On February 28, Greg Popovich celebrated his 73rd birthday, but today the celebration may include the missing cherry.
The wait is long. Since adding 1,334 wins (against the Wizards on February 25), the San Antonio Spurs have lost four games in a row (Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies Sacramento Kings and Charlotte Hornets); However, last Monday, March 7, with a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, the coach equalized the legendary Dan Nelson’s record with 1,335 wins in the NBA. Today that number is already part of history, because with success Utah JazzAt 104-102, at the AT&T Center, the five-time NBA champion added 1,336 victories, commanding a separate list of head coaches who have won the most games in the association.
About a month ago, on February 4, when his Spurs defeated the Houston Rockets 131-106, he became the first NBA head coach to count the regular season and playoffs and reach 1,500 career successes.
Throughout his career as coach, Bob has left coaches like Lenny Wilkens (1,332 wins), who surpassed him on February 17; Jerry Sloan (1221) or Pat Riley (1210), among others. The NBA considered him one of the 15 best coaches in the club’s history, and did not fit in well with the coach three times this year.
“Win another ring? I do not know, but in my life it is not a priority. I would be very happy to know that my soldiers are going to contribute to the betterment of the community, that they have good families, and that they care about the people around them. “
The relationship between Popovich and Nelson dates back to their time Golden State WarriorsThe current Texans manager was Nelson’s assistant in 1994.
Bob’s tenure as head coach began with Spurs in the 1996-97 season; 88-98 to campaign 91-92 before serving as an aide to the same entitlement. Later, from 92-93 to 93-94, he was also an assistant at Warriors with the aforementioned Nelson.
In his first year in San Antonio he won 17 games and lost 47, while his most successful campaign in terms of wins was 2015-16, in which he won 67 games and lost 15 for 81.7% performance. Of the 25 seasons he has managed Spurs, it is noteworthy that he did not qualify for the playoffs only in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
With Spurs set to play in the second half of this season, currently ranked 12th in the West (26-41), Bob will keep his winning streak out of reach of the elite for decades. Spurs NBA coaches.