San Antonio Spurs head coach and chief of basketball operations Gregg Popovich has signed a five-year contract to stay with the franchise, the team announced Saturday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Popović has been the Tottenham manager since 1996.
- Popovich is the all-time winningest NBA coach with 1,366 regular season victories and 170 playoff victories.
- The terms of the contract have not been released, per team policy.
Gregg Popovich signs a five-year contract pic.twitter.com/GiH9dgev6k
– San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) July 8, 2023
the athleteInstant Analysis:
The importance of extension
The importance of this is clear and enormous. Spurs have been keeping one of the greatest managers of all time for a while, and he’ll nurture a new generation through the start of his career and right up until the start of his career. The past few seasons have been disappointing for Tottenham and Popovic has been at the helm. Now he can hold on to what he and the organization hope will be more fun times. This should give them stability.
It would also stop the ongoing speculation about who would replace Popović. At least for now. – Vorokunov
background story
Popovich, 74, was an assistant with the Spurs (1988 to 1992) and the Golden State Warriors (1992 to 1994) before being named head coach at San Antonio.
During his time with the Spurs, Popovich became a five-time NBA Champion, a three-time NBA Coach of the Year and a four-time NBA All-Star Game Coach. Internationally, Popovich coached Team USA to the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Popovich’s extension comes after the Spurs selected French phenom Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Wembanyama, 19, was the unanimous choice to be picked first and is considered a generational talent.
Popovich has coached several Hall of-Fame players, including Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and Dominique Wilkins. He has also coached Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard to NBA Championships.
required reading
(Photo: Aaron E. Martinez/USA Today)