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Gregg Popovich wins NBA Coach of the Year for the 3rd time

Gregg Popovich wins NBA Coach of the Year for the 3rd time

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has again etched his name among the NBA’s coaching elite, as the multi-titled mentor received his third NBA Coach of the Year this season after also winning the award back in 2003 and 2012.

Legendary bench tacticians Pat Riley and Don Nelson are the other two NBA coaches aside from Popovich to win the Coach of the Year plum three times.

“Coach Pop” has led the Western Conference squad to its 17th straight playoff appearance while having the league-best regular season record of 62-20 this season. This number of consecutive postseason appearances is tied for the fifth-longest streak in NBA history.

During this 17-year span, the Spurs boast the best winning percentage at .706 or a record of 950 wins against 396 losses under Popovich’s watch. To add, the team also notched the best road record in the NBA this year with a 30-11 mark.

Per the NBA:

He totaled 380 points, including 59 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The award voting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

In his 18th season as head coach of the Spurs, Popovich guided San Antonio to a league-best 62-20 (.756) record, extending its streak of winning at least 50 games to an NBA record 15 consecutive seasons. The team posted an NBA-best 30-11 road record, the best road mark in franchise history and only the 13th time in NBA history a team has won 30 road games in a season.

San Antonio led the NBA in points per game differential at +7.8, having averaged 105.4 points per contest while giving up just 97.6. Popovich presided over a balanced roster which for the first time in NBA history featured no player who averaged 30-plus minutes, with Tony Parker’s 29.4 minutes per game leading that category. The Spurs used 30 different starting lineups throughout the season and were led in scoring by 11 different players.

Photo by Getty Images

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