Historical Adjustment: Gregg Popovich’s NBA Wins Record
The NBA has made a modification to the win record of the legendary San Antonio Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich. The 77 games that Popovich did not coach last season have been subtracted, attributing those wins and losses to Mitch Johnson, who served as interim coach. Popovich’s final record is now set at 1,390-824, a figure that reflected his performance prior to November 2nd. That day, Popovich suffered a health problem at the team’s stadium in San Antonio, which forced Johnson, then an assistant, to take over as acting coach. Popovich was absent for the rest of the season, and Johnson coached the remaining 77 games, with a record of 32-45. The NBA and the Spurs agreed that it was most appropriate to remove those games from Popovich’s record and assign them to Johnson, who was named head coach after Popovich’s retirement announcement earlier this year.This type of adjustment to win-loss totals is not new in the NBA. A similar case occurred with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1979-80 season. Jack McKinney, then head coach, suffered a serious injury in a bicycle accident in November, which led to Paul Westhead taking over on an interim basis. Westhead was later hired as head coach; the NBA credited McKinney with a 10-4 record that year and Westhead with a 50-18. These changes in the numbers do not significantly alter the NBA record books. Popovich remains the coach with the most wins in league history, with 53 wins ahead of Don Nelson, who has 1,335 victories. Popovich’s win percentage rises slightly from .621 to .628, which, among coaches with 400 games, puts him in seventh place historically in the NBA, behind Phil Jackson, Billy Cunningham, K.C. Jones, Red Auerbach, Steve Kerr and Pat Riley.“Although my love and passion for the game remain, I have decided that it is time to step down as head coach,” Popovich commented when revealing his decision. He continues as president of the Spurs and remains linked to the franchise as much as he can.
Gregg Popovich
