Popovich becomes the only head coach to work in 2,000 games for the same team / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AP – Scanpix Credit AP – Scanpix

Dejounte Murray-led San Antonio Spurs held off the host Boston Celtics 99-97 in Gregg Popovich's 2,000th game.

San Antonio Spurs / Schedule

Memphis Grizzlies San Antonio Spurs118-105 Detroit Pistons San Antonio Spurs117-116 Toronto Raptors San Antonio Spurs129-104 Boston Celtics San Antonio Spurs97-99 Philadelphia 76ers San Antonio SpursSat00:00 Brooklyn Nets San Antonio SpursMon00:30 New York Knicks San Antonio SpursTue00:30

He is the first person in NBA history to coach 2,000 games for the same squad. His balance in these 2,000 games is 1,325 wins and 675 defeats.

''This record means that I'm old, been at the same place for a long time, worked with a lot of great players, blah, blah, blah,'' the 72-year-old commented on his achievement.

Popovich came to the Texas club at the start of the 1996–97 season. During his years there, he guided the Spurs to the five NBA titles. Moreover, he has received the Coach of the Year award three times and has been nominated as NBA All-Star Game head coach four times.

Popovich needs 11 more wins to surpass Don Nelson (1,335) to become the winningest NBA head coach of all time.

The Spurs legend ranks sixth overall in most duels coached in NBA history. Lenny Wilkens is a clear leader in this category, having 2,487 matches on his resume.

Coaches with most games coached:

Lenny Wilkens 2,487 Don Nelson 2,398 Bill Fitch 2,050 Jerry Sloan 2,024 Larry Brown 2,002 Gregg Popovich 2,000 George Karl 1,999 Dick Motta 1,952 Pay Riley 1,904 Rick Adelman 1,791 Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.