With the appearance of an “iron sergeant” and military training, Popovich landed in 1996 on the Spurs bench, earning a reputation as an ultra-demanding coach with his players and even with the fearful journalists who had to interview him.
Over the years, however, ‘Coach Pop’ also brought out his more affable side as well as an open and progressive mindset.
Teams, coaches and players under his command during his 26 NBA seasons, from Argentina’s Manu Ginobili to Steve Kerr, were quick to congratulate him on reaching the 1,336-win mark.
At 73, Popovich surpassed retired Don Nelson by that number, for whom he was an assistant three decades ago in Golden State.
“This is the most important thing in my life. What I could do in my retirement, the type of wine I could drink, all these things become bland when I think about the number of wins I have, “said the coach a few years ago.
His mostly impassive countenance was filled with emotion Friday as the Spurs capped off a 104-102 win over the Utah Jazz by sparking the long-awaited celebration in San Antonio.
“Something like this does not belong to a single individual. Basketball is a team sport,” he later noted. “We all share this record. It’s not mine, it belongs to everyone in this city.”
Popovich looked moved in the press room, in a version far removed from the usual irony and sarcasm before journalists, which has left television moments to remember.
“Having a sense of humor is very important to me because I think that people who don’t know how to laugh at themselves, who don’t appreciate funny moments, won’t be able to give everything for a group,” the coach said in 2015.
– The Spurs dynasty –
Popovich took charge of the Spurs in 1996 in an unusual way. At that time he was the general manager of the franchise and, faced with a poor run of results, he decided to dismiss coach Bob Hill and put himself in charge of the Texan bench.
That season the Spurs finished at the bottom of the table due to the injury of their star, David Robinson, but that debacle had the counterpart of giving them the first choice of the following Draft, with which they selected Tim Duncan, the star who changed the direction of the franchise.
Popovich turned the Spurs into a winning machine, collecting five rings (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), making 22 consecutive playoff appearances and being named Coach of the Year three times.
His last title was perhaps the most special. First, because some Spurs in their game apex took revenge on LeBron James’s Miami Heat after the cruel defeat in the 2013 Finals.
But also because it was the last great victory of one of the best trios in NBA history, made up of Duncan, Argentine Ginóbili and Frenchman Tony Parker, then accompanied by the emerging Kawhi Leonard.
From all of them ‘Coach Pop’ brought out the best basketball they had inside.
In Duncan he found a dominant player on both ends of the floor and his competitive alter ego, Ginobili allowed to work his magic and Parker supported and pressured him in equal measure.
– Military and cosmopolitan –
Born on January 28, 1949 in East Chicago (Indiana) to a Serbian father and a Croatian mother, Popovich has based his career on the virtues of organization and discipline developed in his five years in the US Air Force.
An Army team captain, he traveled to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in 1972 and understood that basketball was not just an American sport.
It was no accident that the Spurs were the most cosmopolitan team in the NBA under his leadership.
His wide network of talent search recruited, for example, the Italian Ettore Messine, one of the most respected coaches in Europe, and made Becky Hammon the first assistant coach in the NBA.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Popovich guided the United States to a gold medal. “It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in basketball,” he assured his players.
Instead of retiring after that Olympic triumph, Popovich remains at the foot of the canyon in the current process of rebuilding the Spurs, who are close to missing the playoffs for the third straight season.
“Forget the wins and the record, what’s really important is what you’ve meant to us on a personal level. How much you have made us grow and the experiences you have given us ”, recognized his former player and assistant Steve Kerr, now Warriors coach, on Friday.
