One of the greatest coaches in NBA history: Who is Gregg Popovich?

The experienced coach, who led the US national team in the 2020 Olympics, defeated France in the final and added the Olympic gold medal to his successes.

How did he come to be in charge of the national team?

In October 2015, USA Basketball National Team director Jerry Colangelo announced that San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, three-time NBA coach of the year, would take over as head coach of the national team after the 2016 Olympic Games. Thus, Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski completed his Team USA adventure, which he has been heading since 2006, with 75 wins, 1 loss, 5 gold medals, and 1 bronze medal.

Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Popovich has been a member of the Spurs organization since 1994, as president of basketball operations and general manager before taking over as coach of the Spurs in 1996. Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the NBA as well as all other major sports leagues in the United States. Nicknamed "Coach Pop", Popovich has the most wins of any coach in NBA history, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history.

It should have surprised me that Popovich accepted this position in the first place, but for some reason, I can't say I was surprised. Yes, you are right, he had nothing left to prove in his career. After all, he was one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. Moreover, he served as an assistant coach in the 2002 World Championship and 2004 Olympic Games squads. In 2002, he was the assistant of George Karl, and in 2004 he was the assistant of Larry Brown, whom he called "my mentor". The performances of these two teams were described in derogatory terms, ranging from disgraceful to embarrassing. Although a lucky bronze medal was won in Athens, the two teams lost a total of six matches. This statistic was not acceptable for squads made up of NBA stars.

After two such tragedies, some thought that Popovich would stay away from this task, considering the possibility that he would be caught in the ball with a possible surprise result, no matter how many mega stars were in the national team squad. However, despite all this, they missed that he wanted to be the head of Team USA. Colangelo preferred Krzyzewski at the time, but Popovich wanted to take charge of a ten-year plan and manage the project, on the contrary of avoiding responsibility.

Even though it was delayed, Team USA became his team.

Life story

Growing up as the son of a Serbian father and a Croatian mother, Gregg Popovich graduated from the United States Air Force Academy, completed his five-year compulsory service, and served in the army. Just like Mike Krzyzewski graduated from West Point Academy and served in the US Army, Popovich is a basketball man who knows military discipline and order very well.

In East Chicago, Indiana, where Popovich grew up, the population was 42.9 percent black. The color of one's skin was never a problem for him. Their passports or the culture they come from...

The Spurs teams, led by Popovich, have always been a club that looks for and discovers basketball talents in different countries outside the USA. They were pioneers in this regard. Among the players they drafted were talents from countries such as France, Argentina, Slovenia, Brazil, Lithuania, Russia, Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. For example, in the 2013-2014 season, there were two French players and one Argentinian, Italian, Brazilian, Australian, Canadian and New Zealander in the squad. Italian Ettore Messina, one of Europe's best coaches, was his assistant for the last five seasons. You can be sure that Messina was frequently brainstorming while sipping wine. Everyone now knows that he is no stranger to international basketball, players and coaches.

Popovich is a legend who loves challenges, renews himself, tests himself, and builds a team, team, and family from scratch.

July 2023

Gregg Popovich will be at the helm of the San Antonio Spurs for 5 more years!

Gregg Popovich continues to serve as President of Basketball Operations and head coach at the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio Spurs announced that they signed a new 5-year contract with the legendary coach.

Popovich, who took over as the interim head coach of the San Antonio Spurs in 1996, selected Tim Duncan with the first pick in the NBA draft the following season and managed to make the playoffs 22 consecutive seasons.

This long run of Spurs ended in the 2019-20 season, and the club could not make the playoffs for four consecutive seasons. Popovich may have postponed his retirement decision a little longer when the Spurs, who once again own the number one pick in the NBA Draft, added Victor Wembanyama to the team.

The experienced coach stated that he enjoyed it even though he completed last season with a score of 22-60.

The 74-year-old coach passed Don Nelson in March 2022 and became the coach with the most wins in NBA history. At the same time, the experienced coach ranks third among the coaches with the most wins of all time, with 170 wins in the playoffs.

While Popovich won 1366 times in his coaching career, he left the field with 761 losses.