THE THREAD TO FOLLOW
THE GREGG POPOVICH FILE
Gregg Popovich: A dynasty
in motion.
One coach. Five champions. A team that kept learning how to change.
From the Air Force Academy to San Antonio, explore how Gregg Popovich’s career grew across generations of players, and why his championship teams deserve to be seen individually.
SAN ANTONIO1996—2025
ONE FRANCHISEMANY VERSIONS OF GREAT
29Spurs head-coaching seasons
1996–97 through 2024–25
1996–97 through 2024–25
1,390NBA regular-season wins
Final record: 1,390–824
Final record: 1,390–824
170NBA playoff wins
Counted separately
Counted separately
5NBA championships as coach
1999 · 2003 · 2005 · 2007 · 2014
1999 · 2003 · 2005 · 2007 · 2014
Final coaching record through 2024–25, reflecting the NBA’s July 2025 correction. Career review: October 3, 2026.
01 / FOLLOW THE YEARS
The long way
to the bench.
Select an era to trace the path from player to teacher, coach and team president. The chapters connect, but each has its own job.
Read the complete timeline in one view
02 / PUT THE TEAMS SIDE BY SIDE
Five titles.
Five different teams.
Choose any two championship seasons. Compare their paths, people and win rates, rather than treating every Spurs champion as the same team.
TRY A PAIR
Compare the win rate
Win rate = wins ÷ games played. The 1999 season had 50 games, with a best-of-five first playoff round. The other four regular seasons had 82 games and all playoff rounds were best-of-seven. Win rate is descriptive, not a cross-era ranking.
See the records of all five champions
| Season | Regular season | Playoffs | Finals result | Finals MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | 37–13 | 15–2 | New York, 4–1 | Tim Duncan |
| 2002–03 | 60–22 | 16–8 | New Jersey, 4–2 | Tim Duncan |
| 2004–05 | 59–23 | 16–7 | Detroit, 4–3 | Tim Duncan |
| 2006–07 | 58–24 | 16–4 | Cleveland, 4–0 | Tony Parker |
| 2013–14 | 62–20 | 16–7 | Miami, 4–1 | Kawhi Leonard |
03 / WHERE THE CAREER CHANGED SHAPE
The choices behind
the continuity.
A coaching career sits inside an organization. These three moments connect San Antonio’s roster choices with the changing job on the floor.
1997 / THE FOUNDATION
Build around Duncan.
San Antonio used the first pick on Tim Duncan, adding him alongside David Robinson. Duncan was on all five of Popovich’s championship rosters.
Why this changed the job
Two cornerstone big men offered a stable starting point. The later challenge was to keep building around Duncan as the pieces next to him changed. Compare 1999 with 2014: the constant name is visible, but the surrounding team is very different.
2011 / THE NEXT WAVE
Make room for Leonard.
The Spurs acquired Kawhi Leonard’s draft rights in the George Hill trade. By 2014, Leonard was the Finals MVP on a team still built with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili.
Why this changed the job
Continuity did not mean preserving every player. An established rotation player went out and a young wing came in. The coaching task was to integrate the new player without discarding the experience that was already there.
2013–14 / THE WORKLOAD
Spread the minutes.
The 62-win Spurs had no player averaging 30 minutes in the regular season. Parker’s team-leading scoring average was 16.7 points.
Why this changed the job
A broader rotation means more players have to be ready for consequential possessions. The figures show how responsibility was spread; they do not prove that one rotation policy alone caused the championship. The players still had to execute through four playoff series.
04 / COUNT THE RIGHT GAMES
A final ledger.
A continuing role.
1,390 + 170
NBA regular-season winsNBA playoff wins
The competitions are separate. Add them only when explicitly discussing combined NBA wins: 1,560. College games and international tournaments do not belong in either NBA total.
WHY OLDER TOTALS DIFFER
The 77-game correction
In July 2025, the NBA credited Mitch Johnson with the final 77 games of San Antonio’s 2024–25 season: 32 wins and 45 losses. Popovich’s final regular-season record became 1,390–824. The earlier 1,422-win figure is not the final total.
LATEST CONFIRMED ROLE
President of Spurs Basketball
Publicly confirmed on May 31, 2026. Mitch Johnson succeeded him as head coach in May 2025. This feature keeps the coaching career distinct from the work that followed.
Five championships tell you what happened.
The changing teams help explain how.
Return to the champions