Gregg Popovich has had a terrific coaching career since he took over the San Antonio Spurs in 1996, changing history forever for that team. The legendary head coach has taken the Spurs to five NBA championships in six trips to the Finals, becoming one of the best and most consistent franchises in league history.
Even though things haven’t been in the Spurs’ favor in recent seasons, Popovich has remained with the team, trying to develop some young players to relive old glories in San Antonio.
The future is uncertain for the team right now, but Pop is trying to get the best out of his young core. This upcoming season could be historical for him and his team, as he’s less than 30 wins to become the winningest head coach in NBA history.
Redditor “HamzaHabibiJr” recently shared a post breaking down how far Pop is from that milestone and how he can reach it this campaign.
With 1,335 career wins, Don Nelson is currently the winningest head coach in NBA history.
Lenny Wilkens is 2nd with 1,332 wins while Popovich is 3rd with 1,310 wins.
Nelson, Wilkens, Popovich, Jerry Sloan, Pat Riley, George Karl, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown and Rick Adelman are the only head coaches in league history with at least 1,000 wins.
Doc Rivers is next up with 992 wins.
Coach Pop needs 26 wins to become the winningest head coach in NBA history.
This is very promising for Popovich. The Spurs aren’t considered a playoff team anymore and it’ll be hard to watch them having a positive record this term. Still, oddsmakers have the over/under for the Spurs’ 2022 win total at 29.5. This should be enough for Gregg to reach the mark.
The Spurs were an incredible team for 20 years, led by their legendary Big 3 of Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. Kawhi Leonard appeared to be their future superstar after that, but some issues destroyed his relationship with the team.
Now Pop is teaching young players waiting to see if they can get close to those old San Antonio teams. Amid a season that won’t bring many joys to the franchise, Popovich could give them something to celebrate.
