Spurs’ Gregg Popovich gets ‘incomparable’ label from Adam Silver

It’s been four days since San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich announced his retirement after 29 seasons as head coach. Today, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released an official statement celebrating Popovich’s legacy, per the NBA. 

“Gregg Popovich’s sustained success as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs is incomparable,” he said. “In addition to his many accolades, including five NBA championships, the most wins in league history and an Olympic gold medal, Coach Pop has developed generations of players and coaches and has been a driving force behind the growth of basketball. There are few people in the basketball community as beloved and revered as Coach Pop. We thank him for his extraordinary leadership and commitment to our sport and wish him well as he embarks on his new role with the Spurs organization.”

Popovich will transition into the Spurs’ President of Basketball Operations role. On Friday, it was announced that assistant coach Mitch Johnson will serve as interim head coach. 

The NBA world celebrated Popovich in the immediate aftermath of his retirement. Last November, the 76-year-old suffered a mild stroke, which forced him to miss the rest of the season. 

Popovich completes one of the most storied coaching careers in the history of the NBA. 

Gregg Popovich’s place among the NBA’s best coaches

Popovich is considered to be the greatest NBA coach. The numbers certainly do back up that claim. 

In terms of titles, he won 5 NBA championships with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014). He also coached some of the best talent, including David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. 

Popovich coached the 2020 U.S. Olympic to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. He holds the NBA record for the most regular season wins with 1,422 and playoff wins with 170.

His winning percentage of .621 is one of the highest. In addition, Popovich is compared to Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, and Pat Riley as a standard bearer for coaching excellence.