Gregg Popovich Becomes First NBA Coach to Reach 1,500 Wins

He's just five wins away from another major milestone.

With the Spurs's Friday win over the Rockets, coach Gregg Popovich became the only coach in NBA history to reach 1,500 wins. The mark includes both regular and postseason wins. 

The future Hall of Fame coach is only five wins away from the all-time regular season mark of 1,335 wins set by former Bucks, Knicks, Mavericks and Warriors coach Don Nelson, whom Popovich worked under as an assistant for Golden State. Popovich took over in San Antonio back in 1996—his first and only NBA head coach job—and never looked back. 

Since then, he's won five NBA titles, been named the NBA Coach of the Year three times and coached Team USA to a gold medal in the 2020 Olympics. 

Popovich, 73, led the Spurs to 22 straight playoff appearances from 1998 to 2019, in the process surpassing Phil Jackson for the most consecutive seasons with a winning record. San Antonio has missed the last two postseasons and now finds itself on the outside looking in as the No. 12 seed with a 20–34 record. 

Popovich will look to add to his legendary win column on Wednesday when the Spurs face the Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET.