On Friday night, Gregg Popovich passed Don Nelson as the league’s all-time winningest coach, collecting his 1,336th victory when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 104-102.
"It's just a testament to a whole lot of people," Popovich said after the record-breaking win."Something like this does not belong to one individual. Basketball's 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 with all the wonderful players and coaches, the staff that I've been blessed with, the support of this wonderful city. The fans support us no matter what.
Popovich was fortunate in many ways, which he has acknowledged. The Spurs won the lottery in 1997, allowing them to select Duncan. They were already a good team, winning 59 games in 1995-96. But an injury to Robinson the following season helped put the Spurs in the lottery. Some fortune is by design. It’s not all luck. The Spurs front office, of which Popovich was an active participant as either GM or team president, assembled a certain type of player as often as possible: selfless, team-first performers, and it helped that his stars were those players who had no pressing desire to leave San Antonio and play elsewhere.
With so many victories, winning seasons, titles and coach of the year awards, it’s difficult to pinpoint Popovich’s best season among his six 60-win seasons and 19 seasons with at least 50 wins.
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