering coaching.
- He probably has more wine than you. In addition to being a part-owner of a West Coast winery, Popovich has a personal 12’x20’ wine cellar stocked with over 3,000 bottles of wine.
- His coaching tree includes several NBA championship coaches.
- The seeds of today’s spread-them-out passing game were planted during his 2014 championship run. A similar attack became the blueprint of the current Golden State Warrior dynasty.
- Popovich plans to coach the number one overall pick, Victor Wembanyama, through his rookie deal. Coach Popovich signed a five-year extension this summer, taking him through age 80 and making him the highest-paid coach in the league.
The Next Generation
Victor Wembanyama is a 7’-4” French phenom with guard-like skills and represents the next wave of young NBA talent.
Victor Wembanyama is not real pic.twitter.com/Rt1nNXU9iN
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) October 7, 2023
Most NBA pundits agree that having Gregg Popovich as his first NBA mentor is a best-case scenario for the nineteen-year-old. For instance, the focus on improving his body frame, one of Wembanyama’s few question marks, is reaping dividends. Coach Pop has also promised to monitor his minutes as the season progresses. Wembanyama is expected to play year-round for both the San Antonio Spurs and the French national team. His health is almost as much of a priority as his evolution.
Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell are a few of the other intriguing young prospects on the Spurs roster. These players can add to Gregg Popovich’s glowing resume with discipline, natural talent progression, and a little luck. An NBA team has not won back-to-back championships in over five years, so there lies a power vacuum amongst the NBA elite. The San Antonio Spurs’ time in the sun may return sooner than we think. Gregg Popovich will shape that narrative.
Photo Credit for featured cover image: Getty Images.
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