Gregg Popovich passes Don Nelson for most wins as NBA coach: Drafting Tim Duncan helped, but Pop makes magic

Popovich will never fully accept the credit he deserves

If you are one of the many people who believe Gregg Popovich is the greatest coach in NBA history, you can add another bullet point to your argument. With the San Antonio Spurs' 104-102 win over the Utah Jazz on Friday, Popovich passed Don Nelson to become the NBA's all-time winningest coach with 1,336 career victories.  "I will never forget this: We brought a strength coach in as an intern, wasn't getting paid much money at all. And his internship was up. He had gotten a new job as a youth counselor in Colorado. He didn't have the money to move there, and unbeknownst to anybody, we found out later that Pop bought him a brand new [Nissan] Pathfinder just because he knew that the young man didn't have true means to get to his destination and start his new life as a youth minister. "He's just the greatest coach to ever lace them up. When I hired him as an assistant coach [in Golden State in 1992], I figured he could learn something from me. But I learned more from him than he learned from me, that's for sure.

Over the league's 75-year history, only four coaches have held the distinction of being the career wins leader at any point in time: Red Auerbach, Lenny Wilkens, Nelson and now Popovich, who has won five NBA championships with San Antonio and has more regular-season wins than six franchises.  I was going through a separation at the time ... my boys were living in Colorado with their mom, I was [in San Antonio]. I will never forget, they were out here for about a week and my sister was about to take them back because we were about to go on the road. So when I dropped them off at the airport, the [team] plane wasn't far [away]. They [the boys] were really crying at the gate because they didn't want to go. I was about to be late. I was torn. "When I hired him, I met him for the first time when he flew in to get interviewed. And I hired him the same day, I think. ... I had watched him work before games and I just thought that that's a guy that I should have. He's everything and much more than I ever thought I was gonna get.

Throughout the years, Popovich has always deflected credit in the direction of those around him, players and coaches, downplaying one of the most decorated coaching resumes in all of sports. Earlier this season, Popovich was asked what the keys to his coaching success have been: "Draft Tim Duncan," he said. "After that, stay alive."  "I called Pop [and said,] 'I am going to be there, I am at the airport, my kids are having a tough time getting on the plane to go back. But just give me a few more minutes.' And he goes, 'Mikey, you should just stay here.' I said: 'No, no, no, Pop.' Because we were going to Chicago and it was my scout and I need to go. [I told Pop,] 'The kids will be all right.' "The first thing he did when he got to Golden State, he set up a summer league for young kids to play in and stay off the streets. They would play from 10 o'clock at night until 2 in the morning. And he got [an] award for that. He was there every night with the kids. It was in Oakland. There were hundreds of kids involved in the program. It was wonderful. He really did a great job keeping the kids off the streets and out of trouble."