Gregg Popovich, the most winning head coach in the history of the NBA, resigned From the San Antonio Spurs mark on Friday, yielding the bench to the long -standing assistant from Mitch Johnson. Popovich underwent a stroke in November and had been on indefinite leave since. He will now be president of the team.
Popovich coaching treeWho has increased in 29 seasons in San Antonio, literally extends its branches to every corner of the NBA. Here is an overview of the legendary pop coaching career by figures:
.371
Percentage of pop victories in Pomona-Pitzer
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Popovich's career record in Pomona-Pitzer (76-129) in California may not seem impressive, but in 1979, he resumed a program for the combined colleges of Pomona and Pitzer, a team that had not won his conference since the early 1900s and, in 1986, he guided the Sagehens to their first tournament NCAA.
This is where, on sabbatical leave for the 1986-1987 season, Popovich joined the University of Kansas as a volunteer assistant under Larry Brown. This relationship opened the Popovich path to the NBA, where he was first Assistant of Brown in 1988.
“I loved it. Division III is a high level of basketball. Schools are all oriented on the school level at this level, all priorities comply with students and athletes, and if you win a match or lose a match, it is not the end of the world. This is how it should be in normal life, you know. “- Popovich
.577
Pop shooting percentage during American Olympic Basketball Tests from 1972
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After his playing career in the Air Force Academy, where He considered a career at the Central Intelligence Agency During his five years of active service, Popovich did a tour for the American armed forces, as captain of the 1972 team which won a championship of the Amateur Sports Union.
Accepting an invitation from Bobby Knight to the Olympic American basketball tests in 1972, Popovich drew 57.7% of the speech for the session, according to a member of the selection committee, Via Jackie MacMullan. He would have been among the latest team cuts, Given its Olympic place in Bobby Jones and Kevin Joyce.
“”I was devastated when I did not succeedBecause someone would be. They put me on another team, we went to Brazil and Argentina and celebrated our asses. It was very fun. We have probably lost every match, I don't know. But it's the truth. I was young and stupid, and it was not the real team. “- Popovich
1
Gold medal as a chief coach of the American Olympic team 2020
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Popovich's Olympic Redemption occurred almost 50 years later when he was appointed head coach of the United States team. He had previously been assistant under Brown at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, where the United States recorded a disappointing bronze finish. In its first world competition, the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the United States has ranked seventh, its worst finish in international competition. The United States team has rebounded at the Tokyo Olympic Games behind the pandemic, overcoming another defeat at the bottom of the pool to deliver the gold medal of pop.
“It is impossible to separate it if you have been in the army. I had classmates who fought in the wars – I do not have it – and some of them are no longer with us. You get an appreciation for the people who have sacrificed. So, when you have the opportunity to do it for your country, it is impossible to say no. I love to be part of it. “- Popovich
Popovich led to the United States team in Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 games (Photo by Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
(Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)
3.024%
Chance to win the Loteries David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Victor Wembanyama Draft
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A decade after the start of the career of the first choice No. 1 of the franchise, David Robinson, San Antonio started season 3-15, while Robinson recovered from a back injury. Popovich, then director general of the Spurs, dismissed head coach Bob Hill and named his replacement. Six games later, Robinson broke his left foot and Popovich directed the reservoir in the 1997 lottery, where Tim Duncan was waiting for the prize.
Popovich would be in a food tent next to the NBA's announcement in Secaucus, New Jersey, where the Spurs won Duncan's rights, “a hamburger in one hand and a beer in the other. “Twenty-six years later, when the Spurs of Popovich won the Victor Wembanyama competition, he was sleeping on a flight to Italy.
Between? GOOD …
5-1
Popovich record in the NBA final
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Between the two, Popovich and Duncan led the Spurs at five championships together over a period of 19 years during which the small San Antonio market has established itself as the class of the NBA. They went from point to the Lakers of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the survivors to win titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007.
Their sustained greatness carried in the 2010s, when they won another in 2014, long after Bryant gave in the face of the League to LeBron James. Without Ray Allen's shooting to win match 6 of the 2013 NBA final, Popovich could have been 6-0 in the championship series, Michael Jordan of the coaches. As it stands, it is certainly on the Mount Rushmore of the NBA, with Red Auerbach, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson.
7
The number of players in the Popovich temple has resulted in
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In addition to Robinson and Duncan, Popovich developed Manu Ginóbili and Tony Parker, two late flights in the draft, in the talents of the renowned temple. Together, Duncan, Ginóbili and Parker won four championships. Their 575 regular season victories and 126 playoffs make it one of the best trios in the history of the NBA.
Popovich also trained the Dominique Wilkins, Tracy McGrady and Pau Gasol renowned temple at the end of his career. Whenever Kawhi Leonard retires, he will make an eighth Hall of Famer under the supervision of Popovich. Leonard's development propelled Duncan, Ginóbili and Parker to their fourth championship.
In all their absences, now Wembanyama, the next hope of a ninth Hall of Famer for Popovich.
“There is a word to describe why I'm here, and it's 'Duh, these guys. “- Popovich
Gregg Popovich spoke when those around him at the Temple of Basketball Naismith Memorial while the presenters David Robinson, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginóbili were seated on stage. (AP photo / Jessica Hill)
(Associated Press)
22
Seasons with consecutive appearances in the playoffs
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From his first complete season as a chief coach, through the 19 years of Duncan's career, six years after the start of the Leonard era, the sequence of consecutive playoffs from Popovich extended to a NBA 22 record. Regarding the Spurs, the nine trips recorded nine seasons of 50 years.
“It means a lot for many people probably, but I don't dwell on the past. This thing is totally (not) important; what is important is the moment when you do what you need to do, so you are moving forward, but Looking at the past does not do a lot of good. All success we had was because we had great players. “- Popovich
67
The most popular pop victories in regular season (2015-16)
In Duncan's last season, when Leonard had turned into a sustainable MVP candidate, Popovich may have benefited from his best coache season. Certainly his most badly announced. In 2015-2016, the Spurs became the 12th team in the NBA history to win 67 games, overshadowed by the record campaign of 73 Warriors victories.
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The Spurs had these warriors on the strings of match 1 of the finals of the Western 2016 conference when Leonard suffered an ankle injury that cost him and San Antonio the rest of the series. It was a testimony to culture that Popovich had established that, long after Duncan, Ginóbili and Parker played through their prime numbers, the dynasty was still alive. It was the culmination of the philosophy of pop …
78-77
Final score of a titles 5 match of the 1999 NBA final
It was on the back of a terrifying defense – Robinson and Duncan, in particular – that the Spurs won their first championship in a folding season, holding the New York Knicks to an average of 79.8 points per game in the 1999 NBA final. From 1997 to 2008, the Spurs never possessed a defensive note classified lower than the third. Their defense has become so good that the lower scores have become downright boring.
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But it was Spurs basketball. It was a basketball in a defensive spirit. He won basketball.
“We were about to get out of a cliff, but we then won a championship. You couldn't invent things that happened. It was a crazy year. “- The longtime coach of the NBA Mike Budenholzer
110-95
Final score of a titles 5 match of the 2014 NBA final
In 2014, the San Antonio offensive had become one of the most beautiful basketball that we have ever seen. With an international flavor, including Boris Diaw, Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills, the Spurs moved the ball with a mission, going well for big. And with that, they decimated James's title champion Miami Heat, in the 2014 final in five games, Allen's shot, the defeat of the 2013 final.
A year of manufacturing, Popovich had fueled the fire of San Antonio with Game Film of Games 6 and 7 of these 2013 finals, challenging them to correct the errors that had been held between them and a fifth title. They did it.
“”It is up to us to see what we can do to return to this same position. Can we not or can we not? We can, we can't. I have no idea. But we can put out the effort mentally and physically to have the best to get there. And this is what guided us all year round, this philosophy. We did not worry about the number of victories. We just feared being healthy and continuing to improve all the things we have seen in Games 6 and 7. And on their credit, they showed the courage to do so. “- Popovich
1,589
Victories in the regular season and in playoffs (most of the history of the NBA)
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On March 11, 2022, Popovich broke the record for victories of coaches of all time of friend Don Nelson, recording his career victory. (Popovich was assistant under Nelson on the Warriors from 1992 to 1994.) He has since extended this record to 1,419. With 170 career warnings in career – the third plus in history, behind Jackson and Riley, Popovich won a total of 1,589 games, more than anyone.
